Sheet Metal

Sheet Metal

Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, as it can be cut and turned into a variety of shapes and structures. It is made from slabs of rods of alloys that have been melted and pressed into rectangular shapes. The general processes sheet metals are subjected to including forming, cutting, finishing and assembling. The fabricating process for sheet metal involves heating the original metal and stretching it into the desired shape. Metal is made into sheet form by being heated into a malleable form and fed through a pair of rollers that compress the metal into thin sheets. The metal is then cooled and reheated through processes of annealing or quenching. Annealing is the process of slowly cooling the metal, while in quenching the metal is cooled very quickly. These processes are to make the sheet metal the desired shape, surface, size and strength. Sheet metal can also undergo additional fabrication processes such as stretching stretching, drawing, bending, cutting, punching and spinning until the desired product is produced.

Sheet metal comes in various thicknesses, ranging from roughly 30 gauge to 8 gauge. The gauge refers to the thickness of the metal; the higher the number, the thinner the metal sheet is. Aluminum and stainless steel tend to be the most common forms of sheet metal. Aluminum comes most often in grades 1100-H14, 3003-H14, 5052-H32 and 6061-T6. Meanwhile stainless steal is most commonly found in grades 304, 316 and 410. Due to the wide variety of products and the ability to order custom or standards parts, there is no one technique or process through which sheet metal products are manufactured. Each piece requires a careful design and precise execution. Modern innovation such as CNC (computer numeric controlled) software minimizes the risk of human error and allows for very fine processing. Sheet metal is used to manufacture countless goods, including those in the automotive, construction, military, medical, aerospace, commercial and electronics industries. Specific products include metal cabinets and other metal storage units, vents, roofing and a variety of precision tools.