Sheet Metal

Metal, which is formed into a thin and flat surface, is generally called “sheet metal”. Sheet metal fabrication is one of the important and used techniques in metalworking, as sheet metal is very easy to work with, and as such can be easily cut and bent into a wide range of shapes suited for different applications. Sheet metal is widely used and countless everyday objects are constructed from it. For example, car bodies, airplane wings, medical tables, and roofs for buildings are constructed out of sheet metal. The thickness of sheet metal varies significantly. Extremely thin pieces of sheet metal are known as foils or leaves, whereas pieces of sheet metal which are thicker than 1/4 inch are known as plates.

The various methods used to shape sheet metal into the desired form involve stretching (used in the manufacture of aircraft wings, automotive door and window panels), drawing (used for creation of cylindrical/box shaped parts), deep drawing (used in the making of automotive fuel tanks, kitchen sinks, two-piece aluminium cans, etc.), cutting, bending and flanging (three-piece aluminium cans), punching and sheering, spinning (for manufacture of rocket motor casings and missile nose cones, satellite dishes, etc.), press forming (used for working with long and thin sheet metal), roll forming, rolling, etc. The various hand-tools used in metal sheet working are pliers, wrenches, hammers, rotary tools, tongs and hand scrappers.