Design Nomenclature / Physical Model Making
Sheet metal
Also called sheet, sheet goods, sheetmetal, fabrication
This entry has not been translated yet and is shown in English.
Metal supplied as flat stock and worked cold — cut, bent, punched, rolled. Because the material will not stretch far, the achievable form is bound to what unrolls flat: bends about straight lines, cylinders and cones. Anything with double curvature needs a dart, a stretch-form, or a weld.
In practice
Thickness is quoted in gauge in most shops, and the gauge number runs backwards and differs between steel and aluminium. Ask for a dimension. Every bend then carries a minimum inside radius and a bend allowance, and the flat pattern is not the sum of the outside faces.