Sheet Metal Fabrication: Popular Techniques and Tools Discussed

Sheet metal fabrication has been around for several years and is widely employed across various industries. It is the process of forming, shaping and joining metals or parts to create the desired product. Sheet metal is one of the common forms of raw materials wherein the fabrication process is used. In this process, various tools and techniques are used to cut, join, and shape the metal. Would you like to know what they are? This post will introduce you to some important techniques and tools used for sheet metal fabrication.

What are the Common Sheet Metal Fabrication Techniques?

The following are the common fabrication techniques using metal. The choice of techniques will vary depending on the application requirements.

1. Sheet Metal Bending: In this technique, the metal is bent to the desired shape by applying force. The shape of the sheet metal is changed, still, its original volume is retained during bending. Although metal bending can be performed in various ways, the following are two popular types:
   • Form Bending: This is one of the easiest and popular ways to bend metal. In this method, bending is achieved over an edge or a shape, which is located under the metal. Here, a hammer is used to bend the metal into the desired shape.
   • Press Brake Bending: This is one of the most common bending techniques in which metal is placed on a flat, gated surface and a flat bar is positioned on the top of it. Afterward, the gated portion is lifted to bend the metal to the desired angle.
2. Sheet Metal Cutting: Several times, metal pieces may get accidentally stretched, leading to disfigurement. So, complex shapes cannot be achieved using stretched metals. In such cases, the metal is cut to the desired shape. This process is performed using different types of cutting tools:
   • Shears: Various shears including hand shears, power shears, throatless hand shears are used to cut the metal. As the name suggests, hand shears are manually operated shears and are must-have for any sheet metal fabrication facility. Power shears enable effortless and easy metal cutting than hand shears. These shears come in two types – pneumatic and electric shears. However, some of them are not capable of cutting complex shapes. This results in wastage of materials. Throatless shears are designed in a way that they can cut tight radii. These types of shears are operated by hand and do not waste material.
   • Plasma Cutters: They can easily cut sheet metal when adjusted properly, and maintain a high level of accuracy. They are ideal for making long straight cuts and help reduce wastage.
   • Angle Grinders: They are equipped with a disc or wheel that spins to cut the metal.
3. Die Cutting: As the name suggests, this type of cutting involves the use of a die to cut sheet metal in the desired shape. This technique also helps reduce material wastage, and achieve a proper shape. This technique is also referred to as shearing.
4. Sheet Metal Shrinking: This technique is performed to straighten the sheet metal having small dents. However, it is not suited for metal sheets that are severely damaged due to stretching or tearing.  Shrinking of the metal can be performed using the following tools and methods:
   • Tucking Metal: In this method, the sheet metal is bunched at the edges using a tucking fork. A perfect cut can be achieved with a good hammer and wooden stump.
   • Shrinker: It is one of the popular tools, which is operated using a foot or hand lever. The shrinker features moving jaws, which is designed to grasp the sheet metal in its entire length – from top to bottom. This method assures precision than tucking but is a slow process.  Also, this technique produces no burred edges.
   • Heat Shrinking: As its name suggest, you need to heat an overstretched area, as the area cools the metal shrinks. 
5. Sheet Metal Stretching: This technique makes use of English wheel, dolly, and hammer for stretching or pulling the metal apart. 
   • Dolly and Hammer: These are the basic tools used to stretch the sheet metal. A metal sheet is held behind the object and hammered from the other side. This causes compression and stretches the metal sheet.
   • Stretcher: It is a mechanically operated tool that pulls the sheet metal slowly each time a foot pedal or lever is pressed.
   • English Wheel: This tool works similar to a sheet metal dolly and hammer. The sheet metal is placed in between a flat-faced upper wheel and a lower anvil, which is screwed to hold the metal. The metal is then made to roll between these wheels until it is stretched to the desired shape. This tool helps stretch the metal sheet to achieve an accurate crown and balances the imperfections efficiently.

All the above-mentioned techniques and tools are essential to get your job done with ease. Thus, it is important that you source these tools from a reputed manufacturer like Woodward Fab. The Company offers you high-quality metal shaping and forming tools. Through these tools, they help clients accomplish their sheet metal fabrication efficiently.