WHAT IS SHEET METAL

Sheet metal plays a vital role in our daily life and is found is the areas you may expect, like heating and cooling systems, or in places you never realized, such as medical equipment.

The term “sheet metal” refers to any metal that can be formed into flat pieces of varying thicknesses. Thick metals are called plate. Metals used in the sheet metal industry include cold rolled steel, mild steel, stainless steel, tin, nickel, titanium, aluminum, brass, and copper.

Using specialized tools, sheet metal workers cut, roll, bend, and shape these pieces to make a wide variety of objects. Examples of where sheet metal can be found or used include:

Ductwork  |  Refrigeration unit cabinets  |  Medical tables and storage units  |  Building facades  |  Signs  |  Exhaust hoods  |  Stacks  |  Decorative art

Available Paths

While most associate a career in sheet metal with working mainly with air and ventilation ductwork, a career in sheet metal exposes you to a wide variety of interesting work. There are many different paths available to the union sheet metal worker, including:

  • Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

  • Building Information Modeling (BIM)

  • Industrial

  • Welding

  • Service/Refrigeration

  • Testing, Adjusting and Balancing (TAB)