Brass Lighting Fixtures: How Fabrication Differs from Assembly
Brass Lighting Fixtures: How Fabrication Differs from Assembly
Brass lighting is often described as "handmade" by many companies. The difference between hand fabrication and hand assembly matters when you're specifying fixtures for a project.
Hand fabrication means starting with raw brass stock and shaping it into a finished fixture. Hand assembly means taking pre-made brass components and putting them together. Both require skill, but only fabrication gives you true custom capability.
What Brass Fabrication Involves
When a brass fixture is fabricated from scratch, the process follows these steps:
- Design and engineering drawings specific to the project
- Material selection: brass stock, tubing, sheet, or bar depending on the fixture
- Precision machining: CNC mills and manual lathes shape the brass components
- Forming: metal spinning, bending, or casting as required
- Finishing: hand-polishing, patina treatments, or protective coatings
- Electrical assembly and UL testing
Each step requires different equipment and expertise. A facility that fabricates brass fixtures has all of this under one roof.
Why It Matters for Custom Work
When a project needs a modification to a standard fixture, or a completely custom design, fabrication capability becomes essential. Common requests include:
- Dimension changes to fit specific spaces
- Material substitutions for historical accuracy
- Custom finishes to match existing finishes in a building
- Replication of period fixtures from photographs or drawings
A company that only assembles fixtures can't easily accommodate these requests. They're limited to what their suppliers provide. A manufacturer can work with the brass directly.
The Fixtures in Our Catalog
Every fixture in our catalog is fabricated in our Floyd, Virginia facility. They're not imported, and they're not assembled from overseas components. The same brass stock, the same machining, and the same finishing process goes into every fixture.
When you need something outside the catalog, the process is the same. We work with raw material to create what your project requires.
Contact us to discuss brass lighting fabrication for your project.