In certain cases, manual or powered hammering are used in sheet metal fabrication. However, this is primarily used as a rework option, as bending with a press brake or tube bender will yield much more precise results.
If you need parts manufactured by stamping, the dimensional tolerances of the metal need to be taken into consideration. In general, we can accommodate tolerances of ±.01. Talk with us about your project.
Did you know? With the right machinery, roll forming can be used to shape most sheet and coiled metal, including cold rolled and hot rolled steels, specialty alloys, galvanized and stainless steels, and copper, brass, bronze, aluminum and titanium.
Did you know that it takes about 950 hours of metal fabrication to prepare a car for a NASCAR event? From suspension to chassis, each part requires precision hand-cutting, machining, and welding before hitting the road.
The most important part about bending sheet metal is making sure that the stress of the bending doesn’t get to be too much for the integrity of the metal. Roll forming helps accomplish this by spreading the bending stress out over several rollers.
Historically, sheet metal was an important material that was used for making plate armor worn by the cavalry.
Sheet metal fabricators also include finishing services after the product has been created. Your metal product can be coated with a variety of coatings, including power paint, wet paint, chemical coatings, or even plating and anodizing to protect the metal.
Brakes are metalworking machines used for the bending of sheet metal. Types of bending brakes include cornice brakes, used for simple bends and creases, and box-and-pan brakes, which facilitate the formation of 3 dimensional shapes.
There are a wide variety of different methods and processes used in sheet metal fabrication, and each one has a distinctly different effect on the final product. A sheet metal specialist will match the method to the product to make sure that everything comes out perfectly.
When it comes to building a home, using steel may be more eco-friendly than wood. Because steel is highly recyclable, there are less trees to chop. Steel is also a good insulator and is extremely resistant to natural disasters.
In fabricating sheet metal, a punch press is sometimes used to shear or chisel the work piece to remove material through the use of a die set. This process enables the fabricator to create multiple holes in a single step.
Did you know thin sheets of valuable metals were fabricated in ancient civilizations by cold working very ductile materials like gold and silver, hammering them with stones until very subtle sheets were attained that were then used to make jewelry, coat wooden shields, and fabricate armor parts?
Bending sheet metal produces a U-shape, V-shape, or channel shape along a straight axis. This is usually done by using a specialized machine press, such as a brake press.
Titanium is a transition metal meaning it can form bonds using electrons from more than one of its shells, or energy levels. It shares this feature with other transition metals, including gold, copper and mercury.
The cost of welding plays a rather large part in manufacturing decisions. There are a lot of variables that affect the total cost, including the cost of the equipment, material cost, and energy cost.
Form bending is the simplest way to bend sheet metal for fabrication, which also means it’s one of the most common methods. Form bending can be anything from bending with a hammer or hands to using a shaping dolly. In the hands of an expert, you might be surprised by what it can accomplish.
Did you know that the US nickel contains more copper than nickel? To be exact, it comprises of 75% copper and only 25% nickel. Meanwhile, Canada’s nickel coin is composed of about 95% steel.
In order to make your product, a sheet metal specialist may use a variety of fabrication methods. It may seem complicated, but in general these are broken down into two groups: shearing operations where the metal is cut, and forming operations where the metal is bent without breaking.
Hammer forming is one technique commonly used when it comes to custom sheet metal fabrication. Here, the metal is shaped using a relatively soft mallet against a concave surface. Hundreds of years ago, this may have been performed over a tree stump or log.
Laser cutting, simply put, is employing a high-powered laser to burn away, melt or otherwise vaporize the material being cut. As crude as this may sound, laser cutting is actually a high-precision process that leaves the cut material with very refined edges.
In sheet metal fabrication, the process of drawing refers to the stretching of the metal over a form and is used to make objects including fuel tanks, aluminum cans, and even kitchen sinks. Sometimes drawing is done in two directions to increase uniformity and limit tearing.
We use progressive stamping to manufacture aluminum and its alloys, stainless steel, copper, titanium, and other metals. We employ both cylindrical feed machines and reciprocating motion machines, depending on the need.
With sheet metal fabrication, forming the metal involves applying a force that causes the material to plastically deform but not to fail. Then the sheet metal can be bent or stretched into the desired shape. Common forming processes including bending, roll forming, spinning, deep drawing, and stretch forming.
The use of laser cutting, water-jet cutting, or punch cutting is determined by the geometry of the part. When you are ready to go into production, we will discuss which process is best for the indicated materials.
