For centuries, sheet metal fabrication has been essential in shaping industries—from early construction and infrastructure to today’s advanced uses. Now, it plays a critical role in aerospace, renewable energy, consumer goods, robotics, and medical devices, producing everything from brackets and cable connectors to MRI scanners, surgical implants, and industrial equipment components.
With its versatility, durability, and cost-effectiveness, fabricated sheet metal is the foundation of countless products. But like any manufacturing process, it comes with both advantages and challenges. Whether you’re prototyping a new product, scaling production, or optimizing costs, understanding how to fabricate sheet metal efficiently is key to achieving quality and performance goals.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of working with sheet metal, common manufacturing challenges, and how IMS Electronics Manufacturing provides the expertise, technology, and quality assurance needed to meet your production needs.
While sheet metal fabrication offers many benefits, certain design and production challenges should be considered when selecting this manufacturing method. Working with an experienced fabrication partner like IMS can help mitigate these challenges while maximizing efficiency.
Despite these considerations, advancements in cutting and forming equipment continue to improve accuracy, speed, and cost-efficiency. Complex shapes that were once difficult to manufacture are now achievable with high-precision laser cutting, CNC machining, and automated bending techniques.
Our sheet metal fabrication shop in Calgary specializes in delivering custom, end-to-end manufacturing solutions for businesses across diverse industries. Request a quote today!
An essential part of the metal formation, metal spinning is the subject of our most recent blog article. An essential aspect of every manufacturing process is metal forming, and sheet metal forming, in particular, is all about cutting and shaping thin metal sheets into different shapes. This method, which originated in the Industrial Revolution, is still being developed and combines old-fashioned methodology and cutting-edge science.
Sheet metal forming involves cutting and shaping thin metal into various shapes, including sheets, strips, and coils.
Manufacturers engage in sheet metalworking, sometimes called sheet metal forming or sheet metal fabrication, when they cut and shape thin metal sheets, strips, or coils into pieces with a certain shape. Common industrial terminology for these processes includes press working and press forming, which derive from most manufacturers executing them on presses using a set of dies.
Beverage cans, car bodies, aeroplane fuselages, appliances, filing cabinets, and metal furniture are just a few of the many consumer and commercial uses for standard metal sheets, which typically measure between 0.4 (1/64") mm and 6 mm (1/4) in thickness.
Presses, which are machined tools, are used to form sheet metal with dies. The procedure usually takes place at room temperature. "Stampings" is the name given to the components.
The three main techniques used in sheet metalworking are drawing, shearing, and bending.
Shearing slices the sheet metal using a punch and die to produce shear tension, as the name suggests.
Metal is stretched around a straight axis, a common forming procedure when bent. Depending on the design, bends might be short or long.
Sheet metalworkers use drawing, sometimes called deep drawing, to make pieces with intricate curves and concave surfaces, such as cups and boxes. A metal sheet is punched into a die cavity to achieve this effect.
Low-carbon steel is the most popular and extensively utilised type of steel sheet due to its inexpensive price, excellent strength, and malleability.
Metal shaping has enjoyed tremendous popularity among manufacturers. Among the several benefits of metal forming are the following:
Some of the potential drawbacks of metal forming are as follows:
Cutting metal is one of the most fundamental steps in processing raw materials. Metal is an essential component of any manufacturing process. Consequently, metal-cutting processes either directly or indirectly power the whole manufacturing sector.
Each of the innumerable uses for metal cutting processes has unique specifications. This has led to the development of a wide variety of metal-cutting techniques.
The topic of this essay is how to find the right metal-cutting procedure for your needs.
Metal cutting is a subtractive metalworking type involving erosion processes or force to divide a metal workpiece into several components. Electric discharges and water jets are two examples of ways to provide the cutting action.
Metal cutting techniques can be broadly classified into numerous categories. Right here are a few examples:
The material is removed using a sharp cutting tool pressed on the metal in mechanical cutting procedures. Metals are typically cut mechanically using one of four methods:
Cylindrical metal bars and rods are typically turned using a non-rotary cutting tool. Cutting the metal from the outside in is what this technique is all about. A boring technique is used when turning is done from the inside.
A rotary cutting tool is used in milling to remove stationary material from a workpiece. It is capable of accomplishing its goals by making use of a wide variety of tools.
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Drilling is a typical procedure in metalworking for creating holes with small diameters. The complex finished pieces, metal sheets, and blocks can all be worked with this way.
Grinding uses abrasive wheels to remove very little material from a workpiece. Its primary use is in secondary finishing procedures for metals. This procedure removes very little material. It could be better at cutting.
Thermal cutting methods melt the material at precisely the right spot to cut metals. The precision of thermal cutting procedures is high. On the other hand, they produce hot spots that can compromise the material's strength in the workpiece.
These are the several types of thermal cutting:
To cut using a laser, high-frequency light rays melt the material. Because the laser beam is so tiny, it allows for extremely precise cutting, making it one of the most preferred ways. Cutting in a straight line is not the only possible shape with a laser. Multi-axis cuts cannot be made using a laser cutter.
Plasma cutting is a metal cutting method that uses an ionised plasma stream to melt the material. When the metal melts, it is expelled by a stream of highly pressurised air. A precise cut is achieved through the ionised jet's extremely narrow breadth. Keep in mind that this technique is limited to materials that have a high electrical conductivity. Plasma cutting is thus incompatible with all metal alloys that are not conductive.
Flame cutting and oxy-fuel cutting are interchangeable terms. It heats an explosive combination of oxygen and other gases as a fuel source. Cutting occurs because the material is melted at high temperatures.
Metal is melted by electric arcs in electrical discharge machining. The workpiece is approached near an electrode without actual touch. A new electrode is created by transforming the workpiece. A current flows between the two contacts due to the applied voltage. The material is melted by the increased temperature caused by these discharges.
Electrochemical machining uses a combination of electricity and chemical reactions to remove material from a workpiece. This process is the inverse of electroplating. It is capable of rapidly producing metal components.
One of the most important processes in making metal parts is surface polishing. Any finished component will benefit from a high-quality metal surface treatment, increasing its aesthetic value and, more importantly, its durability.
Many different types of metal finishes are at your disposal. A thorough understanding of each finish is essential for maximising efficiency and minimising waste.
Metal finishing encompasses a wide range of procedures, from simple polishing to more involved manipulations of the molecular structure of the metal. The term "metal finishing" refers to enhancing the surface of a metal product by various processes such as cleaning and polishing.
The above finishing processes have many benefits.
Corrosion resistance, greater aesthetics, and enhanced functionality are the fundamental benefits of each. More subtly, metal coatings often make workable, inexpensive, and widely available materials like mild steel usable. In addition, there may be gains in conductivity and wear resistance.
The costs associated with any manufacturing process are the time and energy invested in planning the manufacturing process and the increased price of the final product.
The components must be handled carefully after processing to achieve certain finishing techniques, such as painting and polishing. Additional time and effort is required to complete the finishing process, which adds to the lead time.
Alternative finishing methods may constrain the final product's usable range. For example, unless you use special high-temperature paint, regular paint has a temperature range it can't handle.
Sheet metal forming is an important part of making things. It involves cutting and shaping thin metal sheets into different shapes. The Industrial Revolution gave rise to this method, which is still being improved upon. It blends old-fashioned methods with the latest scientific findings. Cutting and forming thin metal sheets, strips, or coils into pieces of a certain shape is what sheet metalworking is all about. Drawing, cutting, and bending are the three main ways that sheet metal is worked with.
Using a punch and die to cut the sheet metal creates shear tension. Bending, on the other hand, is a popular way to shape metal that is stretched around a straight axis. Drawing is used to make shapes that are curved and concave. Stainless steel for tools, carbon steel plate, aluminium, low-carbon steel, and low-carbon steel are just some of the materials that can be used to make sheet metal.
Sheet metalworking has many benefits, such as the ability to work with different shapes of metal, little waste, high speed, and ease of understanding. It's also less expensive than other ways of extruding, casting, and shaping, and it can be used in a variety of ways. Sheet metal parts are strong and last a long time, which makes them good for fast prototyping because they can be made in small quantities.
There are, however, some problems that could arise with sheet metalworking, including errors, limits on thickness, high costs for production, the need for complicated designs, and the need for expensive tools and equipment. Sheet metal making can also take longer than other methods, like stamping, because it needs to be done by hand.
Some of the different ways to cut metal are mechanical cutting, milling, drilling, grinding, thermal cutting, plasma cutting, oxy-fuel cutting, electrical discharge machining (EDM), and electrochemical machining. Turning, milling, drilling, grinding, and rotating cutting are all types of mechanical cutting that use a sharp cutting tool to remove material from metal.
With mechanical cutting, you can get precise cuts quickly and with a lot of different metals and materials. A rotary cutting tool is used in milling to remove motionless material from a workpiece. This method is precise and quick. Drilling is a popular way to make holes with a small diameter, but it takes a lot of practice and wears out tools quickly. Abrasive wheels are used in grinding to take very little material from a workpiece.
This gives the surface a good finish and reduces the need for material polishing. When you use thermal cutting, you melt the material in just the right place. This gives you very precise results, but it can also leave hot spots that weaken the material. Laser cutting melts materials with high-frequency light rays. It is very accurate, but the thickness of the material is restricted, and waste can form.
Plasma cutting melts materials with an ionised plasma stream, but it can only be used on materials that are good at conducting electricity. Oxy-fuel cutting uses a powerful mix of oxygen and other gases. It is very accurate, but it uses a lot of power and doesn't trim very quickly. Electrochemical machining removes material from a workpiece by using electricity and chemical processes. It works best with metals that are very hard and don't create hotspots.
Metal finishing is an important part of making metal parts because it makes them look better and last longer. It includes many steps, ranging from simple polishing to complicated changes to the molecular structure of the metal. Some of the benefits are resistance to rust, good looks, usefulness, and low cost. But there are some problems, like longer lead times, careful handling of parts after processing, and maybe limits on the end product's useful range. To be efficient and cut down on waste, you need to know about each finish.
Are you interested in learning more about custom metal forming? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!