Making Sheet Metal

Sheet metal is used for a variety of industrial applications, including the manufacturing of airplanes and roads. It has many applications for consumer products as well, including aluminum siding and the manufacturing of automobiles. The usage of aluminum or stainless steel can only be made applicable in certain instances if the metal is formed into a sheet that can then be bent, rolled, cut, stamped or otherwise prepared for its final purpose. Before the metal is bent or rolled, it must be made into a sheet, which essentially means that enough force is applied to the metal to make it deform to the point of being malleable, but not to the point of structural failure.

Instructions

Process

1

Process the metal by combining it with other metals to create a compound or alloy that will serve the desired purpose. Combining metals such as steel or aluminum with other metals affects the strength of the resulting metal. For example, stainless steel is a combination of chromium and steel and typically results in a higher resistance to corrosion than steel alone and a harder steel product. Any combination of metals can become sheet metal if the resulting combination is stable enough to be pressed and rolled into a sheet. Process the metal and prepare it for milling.

2

Flatten the metal to prepare it for rolling, which is the key process in making sheet metal. Prepare the metal for rolling by forcing it into a flattened shape from its shape as an ingot, which is a bar of metal, most familiar in gold, which may be as small as a few pounds, but is typically in tons for processing into sheets. The ingot form is how most metals are taken into a mill for rolling into sheet metal. Apply heat to the metal to soften it, allowing it to be more malleable.

3

Roll the processed metal between the mill's rollers, applying enough force to deform the metal into the thickness desired for the final purpose. Roll the metal in its cold state into a sheet after processing it with heat or directly from its state as an ingot.

4

Roll the processed metal between the mill's rollers while applying heat, allowing the metal to be more malleable by becoming softer. Roll the metal into a sheet while still hot. Heated rolling is a preferred process for stronger metals and metal alloys.

5

Cut, trim, bend or coil the sheet metal based on the final application. The final thickness of the sheet metal is determined by the application and is actually one of the elements used to differentiate between a plate, which is thicker than a sheet, and foil, which is thinner.