Metal Fabricator
What the work is
Marks off and fabricates structural steel and other metal stock to make, assemble or repair metal products, pipes and structures, such as boilers and pressure vessels.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Studies blueprints, drawings and specifications to determine fabrication job requirements
- Measures and marks out the size, shape and location of cutouts and joints on metal stock
- Uses specialised tools to cut, bend or shape metal into the desired structure or product
- Joins metal sections together by welding, bolting and riveting
- Examines welds for width of bead, penetration and precision, and performs necessary repairs or reworks
- Cleans and smooths welds by filing, chiselling and grinding
- May program machinery or computer-aided fabrication tools to optimise the metal fabrication process
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a fictional steel fabrication workshop that builds frames, tanks and pipework for farms and factories. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A weld bead that is clean and even from one end to the other
- A big frame you marked out and built is lifted onto a truck and fits exactly
- A tough repair job that keeps a farm's machine working through harvest
Hard days
- Hot, loud work in a heavy mask while the day's deadline creeps closer
- A job that fails inspection and has to be cut out and done again
- A drawing that does not quite add up and nobody answers the phone
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 331131, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.