Sheet metal fabrication
What are the sheet metal gauge and thickness equivalents?
Answer
Sheet Metal Gauge Chart - Gauge to mm and inch Gauge to mm and inch chart for steel, galvanised, stainless and aluminium sheet, and which thicknesses can be stamped, drawn or bent. A gauge number is not a thickness. It is a position on a table, and there are four tables in common use - US Standard Gauge for steel, a separate table for galvanised sheet, a third for stainless steel and a fourth (Brown & Sharpe) for aluminium. The same gauge number means a different wall on each of them, which is why a drawing that specifies "18 gauge" and nothing else is ambiguous.
Sources
- Sheet Metal Gauge Chart - Gauge to mm and inchSheet Metal Gauge Chart - Gauge to mm and inch Gauge to mm and inch chart for steel, galvanised, stainless and aluminium sheet, and which thicknesses can be stamped, drawn or bent. A gauge number is not a thickness. It is a position on a table, and there are four tables in common use - US Standard G...
- Sheet Metal Gauge Chart - Gauge to mm and inchHome › Blog › Sheet Metal Processing Engineering Data · Sheet Metal Sheet Metal Gauge Chart - Gauge to mm and inch Published September 30, 2026 · Balford Technical Team A gauge number is not a thickness. It is a position on a table, and there are four tables in common use - US Stand...
- Density of Aluminum, Copper and Steel: 2.70, 8.96 and 7.85 g/cm3Weight equals volume multiplied by density, and for a stamped or drawn part the volume comes from the blank, not from the finished geometry: sheet thickness multiplied by the developed area, less the scrap that is trimmed away. That is why material utilisation and weight are the same conversation. F...
- ISO 9001:2015 Certified Metal Stamping | BalfordRegistering your trademark blocks others from filing an identical or confusingly similar mark in your product categories. That prevents customer mix-ups and gives you a clear legal path to stop counterfeiters—if you find knockoffs in the field, you can pursue damages and injunctions without having t...
- How to Prevent Wrinkling in Deep Drawing | BalfordWrinkle resistance scales strongly with thickness: a thicker sheet has a much higher buckling stress in the flange, which is why thin parts wrinkle long before thick ones under the same holder force. Thickness tolerances matter — a coil at the low end of its tolerance band behaves like a diffe...
- Surface Finish Chart: Ra Values By ProcessHome › Blog › Metal Stamping Services Engineering Data · Surface Finish Surface Finish Chart: What Ra Value Comes From Which Process Published October 1, 2026 · Balford Technical Team Ra is the number on the drawing, and it is also the most over-specified number on the drawing. A bl...
What an engineer still needs from you
- material and material condition (grade, temper)
- material thickness, plus the key diameter, height and wall thickness
- tolerances, burr direction and the visual acceptance standard
- annual volume - it decides whether tooling is single-hit, progressive or transfer
- surface finish, and any secondary machining, annealing or plating
Submit a drawing / RFQDFM review
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This page is an engineering answer, not a quotation and not a dimensional acceptance. It is generated from Balford's published material and held to the verified company fact sheet.