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Sheet Metal Work Projects

The term "sheet metal" refers to metals, such as aluminum, steel, brass and copper, formed into thin flat sheets. Used in large industries, such as shipbuilding and aeronautics, it also has applications in do-it-yourself workshop projects and fine arts. Working with sheet metal requires the correct tools, and the ability to cut and assemble with precision.

Shelves, Trays and Racks
- For a piece of sheet metal, its gauge indicates the level of thickness: The lower the gauge, the thicker the sheet. DIY projects such as shelving, trays or tool racks use 22-gauge pieces that can be cut with tin snips and remain pliable enough to bend. You can create a project from instructions in a home improvement guide or develop your own pattern and use a small tool, known as an awl, to mark where you plan to cut, drill and bend the metal.
Industrial Images
- Sheet metal allows the creation of three-dimensional images from a single scanned, digitized or even hand-drawn one-dimensional image. For example, Blumenthal Sheet Metal, a Houston, Texas-based company in business for over a century, still hand-fabricates pieces of metal into various 3-D images. A more modern method, plasma cutting, uses an image that's entered into a computer and downloaded to a plasma table, and employs a plasma torch to melt the metal and blow the molten pieces away from the cut.
Jewelry Making
- Shops and websites that sell jewelry-making supplies will stock suitable pre-cut sheet metal -- such as sterling silver, brass and copper -- in different gauges. Making pierced earrings, for example, requires selecting the proper gauge and preferred type of sheet metal, cutting it with tin snips and using a punching tool create a hole to insert pre-shaped earring wire. More complex projects might involve welding multiple types of metal pieces together to create elaborate designs.
Decorative Objects
- Decorative household objects such as a door sign or garden art also may incorporate sheet metal. Cutting 24- to 4-gauge tin, copper, brass and aluminum with a metal nibbler tool leads to different edging effects, although tin snips work for simple cutting. After drawing an image on a piece of sheet metal, you can cut it, and then choose to paint it or leave the piece in its natural state. Inserting a piece of wire or decorative ribbon into a small hole made with a sharp punch allows you to hang your creation.

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