Spun Sheet Metal for Beauty and Functionality

What do clay and metal have in common? Both can be spun to make useful and decorative items. While clay can be spun in the comfort of a studio, sheet metal spinning is an advanced technique offered by various metalworkers and manufacturers. There are many kinds of metal that can be spun and the process is very flexible. A metal spinning service is useful for retail products, industries that require vessels and ornamental architecture. Here are some great spun metal products.

Musical Instruments

A symmetrical shape often creates a beautiful musical tone, as with gongs, cymbals and these handbells. These metal instruments require seamless designs to produce a high quality sound with no vibrations out of place. Brass and copper bells are also finished to have a polished shine to go along with their melodic sound. If you need multiple bells of different sizes and shapes, it is simple task to change the tool shape and angle to suit this need. A craftsman can design multiple bells that have the same style and often works closely with a metal spinning service on the intricacies of the design and metal quality.

Kitchen Appliances

When you look around your kitchen, there are many symmetric pieces hanging from the pot rack, being used as utensils to ladle soup, cut pizza and sauté vegetables. A stove top drip pan, for example, is a round disc that is molded to fit the range slot with a hole drilled in later for the heating element to pass through. Many other food preparation items are made to spec via the services of a custom metal spinning company. Other appliances, such as blenders, microwaves and refrigerators, also use small, symmetric parts that you'll only know are there if you're involved in manufacturing or repairing of such items.

Decorative Metals

Metal is a common decorative material in rustic and modern lighting units. A metal bowl can be spun from a bronze sheet of metal that would look great on your dining table with some flowers, or fruit. Recessed lighting fixtures, hanging pendant lights and symmetrical wall sconces often use the metal spinning process to produce their shapes. For artists, a spun metal plate makes for a unique canvas to paint or etch. Small metal discs are great for windchimes and it is not unusual for iron alloys to be spun for railings and room dividers.

Sheet metal spinning starts off with a metal blank cut to a round shape that is flat and then contoured on a spinning press moving at high rpms. A custom metal spinning company often starts with a CAD drawing provided by the client and they work together to select metal types and grades appropriate for the task. This gallery shows some examples of items created by a metal spinning service and the machines involved in the job.