Top 5 Advantages of Custom Sheet Metal Fabrication

Most manufacturers require custom sheet metal fabrication in order to manufacture metal goods. The current advancement in fabrication technology allows fabrication manufacturers to produce unique designs with complex parts to meet the application requirements.

Utilizing sheet metal in the custom metal fabrication process is vital to the automotive and aerospace industry. Both residential and commercial sectors are entirely dependent on custom-designed products made with sheet metal. The industry focuses on electronic devices, medical equipment, consumer goods, and various others.

Whether you’re looking for custom metal fabrication services in the Cayman Islands or any other nation, it is essential to comprehend its basics and benefits. Let us walk you through the same.

What is Custom Sheet Metal Fabrication?

Sheet metal is obtained from metal alloys or a metal such as aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel. It is classified by gauge or thickness, including the flat sheet stock covering between 0.006 mm and 0.25 mm thickness. Moreover, any thinner metal is considered to be a foil; thicker is classified as a plate. Finally, it is shaped into flat sheets implementing methods such as hammering, extrusion, and rolling.

A metal sheet is then built into the custom part through selective subtractive processes like laser cutting, reshaping the material to the desired shape by bending it. The former subdues material from the sheet metal for custom design applications, whereas the latter reshapes it without changing the material’s volume.

There are several benefits of customizing parts or components of metal products. Here are 5 essential benefits offered by custom sheet metal fabrication:

Flexibility

Not all ingredients found in the stores can furnish the design. Customized fabrication offers the flexibility in material and design to accomplish your design goals. It ensures that your product is created the way you want with desired outlines. In sum, you get to choose what you’re looking for, how it is built, and more. Flexibility also means that the designs can be improved and altered as the project progresses.

Customization

Customization is one of the main benefits of custom sheet metal components and fabricated parts. Sheet metal can be punched, cut, sheared, welded, formed, machined, rolled, and drilled to any shape and size as required for any specific project or application. It can be done with repeatability and precision.

Durability

When using sheet metal for customized fabricated products, there is an assurance about its durability. Building contractors use sheet metal for flashing and roofing or in ductwork designs for HVAC systems. Yes, sheet metal has an aesthetic and practical appeal in design applications. It also has an exceptional lifespan. When used in the application, custom products neither wear down nor wear out; on the contrary, they offer excellent durability.

Material Properties

Choosing the suitable material for an application is absolute for its success. It must possess mechanical properties like Hardness, Brittleness, Ductility, Toughness, and Strength that help the metal perform with precision in the surroundings it is designed for. Manufacturers can fabricate and make custom sheet metal products with material that consists of desired properties needed for product application. Qualities such as tensile strength, non-corrosiveness, and electro-thermal conductivity are required to fabricate metal products.

For instance, projects such as architectural engineering would preferably require 316 Marine Grade stainless steel for applications established in marine or humid environments. With its low-cost, lightweight, very high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance power, aluminum is a favorite material for aircraft, electronic devices, and custom-designed products. Certain alloys of aluminum provide the same strength as their stainless steel counterpart at just ⅓ the weight.

Quality

Components and customized parts fabricated to exact specifications with choice material to ensure the highest quality finish product for the application. Custom sheet metal fabrication employs advanced technologies to shape, cut, and create quality components that are structurally easy to install, sound in performance, and require low maintenance.