SHEETMETAL TECHNOLOGY

Sheet metal is used throughout the world in a variety of fashions. From manufacturing of
automobiles, to erecting roofs, to making many things that you have around your home.
Working with sheet metal also has many hazards associated with it.
Sheet metal is very sharp, it is thin, and the edges can penetrate a lot of things including human
skin. When working with sheet metal, it is imperative that the proper PPE (personal protective
equipment) be used. Gloves (Kevlar) designed to protect against cuts and abrasions, long
sleeves (Kevlar), leather (cut resistant) work boots, and of course long pants.
When cutting sheet metal with hand snips, or portable power tools, the above mentioned PPE,
should always be used, as well as safety glasses and a full face shield. Also keep in mind that
thin sheet metal bends very easily, so if you are cutting it, the sheet metal could flex to the point
that you may lose temporary control of it, and could cause injury. Shavings left over after cutting
sheet metal are razor sharp. Never pick up shavings with your bare hands, they will cause severe
cuts. Grinding sheet metal leaves very tiny metal particles all over just about everything within a
few feet. These tiny particles can get on your clothes, skin, in your hair, and are very difficult to
remove, not to mention this will literally ruin your washing machine at home, and contaminate
any other clothes in the same machine.
If metal particles get on your skin, put your arms under running cold water, and never attempt
to rub the shavings off with your hands. This will only possibly embed metal into your skin. Let
the water gently wash them off. If it gets into your hair, do the same, let your shower water
rinse the metal from your hair.
Always remember, working with sheet metal is dangerous, but accidents and injuries can
altogether be avoided, if the proper precautions are taken.
SHEETMETAL METAL TYPES
Steel is the most commonly used material in the sheet metal shop. This is because it is relatively
cheap and is available in alloys and with special coatings for various uses. The most commonly
used types of sheet steels are mild steel, galvanised, stainless and tin plate. Mild steel comes in
two forms: hot-rolled commonly known as black iron, and cold-rolled commonly referred to as
mild steel. Black iron is a cheaper variety and tends to be softer than mild steel. These two in
effect would be classified as plain steel sheets. Black iron looks bluish-black near the sides of the
sheet and may have a silvery appearance near the centre, whereby mild steel sheets have a
silver grey appearance and are of better quality overall.
Coated and Solid Sheets
Sheet steel may be coated or uncoated (solid). A commonly used coated sheets is galvanised.
Stainless steel is the most commonly used solid sheet. Plain sheets are seldom used because of
their susceptibility to rust and corrosion.
The coating on galvanised sheets and is for corrosion resistance. If these metals were used on a
job which required welded seams, the product would burn off the protective coating. On the
other hand, stainless steel may be safely welded because it is resistant to corrosion and has no
coating.
Black Iron
It is also known as uncoated sheet since it carries no artificial coating on its surfaces. However, it
is probably the cheapest of all types of sheets used in sheet metal work. Being uncoated, it is
prone to corrosion. Consequently, its use is confined mostly to the manufacture of such items
which are to be painted before shipment, e.g. block iron is used in tanks, pans, trunks, stove
pipes, etc.

Galvanised Sheet Metal

It is a sheet steel coated with zinc. In the most common one, the steel is dipped in an acid both
for cleaning and then is dipped into the zinc. In the other case the coating is done by an
electroplating process. Electroplated sheets are recognised by their even grey colour and are
mainly used for their ability to resist corrosion. Galvanised mild steel can be easily recognised by
its typical spangled appearance. These spangles are from the molten zinc as it cools on the
sheet. Since galvanised is a coated sheet, its corrosion resistance is dependent upon the
condition of the zinc coating. Zinc is highly resistant to corrosion and, as long as it remains intact
on the sheet, galvanised mild steel will have high corrosion resistance. A good quality galvanised
sheet should last 5-10 years in constant contact with water, but if the surface is damaged in any
way by welding, grinding or bending the steel will be exposed and the sheet will rust through
very quickly. Of all the sheet metals, galvanised is one of the least expensive and is probably the
most commonly used. Air conditioning duct work is made almost entirely of galvanised sheet
metal. Roof flashings and gutters are made from galvanised metal, so also are tanks, signs,
boxes and cladding. Good quality galvanised metal can be bent and straightened several times
without the zinc peeling away. Galvanised metal can be obtained in 2000 x 1000 mm and 2500 x
1250 mm sheets. It is also available in roll form.
Tinplate
Tinplate is a thin steel sheet coated by tin. It has an extremely beautiful metallic lustre as well as
excellent properties in corrosion resistance, solderability, and weldability. Tinplate is used for
making all types of containers such as food cans, beverage cans, 18-liter cans, and artistic cans.
Its applications are not limited to containers; recently, tinplate has also been used for making
electrical machinery parts and many other products.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel is one of the most important materials within industry. As the name indicates,
stainless steel has high resistance to foreign or corrosive elements. It is also very easily cleaned.
For these reasons, it is widely used in residential kitchens, institutional and restaurant kitchens,
for hoods, sinks, splash backs etc. It is also widely used in the dairy industry for milk storage
tanks and containers. It is also used for metal cladding where appearance and fire resistance are
very important.
Non-Ferrous Sheet Metals
Non-ferrous metals are those which have no iron or steel content such as copper, aluminium,
lead and zinc. The most common non-ferrous metals used in the industrial insulation shop is
aluminium – both plain and stucco finish.
Copper
This is a solid sheet easily recognised by its reddish colour. The great advantage of copper is its
high resistance to corrosion. Another desirable feature of copper is its beauty.
Copper sheet is very expensive. The greatest use of copper today is in architectural sheet metal
work. It is used extensively for high quality roofing, gutter, downpipes, roof flashings and hoods.
Copper sheeting is available in both hot and cold rolled. Cold rolled sheets are sheets that have
been through a final process of running through finishing rolls. This gives the metal a smooth
finish and work hardens it to a half-hardened condition.
Hot rolled copper is copper that has only the hot rolled process and has not been rolled when
cold. It does not have the shiny appearance of cold rolled copper. It is used when the metal will
be subjected to stretching when it is formed, since it is soft enough to take severe forming. As it
is being formed it becomes work-hardened and approaches the hardness of cold rolled copper.
Copper that has been work-hardened can be annealed by heating to a cherry red and then
cooling in water or leaving to cool in the open air.
Brass
It is basically an alloy of copper and zinc and is available in many shades and colours. In sheet
and strip forms it is used in many cold working processes, such as deep drawing, pressing,
stamping, spinning, etc. Earlier it used to be the principal metal for making kitchen ware and
utensils. But, now it is largely replaced by stainless steel and aluminium.
Aluminium
The main properties of aluminium are its light weight, corrosion resistance and appearance.
Sheet aluminium weighs approximately one-third as much as sheet steel and is just as strong.
For this reason, aluminium is used instead of steel for such items as exposed ductwork, gutters
etc. where appearance, corrosion, resistance and ease of handling are more important factors
than economy.
Pure aluminium is too soft to hold a permanent shape in sheet form so the sheets are
manufactured as an alloy. Alloying means that one or more metals are added to the pure
aluminium to increase its strength and hardness. Some of the more common alloying metals are
manganese, copper, chromium, silicon and magnesium. Very small quantities of these metals
are required to give the desired properties. In fact, most alloys for sheet metal are almost pure
aluminium. Sheets are available in plain, stucco or embossed finishes for the cladding industry.
Lead
In sheet form it has a number of uses, shower pans, flashings, tanks for highly corrosive
materials and radiation shields are some of the major applications. The use of sheet lead, for
radiation shielding is increasing because of the rapid development in the uses of atomic energy.
Lead has proved to be one of the best materials for shielding workers from radiation. In atomic
energy plants, whole rooms are lined with sheet lead for this purpose.
The chemical and physical characteristics of lead sheet make it very useful for industry. For
example, it is durable and has high resistance to corrosion from most acids and from exposure
to air. It is very soft and easy to work. Lead is therefore commonly used on roof flashings on
both corrugated and tiled roofs where it can be adapted by hand to contours of the roof.
Zinc
Sheet zinc is highly resistant to corrosion and is used in some instances where galvanised steel
cannot provide adequate resistance. Compared to other metals, zinc is rather brittle so care
must be taken while bending it. Zinc sheets are usually ordered by specifying decimal parts of
an inch for thickness.
TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
Marking out tools
Scribers, straight edge, dividers, steel square, engineer square, combination square, protractor,
trammel points, steel rule, centre punch, prick punches, steel tape.
Hammers and mallets
Safety when using hammers
1. Inspect the faces of steel hammers for wear, dents, or chips. They can be dangerous if
chips fly off.
2. Replace the hammer if these conditions are found.
3. Inspect copper, lead, plastic, or rawhide mallets for “mushrooming.
4. File edges of copper, lead or plastic mallets down to the original shape as shown below.
 5. Trim a rawhide mallet with a knife as shown in the diagram below

Specific steps to follow

 6. Make sure handle (1) is tight in head (2). Do not tape a cracked handle. REPLACE IT.
7. Make sure wedges (3) are in handle (1), keeping head (2) tight on handle. USE ONLY
CORRECT WEDGES.
8. Make sure striking face (4) and ball peen (5) are free of oil.

Metal Hammers
Their heads are made of high carbon steel, hardened and tempered on the striking ends. Their
sizes are known by their weight – weight of the head.

Stretching Hammer
This is used for stretching edges and flanges on curved work. It is normally used in conjunction
with a stake.

Planishing Hammer
The principal purpose of the Planishing Hammer is for smoothing and finalising a surface after it
has been roughed out to the required shape.

Engineers Ball Pein

All machinists peen hammers have a flat striking face on one end of the head for striking
punches and chisels. The other end of the head can be one of the following:

A ball peen hammer is used for forming soft metal, peening rivet heads, and striking metal in
out-of-the-way places.
Cross pein hammer
A cross peen hammer is used as a chisel for removing rivet heads and for stretching or bending
metal. Also used for riveting in awkward corners where a ball pein will not fit.

Straight pein hammer

A straight peen hammer is used like the cross peen but differs from the cross peen since its
peening edge is turned ninety degrees. This keeps the handle parallel to the struck surface. It is
mainly used in sheetmetal work for bending and for riveting in awkward corners

Doming hammer or blocking hammer

Its stricken ends are well polished and smooth and is used for shaping sheet metal
Paning hammer or tucking hammer

it has an acute cornered striking edge which is used for tucking in

wired edges in sheetmetal.
Collet hammer
The collet hammer has curved and round edges and is used with a funnel
stake or bick iron to flare cylinders

Raising hammer.
This hammer is used together with the raising stake
for stretching sheetmetal to produce deep bowls.

Mallets
The size of the mallet is known by the diameter of the head.
Boxwood or tinman’s mallet and Rubber Mallets These mallets can
be used on mild steel, copper or aluminium to prevent marring the metal.

Raising mallets
 the head is made of boxwood and the handle of cane. The wedge
shaped end is used to produce large bowls while the flat end is used
for tiring up dish rims

Bossing mallet

The head of this mallet is egg shaped. It is used for shaping bowls in sheetmetal by beating into
shaped wooden block or sandbags. Mostly used when shaping non-metallic sheet metals like
copper and brass
Cutting and shearing tools
Tinsnips
Their size is known by their overall length. Tinsnips are made from carbon steel, hardened and
tempered.
Straight Snips
These snips are used for straight line cutting and on outside curves. They are available in many
different sizes. Available from 150mm to 350mm long.

Combination Snips / Universal tinsnips / Gilbow shear.

These snips are used to cut straight and irregular lines and curves. These are the snips used
most commonly by the industrial insulator. They are available in the same sizes and capacities as
straight snips and are also available for right or left hand use (for cutting outside, inside curves
and cutting straight lines).
Spring loaded snips known as aviation snips are very good for cutting light metal and for
notching work.

Curved tinsnips

The blade of the curved tinsnips allows it to be used to cut inside curves as well as external
curved work.

Bench shears
BENCH SHEAR for metal cutting is designed for quickly and cleanly cutting mild steel, aluminium
and other metals.

Parts
a) Handle is made of mild steel. It is used as a lever for lowering the top blade for cutting.
b) Top and bottom blades. They are made of special carbon steel.
c) Body: it is made of mild steel
d) Steady/material foot: made of mild steel, this part is used to press down and keep the
work piece being cut horizontal.
 e) Cropping hole/shear hole: this hole is drilled in the top blade. It is used cutting rods up
10mm diameter.
The Guillotine
The principle of shearing is similar to punching except that the area being sheared is a relatively
small continuous section, starting at one end of the sheet and ending at the other. A hold-down
clamping stop holds the sheet rigid while the blade of the guillotine shears through the sheet.

An important factor in the production of a good cut edge is the clearance between the blades as
well as the sharpness of the blade edges. Some machines have provision for altering the blade
clearance to suit the thickness of sheet being cut out, usually the clearance is set at
manufacture and checked periodically. A reasonable guide is 0.1 mm increase in clearance for
every 1 mm of sheet thickness. The shearing capacity of the guillotine should be more than the
shearing strength of the material being cut.
Bending sheet metal equipment
FOLDING BARS
The Folding bars below are made from mild steel. They are held in the fitter’s vice when holding
work for bending

The Box and Pan Folding Machine

This type of machine, while suitable for all types of bending operations, has special provision for
folding pans, trays or boxes. No rods, wires or metal beyond the capacity of the machine should
be bent on this machine.
1. The most important points when using this machine is to set the machine to suit the
metal thickness being folded.
2. Never bend beyond the capacity of the machine. This strains the machine
and will shorten the life-span and quality of the folders.
3. Never bend round bar etc. in the machine.
4. When removing or inserting the fingers (of machine) take care not to get
your own hand or fingers squashed.

The Bending Rolls

The two types of bending rolls used in sheet metal are the plain bending and slip bending rolls.
These machines are for curving sheet metal. On the slip bending rolls the upper roll can be
released and this facilitates the removal of the work piece. This can’t be done on plain rolls.
There are power and manually operated types available.
Hazards:
1. Loose clothing e.g. cuffs may get caught up in machine. Always wear tightfitting overall.
2. Exercise caution as fingers may also get caught in the machine.

Sheetmetal tools
Hand groover
The groove is used to close a grooved seam joint.

(a) (b)
Diagram (a) is the groover and in diagram (b) Locking a grooved seam with a hand groover

Stakes
Stakes may be referred to as small anvils, as you use them for similar operations
(shaping/forming sheet metals). They are made of wrought iron faced with steel.
Types of stakes
Hatchet stake

The hatchet stake has a sharp, straight edge bevelled on one side. It is very useful for making
sharp bends, folding the edges of sheet metal, forming boxes and pans by hand, and tucking-in
wired edges and seaming.
Half-moon stake

The half-moon stake has a sharp edge in the form of an arc of a circle bevelled on one side. It is
used for throwing up flanges on metal discs, or profiled blanks, preparatory to wiring and
seaming. It is also used for tucking-in fired edges on curved work.
Funnel stake
As the name implies, this stake is used when shaping and seaming funnels and tapered articles
with part conical corners such as ‘square to-round’ transformers.
Beak or Bick iron stake

This stake has two horns, one of which is tapered and the other is a rectangular anvil. The thick,
tapered horn or ‘beak’ is used when making spouts and sharp tapering articles. The anvil may
be used for squaring corners, seaming and light riveting.
Side stake

A side stake has only one horn which is not tapered. It is more robust than a bick-iron and can
withstand considerable hammering. Its main uses are forming, riveting and seaming pipe work.
It is also used when forming tapered work of short proportions.
Pipe stake

A pipe stake is an elongated version of the side stake and, because of the overhang, is less
robust. As its name implies it is used when forming and seaming sheet-metal pipes.
Extinguisher stake
This is very similar to a bick-iron. It has a round and tapered horn at one end and a rectangular-
shaped horn at the other. Some extinguisher stakes contain a number of grooving slots on the
working surface of the rectangular horn. These are useful when creasing metal and bending
wire. The tapered horn is used when forming, riveting, or seaming small tapered articles. It is
also useful when forming wrinkles or puckers prior to ‘raising’.
Creasing iron

This has two rectangular shaped horns, one of which is plain. The other horn has a series of
grooving slots of various sizes. The grooves are used when ‘sinking’ a bead on a straight edge of
a flat sheet (i.e. reversing wired edges).
Bench mandrel

This is firmly fixed to the bench by means of strap clamps which may be quickly released,
allowing the mandrel to be reversed or adjusted for length of overhang. The mandrel is double-
ended – the rounded end is used for riveting and seaming pipes, whilst the flat end is used for
seaming the corners of pans, boxes, square or rectangular ducting and riveting. It also has a
square tapered hole in the flat end for receiving the shanks of other stakes and heads. Bench
mandrels are available in four sizes ranging from 20kg to 114 kg.
Planishing mandrel

Planishing mandrels are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. The one shown is called a
‘Tinsmith’s anvil’ and is used when Planishing flat surfaces in all types of work. The working
surface is highly polished.
Round bottom stake

These stakes are available in various diameters and have flat working surfaces. They are used
when forming the bases of cylindrical work and for squaring knocked-up seams.
Canister stake

This stake has square and flat working surfaces. Its main use is for working in the corners and
squaring up the seams when working with square or rectangular products.
Convex-head stakes

These are used when forming or shaping double-contoured and spherical work. They are usually
available in two patterns – with a straight shank and with an off-set (cranked) shank.
Horse

This adaptable stake is really a double-ended support. At the end of each arm (one of which is
cranked downwards for clearance) there is a square, tapered hole for the reception of a wide
variety of heads. Four typical heads will now be shown.

Long-head

This is used when making knocked-up joints on cylindrical articles, and also when flanging.
Round-heads
Two types of round head are shown and these are used when ‘raising’.
Oval head

This is oval in shape as shown and has a slightly convex working surface. It sometimes has a
straight edge at one end.
Types of sheetmetal joints.
There are five ways in which the edges of sheet and plate metals can be fastened or joined
together. The following methods can be used.
a) Soldering;
b) Brazing;
c) welding;
d) grooving; and
e) riveted joint
But whilst we are limited to the use of one or other of these forms of jointing, there are
numerous modifications of them in practice.
Butt joint
It should be soldered for strength. It is used for joining rings
Lap joint.
Lap joint also require soldering for strength. It is used for joining cylindrical and conical work.
Lapped and grooved
It is made in the same way as lap joint and then it is soldered and grooved. The grooving will
create a flash side.
Folded seam
It is formed by two folded edges which are hooked together, then hammered close and soldered
for strength. This joint is used to join sheet metal on item like cylinders and cones.