The garment industry needs clothing rails that are strong and not liable to break. Fully welded rails have joints designed to last and withstand heavy loads and high stress.
Large retailers such as Next and Crew Clothing have increased their online operations and expanded their storage space capacity to hold extra stock. Clothing rail manufacturers employ skilled metalworkers to make sure that the extra clothing rails needed to equip the new warehouses are strong enough to last a long time with heavy use.
How are rails welded?
The best clothing rails are made from strong tubular steel lengths that are cut, bent, then welded. The process of welding is simple for a beginner to attempt, but is a skill that is difficult to master and get right weld after weld.
Clamps are used to hold lengths of tubular steel together. A welding torch is fired, or a welding electrode is struck on the steel to form an arc between the welding equipment and the tubular steel. A small welding bubble or puddle is formed on the surface, known as a tack weld. The arc is moved a little to form another welding puddle a little way from the first. More puddles are formed to create a series of welds at regular intervals. Then, the welder needs to move the welding tool along the circumference of the tubular steel so that the welding puddles extend around the whole circumference, and finally connect the two lengths of tubular steel together.
Anyone with a home welding kit can weld metal pipes together, but making sure that welds are strong enough to not fail under stress is not easy. The metalworkers who make fully welded rails weld all day and this turns them into experts at making strong reliable joints.
What are the advantages of welding?
There are alternatives to welding, such as metal glue and fasteners, but for rails that are used every day to carry large amounts of garments, welding is the best solution for heavy use.
Steel lengths can be bolted together, but this means that holes must be drilled into the metal. This reduces the surface area and lessens the strength of the steel.
Welding is economical as it is quick and saves on labour and material costs. Compared to rivet joints, welded ones are much stronger too. What’s more, welding is a quiet process and does not require a lot of workspaces.
The disadvantage of welding compared to other ways of joining metal together is that it is a skilful job requiring fully trained metalworkers. Inexperienced welders are likely to produce weak joints.
Fully welded rails are fabricated in small batches, not on large assembly lines. This makes manufactures flexible. No retooling or large assembly line changes are needed to make fully welded rails to custom sizes, and designs can be modified to suit individual end users.
If you obtain clothes rails from a UK manufacturer, you can visit them to see their standard of workmanship, and how each joint is welded with meticulous care. We invite you to do that here at Steely Products, or you can fill in the form below to learn more about what we offer.
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