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Sheet Metal Design Guidelines

Factorem
6 min readMay 17, 2021

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As we build our knowledge database, we want to share with you all that we know — from design and engineering tips, to manufacturing hardware — , in our mission to #HelpMakersMake. Learn more.

Here is an article written by our engineering team that will provide you 4 tips that will help you design sheet metal parts. Sheet metal can be shaped into a myriad of shapes due to its flexibility as explained in our previous article here. However, certain design considerations must be kept in view when designing for sheet metal fabrication.

Do check out our previous sheet metal guide found here for a better understanding of how the sheet metal fabrication works. The following tips are not meant guidelines differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. dependent on skills and machinery available.

1. Distance between extruded holes

To start, we need to be considerate of the distance between features as placing them too close to each other would result in inaccuracies and increased cost to make up for the poor design.

  • An extruded hole should be at least 3x the thickness of the sheet.
  • Between 2 extruded holes, the minimum distance is recommended to be 6x the thickness of the sheet
Acceptable distance between extruded holes
Acceptable distance from edge to extruded hole

This is to prevent deformation or tearing of the edge and the hole because of the shearing process when making the holes. Further details can be found in another article that we’ve written here.

2. Hole depth and distance in between

Holes should be wider than the sheet’s diameter as seen below. While this is not mandatory, following this tip would help with cost savings. This is because additional post processing steps are required to remove the excessive burrs due to the higher punching load. Additionally, the lifespan of the part would decrease due to slug pulling as the punch is withdrawn as seen below.

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Factorem
Factorem

Written by Factorem

On-demand, one-stop portal to custom manufacturing in Southeast Asia. I www.factorem.co

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