The modern-day engineering industry is incomplete without sheet metal fabrication. From simple workshops to big manufacturing plants, it is used almost everywhere. If you look around yourself, you will find that it is being used everywhere from cars, furniture, kitchen sinks, to airplanes, etc. The design industry cannot grow further without precision sheet metal fabrication equipment.

Before moving further, let’s know about sheet fabrication. It is a technique to make thin and flat metal sheets by stamping, cutting, bending, or punching.

The design possibilities are endless that allows a spectrum of products to be produced. The products are manufactured by using different equipment such as cutting torches, welding equipment, chop saws, etc.

What is the equipment needed?

The industrial processes use a set of tools for cutting, forming, and joining techniques to give the desired shape to the sheet. The equipment depends on the purpose you have in mind.

Some most commonly used equipment used are listed below:

• Lathe machines

These machines are used for rotating the workpiece, so that it can perform various operations. These machines can be used for cutting, sanding, drilling, boring, knurling, facing, and turning.

• Milling machines

These machines are used to remove the undesired substance. The major areas it works on are performing peripheral milling and face milling.

• Drilling machines

The most seen machines in the industry are these. As the name suggests, it is used for making holes in sheets and other shapes.

• Shaper machines

These machines give shape to the object by cutting them into a specific shape. They are easy to use.

There are other kinds of precision sheet metal fabrication equipment also, which include:

• Saw machines
• Drill press
• Corner insertion machines and more.

Types of sheet metal fabrication

Sheet metal fabrication can be classified into three broad categories, namely:

• Cutting

It is for cutting the metal sheets and is also branched into two parts that are– cutting with and without shear. There are various techniques through which it can be conducted.

• Forming

In this step, the metal sheets undergo plastic deformation for acquiring different shapes and sizes for various purposes.

In this, metal isn’t removed but reshaped.

• Joining

Once the cutting and forming take place, the next step is joining the two pieces together to make an entirely new creation.

Applications

Sheet metal fabrication is used in various applications, like automotive bodies, robotics, electronics, shipbuilding, aerospace, and construction area.