How to Determine What Metal Shape to Use
Portrait of young focused blacksmith during daily work in metalworking factory controlling quality of metal parts
Working with metal fabrication can be extremely fun and rewarding, but there’s no denying it does take a lot of labor.
So when planning your next metal fabrication project, you need to dedicate plenty of time to determining exactly what metal stock you should use for each phase of the fabrication. By doing this, you not only save time, but you also save on materials by avoiding waste.
Below we’ll take a look at some of the most common metal stock shapes as well as some tips for choosing the correct one for your project.
Common premade metal shapes
Different metals such as steel, brass, or aluminum usually come in the same forms of premade or stamped shapes. These generally include rods, pipes or tubing, rectangular tubing, bars, 90 degree angled pieces, and sheets or plates of varying thickness.
Of course, when deciding on which is best for your current fabrication project, you want to consider a few things during the planning phase.
The first step is determining which shapes are most similar to what your final design should look like. Obviously, if you’re looking to make a tubular piece, then tubular stock is most likely going to be your go-to choice.
But things get more complicated when we consider different shapes. For example, an oval shape that is small might be easier to fabricate from a round tube shape. But a much larger oval shape may be easier to fabricate from a thin sheet of metal that is formed into the oval shape then welded with a seam.
So this process of selecting the right shape for the job can take a little imagination and creativity. Sometimes the less obvious choice will be the one that saves you the most time and gives you the best results.
Choosing the right metal properties
In addition to the different metal choices such as aluminum or steel, there are also grades and varying types of metals within their own category.
For example, steel can come in a wide variety of types. Properties such as hardness and other factors need to be considered.
If your project has certain technical requirements for strength or wear, then you need to match not only the material, but the grade of that material as well. But remember, stronger or more durable metals are also generally more difficult to fabricate and sometimes even require specialized tools. So this is something else to consider.
Different metal sizings
In addition to standard sizing properties like length or width, there are a few more properties when considering metal shapes and sizes.
For metal sheets, you’ll mainly be dealing with the gauge of the metal, which specifies the thickness. The larger the gauge, the thinner the metal is. In some areas of the world, this is simply displayed in millimeters or centimeters.
For tubing and round shapes, you’ll be dealing with the outside diameter and inside diameter (OD/ID) as well as wall thickness.The specialists at Atlas Bronze can help you determine what metal shape you need for your next project. Customer service representatives with years of metal and fabrication experience are waiting to help you with any questions or issues you’re having.
