Talk to Your Manufacturer About Sheet Metal Sizes Before Designing Your Part (Updated for 2024)

Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 12:01 pm

Choose the Right Gauge at Approved Sheet Metal

When you’re working with sheet metal, choosing the right gauge or thickness for your material may seem simple enough. But rushing the design process is counterproductive if you don’t know the materials and sizes your manufacturer carries. Wouldn’t you like to get everything right the first time?

Material Thicknesses: What’s Really Out There?

Unfortunately, not all sheet metal fabrication shops carry standard sizes for every sheet metal material. The last thing you want is to design for a specific material thickness, only to find that it’s not available at your local manufacturer. You may think you can avoid this hassle by designing a part and selecting the material later, but that often leads to costly tolerance adjustment and rework.

So, what’s the best way to avoid these aggravations? Ask your manufacturer what sheet metal gauges they have in stock, then design your part accordingly.

Choosing the Right Sheet Metal Gauge at Approved Sheet Metal

Rapid delivery is one of our top priorities, so we keep common materials and gauges on hand and ready for use at our metal fabrication shop. As part of our process, we help our clients choose the right material thickness for their parts, using our expertise to determine the ideal solution.

Case Study: No Standard Size, No Problem!

One of our customers recently asked us to assemble over 100 sheet metal components. They had designed the structural part of the assembly with a standard .187” thick steel. The only problem was that in our local area (Hudson, New Hampshire), only one of our suppliers offered this gauge. Ordering from that supplier would have extended our lead time to 3-4 days instead of just 1 and increased cost by 30% per pound.
So, how did we solve their problem?

We recommended a .197” or 7 GA instead. Although the difference was only .008”, we had to make sure that the inside-outside mating surfaces and the tolerance stackup wouldn’t cause discrepancies in form, fit, or function. To avoid errors and give the team on our shop floor accurate geometry, we used SolidWorks to edit the CAD models to the exact thickness we measured the material.

Our customer was thrilled that we found a way to deliver on our short lead time and save them 30% per pound.

Are you unsure about the ideal material thickness for your part? Don’t hesitate to give us a call! We’ll help you make the right choice before you start designing.