Choosing Sheet Metal Gauge

With a sheet metal gauge table the process is simplified to just a few clicks.

Choosing sheet metal gauge.

Gauge or gage sizes are numbers that indicate the thickness of a piece of sheet metal with a higher number referring to a thinner sheet. For sheet metal parts 5052 is preferred as the metal can bend to a tighter radius than 6061 without cracking. Selecting sheet metal thickness requires familiarity with material gauges. The thicker the piece of sheet metal the heavier in weight the material is for building.

The manufacturers standard gage provides the thicknesses for standard steel galvanized steel and stainless steel. The gauge number 18 holds no relevance to the actual measurements. Next we use the pull down menu to select the appropriate table. Choosing the right gauge sheet metal for your fabrication now moving into something that will be more specific to each customer and each sheet metal project.

Choose the check mark to use a gauge table. It is very important that you are using the correct product to optimize efficiency and functionality. The equivalent thicknesses differ for each gauge size standard which were developed based on the weight of the sheet for a given material. For example 18 gauge steel according to a gauge conversion chart is 0 0478 inch or 1 214 millimeter.

With custom sheet metal fabrication always note that the higher the number of the gauge the thinner the metal. For cnc machined parts panels and enclosures 6061 aluminum is ideal because the material is softer and is easily milled.