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Overview: Our Sheet Metal Fabrication Process​?

Sheet Metal Fabrication

CNP offers a variety of metals and alloys, including stainless steel, copper, and aluminum.

The Basics Of Sheet Metal Fabrication

Unlike traditional sheet metal shops, we have infinite capacity and an easy-to-use online quoting system ensuring on-time shipment every time—whether you need a single part or 500 parts. Sheet metal fabrication is the process of forming a piece of metal into a desired shape through bending, stretching, and removal of material. At Rapid, we use press brake punches and die tooling to bend and stretch flat stock into its final geometry. The sheet metal prototyping process is most often used when form, fit, and function are all a priority. Typical sheet metal parts we manufacture include enclosures, brackets, assemblies, weldments, cabinets, and other components.

Sheet Metal Cutting Types

Sheet metal fabrication is the process of forming parts from a metal sheet. Your 3D CAD files are converted into machine code, which controls a machine that precisely cuts and forms the sheets into the final part. Typical forming tools are brakes, punches, and dies which can form angular bends and features. Installing inserts, such as PEM inserts, is standard practice along with welding and finishing services. Sheet metal parts are known for their durability, which makes them great for end-use applications (e.g. chassis). Parts used for low volume prototypes and high volume production runs are most cost-effective due to large initial setup and material costs.

Features of Sheet Metal Fabrication

Advantages

Fast Turnaround
Combining the latest cutting, bending and punching with automated technologies, PCBWay provides quick quotes and completed parts in as fast as 5 business days.
Scalable Volume
All sheet metal parts are built on-demand and with lower setup costs compared to CNC Machining. Depending on your needs, order as little as a single prototype up to 10,000 production parts.
Durability
Sheet metal processes produce highly durable parts well-suited for both functional prototypes and end-use production.
Custom Surface Finishes
Select from a variety of finishes, including anodizing, plating, powder coating, and painting.
Wide Range of Materials
Choose from a variety of sheet metals across a wide range of strength, conductivity, weight, and corrosion-resistance.
Cost Saving
Low investment in tooling and preparation costs, economical for metal sheet parts like bracket, chasis.

Drawbacks

Structure Limits
Interlocking and hollowed structure is difficult to be achieved

Available sheet metal fabrication processes

Our network of Manufacturing Partners gives you easy access to sheet metal fabrication capabilities to serve all your manufacturing needs.
Name Description Allowable sheet thickness
Laser cutting This manufacturing process uses a high-power laser beam to cut a material sheet. 0.5-10mm
Bending This manufacturing process uses a dies to produce a U-shape 0.5-6mm

Tolerances for sheet metal fabrication

Feature Tolerance
Cutting feature ±.0078"(0.2mm)
Bend angle ±1.0°
Bend to edge +/-0.010"(0.254mm)

Available Materials for sheet metal fabrication

Our thermoplastic-like SLA materials include grades of ABS, polycarbonate and polypropylene, along with a durable nickel-coating option.
Aluminum Copper Steel
Aluminum 5052 Copper 101 Stainless Steel 301
Aluminum 6061 Copper 260 (Brass) Stainless Steel 304
Copper C110 Stainless Steel 316/316L
Steel, Low Carbon

Our standard surface finishes

Here is a list of standard surface finishes. For custom surface finishes such as electroplating or polishing, please contact Info.us@cnprototype.com
Standard
Minimal post-processing or treatment on parts is done.
Standard
Bead Blast
Abrasive blasting, more commonly known as sandblasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove surface contaminants.
Requirement Specification
Grit #120
Color Uniform matte of raw material color
Part masking Indicate masking requirements in technical drawing
Bead Blast
Anodized (Type II Or Type III)
Type II creates a corrosion-resistant finish. Parts can be anodized in different colors—clear, black, red, and gold are most common—and is usually associated with aluminum. Type III is thicker and creates a wear-resistant layer in addition to the corrosion resistance seen with Type II.
Requirement Specification
Grit #120
Color Uniform matte of raw material color
Part masking Indicate masking requirements in technical drawing
Anodized (Type II Or Type III)
Bead Blasting + Anodizing color or clear (type II)
Type II anodizing is mainly used to produce parts with a uniform, aesthetically pleasing surface and provides good corrosion and limited wear resistance. Parts are bead blasted to #120 grit prior to anodizing.
Requirement Specification
Thickness 8 - 12 μm (clear), 4 - 8 μm (color)
Color Black, clear or any RAL code or Pantone number
Part masking Indicate masking requirements in technical drawing
Bead Blasting + Anodizing color or clear (type II)
Powder Coat
This is a process where powdered paint is sprayed onto a part which is then baked in an oven. This creates a strong, wear- and corrosion-resistant layer that is more durable than standard painting methods. A wide variety of colors are available to create the desired aesthetic.
Requirement Specification
Thickness 18 - 72μm
Color Black or any RAL code or Pantone number.
Part masking Indicate masking requirements in technical drawing.
Powder Coat
Chem Film (Chromate Conversion Coating)
Provides corrosion resistance and good conductivity properties. Can be used as a base for paint. Can leave surface yellow/gold. Adds very little thickness, about 0.00001”-0.00004”. Chem film will conform to MIL-DTL-5541, TYPE I/II.
Chem Film
Custom
Don’t see the finish you need? Submit an RFQ and we’ll look into a finishing process for you.

We offer a free consultation to discuss your prototyping, casting, or machining challenges.

If you have questions or suggestions, please leave us a message,we will reply you as soon as we can!