Welding, while effective and pretty easy to do, does have its drawbacks. For one thing, welding isn’t always the best option for joining laser cut metal parts together, especially if you don’t have access to welding equipment (for example, if you’re only a hobbyist working out of your garage). In such cases, what are your alternatives? 

Read on to find out more about the various ways you can join laser cut metal parts together without welding them…or with minimal welding!

Mechanical Fastening

Mechanical fasteners have been used for years to join metal pieces together. Screws, bolts and washers are great for many applications where load bearing or shear strength is not required. There are many different types of mechanical fasteners, including sheet metal screws and sheet metal bolts, which can be driven into the joint surfaces with a screwdriver or wrench. 

For joints that require higher loads than screws can withstand, studs may be used in place of the screw or bolt. Studs consist of a threaded rod with a strong nut on one end and an unthreaded rod on the other end. Studs can be inserted into holes drilled in the two parts to be joined and tightened with nuts to provide high-load resistance at the joint line.

In applications of laser cut metals where load resistance is required, mechanical fasteners are usually the most preferable choice, as welding may not provide a strong enough joint or be possible at all due to design or assembly limitations. 

Another advantage of mechanical fasteners is that they do not require any other preparation work in advance of assembly—you simply use them in conjunction with sheet metal screws, bolts and nuts on both parts that need to be joined. 

The only disadvantage of some mechanical fasteners is that they can leave unsightly marks on the surfaces of your metal pieces if you don’t clean them off afterward.

Adhesives

One of the most common ways of joining laser cut metal parts is by using adhesives or most specifically, we should say epoxy. 

The following are a few tips and tricks for using adhesives to join metal pieces: 

• Watch out for surfaces that have sharp edges, because they’ll interfere with the adhesive’s ability to grip onto the metal surface. If you’re not sure if your part will work, you can always test it by applying a small amount of adhesive on an unimportant area of the piece. 
• Any roughness on your surfaces will also affect how well an adhesive can adhere, so make sure that both pieces are as smooth as possible before applying epoxy.

Rivets

Rivets is another option to join two laser cut metals without welding.

When riveting the metal together, first use a soft jawed vise (if available) to hold the work piece in place during installation. Next, drill a hole in the top piece of metal that’s just big enough for your rivet’s shank to fit through. Then drill a hole at the other end of the bottom layer that’s just big enough for your rivets head. Insert a rasp, centre punch and start tapping until you create a dimple and have made an impression on the underside. 

The next step is using the drilled holes as guides to drill all the way through both pieces of metal from one side to another with the same diameter drill bit. 

Using an appropriate size pilot bit on your power drill, pilot-pilot both holes with a small circular motion then re-drill them with an oversized plug cutter so that they’re large enough for your rivets head but not so large as to go through completely. Lastly put some lubricant on each side of the joint and hammer in a few evenly spaced nails into each joint point.

Last but not the least, brazing and soldering

• Brazing: Brazing is the process of joining two pieces of metal together by heating them with a molten filler material. The filler materials are generally copper alloys or silver. The brazed joint has the strength of the base metal and has good corrosion resistance.
• Soldering: Soldering is similar to brazing, but it uses a lower temperature filler material that does not require high temperatures for melting. It is also used in electrical work and plumbing applications. Unlike brazs, solders do not provide any additional strength to a joint other than what is provided by the base metals being joined together.