Sheet metal

Common card · No. 250549

Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil or leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 in) are considered plate, such as plate steel, a class of structural steel. Sheet metal is available in flat pieces or coiled strips. The coils are formed by running a continuous sheet of metal through a roll slitter. In most of the world, sheet metal thickness is consistently specified in millimeters. In the US, the thickness of sheet metal is commonly specified by a traditional, non-linear measure known as its gauge. The larger the gauge number, the thinner the metal. Commonly used steel sheet metal ranges from 30 gauge (0.40 mm or 0.016 in) to about 7 gauge (4.55 mm or 0.179 in). Gauge differs between ferrous (iron-based) metals and nonferrous metals such as aluminum or copper. Copper thickness, for example, is traditionally measured in ounces in the US, representing the weight of...

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