Configuring and Customizing Sheet Metal In Various Shapes

Configuring and Customizing Sheet Metal In Various Shapes

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Being a DIY enthusiast you always look for new and creative ideas to try on your new DIY project. However, one major drawback for a DIY enthusiast is, finding the right type of metal fabricator to work with. If this is an off-putting concern for you, don’t worry- we have got your back!

Our suggestion is to buy sheet metal online from our website. You can configure it into your desired shape based on your project requirements and place the order online. Customizing a sheet metal will be very easy when you follow the simple four-step online configuration process.

This is where sheet metal can be of great use for you. There are a zillion creative sheet metal DIY projects that you could try. All you need to do is configure sheet metal online on our website and get it fabricated into the desired shape. Even for someone who has just started to use metal in their DIY projects, sheet metal is not that hard to use. You can specify the exact size of the 14 different shapes we offer online and have the option to add various different cutouts like holes to your shape. For example, a lot of people use stainless steel sheet metal as a decor piece on their walls and add holes so they have a way to attach the backsplash to the kitchen wall.

Importance of customization for your DIY project

When it comes to DIY projects, it is best to get metal parts fabricated to your requirements. Most local fabricators only take bulk orders and that won’t be of much help with your DIY project, as it may require only a single piece of metal configured to your needs.

From the most simple shapes to the most complex ones we can help you configure it all. However, if you have a particular design or shape that you want us to configure for you then you can get in touch with us and we will see what we can do.

When you configure the sheet metal into various shapes, we assure you that the shapes will be extremely precise. How do we achieve such accuracy? Well, this is because we use the latest laser cutting technology to cut the sheet metal into desired shapes. This allows us the freedom to cut even small parts of sheet metal with perfection.

You can only buy customized sheet metal from our website. All you need to do is to use our four-step configuration and ordering process, by selecting the option given and specifying the measurements for the selected shape. By using the build-in CAD app you will now be able to add holes and other cutouts to your metal part. 

For straight sided shapes you can cut them with a good guillotine
cutter. The better ones have an adjustable fence, so you can cut to
reproducible sizes. If there is any slight curling you can flatten
by whacking them while they are between a pair of bench plates.

If you foresee making a lot of them it could be a worthwhile
purchase. Otherwise there might be a shop in your area which would
let you use theirs, or commercial metalwork shops will cut them for
you if you provide the metal. Just make sure they’ll let you watch so
you can gather up all the offcuts.

Discs are available from the better metal and findings houses, in a
variety of sizes and thicknesses.

Elliot

Hi Deborah,

My pancake dies will cut metal between 12 gauge on the thickest and
22 gauge, full hard - not annealed. metal thinner than 22 gauge will
leave a burr or get stuck in the die. My dies are made of mild
steel. They are good for cutting non-ferrous metals such silver,
gold, copper, brass and aluminum. They will cut steel, but they
won’t last very long doing it.

As far as the longevity of the dies, I have cut over 100 pieces with
a majority of them and I have customers who have done more than
that. They sell stamped parts and really use them alot. The simplest
shapes are always the easiest to remove from the die. The more
complex dies like the flowers area little more difficult. By that I
mean they don’t just fall out.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit US Metal Spinning.

If you do manage to wear out a die, the good news is, you can buy
another. They are relatively inexpensive and they are all identical.
They are $18 and $22 each, which makes them very affordable and good
for production.

They can be purchased through me or Otto Frei. We also make
silhouette dies in matching shapes. I’m not really set up to do
custom work, but I am willing to take suggestions, but I can’t
guarantee they will get made.

Thanks,
Kevin

Pancake dies are a very good way to go, and are the best choice in a
lot of situations. I myself specialize in offering custom pancake
dies that will work on metal as thick or as thin as you want. They
are more expensive than Kevin’s (Potter) because they are made of
heat treated tool steel and are cut at the proper angle to have tight
clearence, which allows them to cut thinner metals, and they are
custom; your individual designs, not stock shapes.

The do not absolutely require a press, but it’s highly recommended,
and in fact non-press techniques only work on small, thin shapes. I
always discourage people from not getting a press, but some people
will do what they want to do regardless of advice. I’ve heard of
using a vise, a rubber mold vulcanizing machine, and of course, the
ubiquitous BFH (hammer). The absolute worst thing to put one in is a
rolling mill, because that only engages a small part of the die at a
time, which can quickly deform and ruin the die. Neither do you ever
want to strike the die directly with a hammer ; however, placing the
die between two steel blocks and striking the top block is not
nearly as bad as bad as hitting the die itself, or the rolling mill
insanity. Vises are ok for small shapes, but it’s critical to have
vise jaws (or modified jaws) that are smooth, and large enough to
cover the entire design, to engage it all at once. The main thing
lacking in all non-press approaches is power, and once the pieces
being cut are out of the small/thin/simple range, some sort of press
really is the only way to use the dies.

As far as other kinds of dies, there are steel rule dies (like
cookie cutters) which are good for very thin metal ; I’m not sure of
the upper thickness limit but it might be only about 28 or 26 ga
depending on the material. There are steel rule diemakers literally
all over, and they are widely used in industry for cutting paper,
leather, cardboard, plastic, etc. for all kinds of common items.
Then there are the hand-held punch and die sets (disc cutter sets)
which I never did like much ; those, and simple-shaped industrial
punch and die sets for punch presses can be had at fairly low prices,
but you obviously need a press and die shoe to hold the non-hand-held
sets. Custom die sets made the conventional way, where separate male
and female die parts are machined separately, can be very expensive
compared to pancake dies, hundreds or thousands of bucks, compared
to tens or hundreds.

So, for custom shapes, pancake dies are almost the only technology
inbetween hand cutting parts and expensive industrial setups, and are
certainly a very affordable way to make part cutting a breeze instead
of a royal pain.

Dar Shelton

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I have tried many different ways to operate the pancake dies, but
the only method that works well, at least for me, is a hydraulic
press. I've tried arbor presses, vices, hammers and rolling mills,
but the most reliable, safest, is definitely the hydraulic press. I
even have a video on my website showing the various options I
mention. I kind of regret even showing it because it's kinda clumsy
and it required a lot of effort with abig hammer. If all you want
to do is pancake dies and silhouette dies, no bracelets or deep
drawing, then my 12 ton press is perfect. They are $450, including
jack, ready to use. There are some less expensive hydrualic presses
out there that are designed for automotive type use. A lot of them
are very big. My 12 ton is very small and could easily sit on a
kitchen table. 

To which I say:

Right, hydraulics can’t be beat. Arbor presses can be faster for
very small/simple/thin pieces but they reach their limit pretty fast.
I had a 3-ton arbor set up as an auxiliary press for a while. but it
ended up being a doming press more often, once I had electric motors
for my hydraulic presses. I am quite spoiled as far as that goes,
since I do need to be able to zip through large punchout orders muy
pronto.

I’ve also seen people use kick presses effectively, and also
quickly, for smallish pancake dies. A 10-ton kick press can do quite
a bit, but I don’t like their high-impact delivery for hardened
dies, which can be somewhat fragile for certain applications. A die
that can be beat on with a sledge hammer and show no marks can also
fatigue and crack if it’s used enough. A few thousand, or tens of
thousands, of punches in thick metal will find any weak spots and
eventually exploit them.

But generally, hydraulics are the best way to go, and it’s rare that
I get a die made that takes more than about 12 tons. Bracelets and
large (4" by 6" ) ornaments, or super-thick buckles can work at
around that range, so anyone doing smaller designs will do fine with
12 tons if they are just blanking flat parts. If someone wants to
make these or similar larger designs, it is a good idea to go with
20 tons, so that there will be headroom, meaning that the press
isn’t operating near it’s full capacity. That isn’t actually an
issue with well made presses, but might be with the cheaper ones.

I have a lot of dies for one person who makes ornamental rusted “tin”
(Spanish tinwork" being made from galvanized steel for the most part)
pieces that are around the size of bracelets (some smaller, some a
little larger, plus a 9" tall cross). The steel sheet is 30 ga, so it
punches out easily, but there are lots of semicircular wires soldered
to the dies that make embossed edges around these pieces, and some
with more detailed wire designs added. At the time I stared making
their dies I only has 25 ton presses, which I thought would be
enough, but most of them only emboss well at 25-45 tons. These are
the kind of application where hardened tool steel dies are an
absolute must, and conventional two-part dies would probably be
prohibitively expensive for individuals. Pancake die technology to
the rescue…

But back to your original point, I agree completely that it is
(searching for some diplomacy for those involved in non-press methods
of using pancake dies) shall we say, primitive, not to use a press,
and if you’re gonna get a press, you’re gonna be able to do a lot
more with hydraulics. One more kind I’ve seen used are what they call
‘clicker’ presses, which are big (huge) mechanical units that also
slam down violently. They are generally already setup with flat
platens, being most commonly used with steel rule dies for doing
things like punching out leather shoe blanks. Another reason to
choose the gentle, inexorable pressure delivered by today’s modern
hydraulic presses. (I should make a tv commercial, huh?)

Dar
http://www.sheltech.net

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