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Not certain which metals you need for your business? Here’s a list of the most common metals you’re going to need for your business – and which ones you should use for custom metal fabrications.
It helps a lot to understand the things that are useful to you and your business, and that includes understanding the types of materials that are useful for your business. Whether you’re planning to run a construction business, a manufacturing business, or otherwise – it would be wise to know what’s best for what occasion. You never know, it might help you when making a big investment in some new equipment or looking to switch out the materials you’re currently using.
You can’t open a machine shop without knowing what’s what, and it would be wasteful to make inefficient usage of what you’re buying. Here is a look at the five most common metals you can use in manufacturing products:
Iron
Everyone knows about the many uses that iron has in order to make things that are strong and durable. It’s known for its sturdiness and easy availability, but it’s not applied everywhere – why is that? There are limitations that keep iron from being used in all kinds of different applications. Due to its high melting point, you’ll often see it used for furnaces, cooking instruments, machinery, and more. Because iron is extremely hard, it won’t bend if it heats up terribly – unless it gets amazingly hot. However, it’s a very heavy and rough material, so it’s not great for finer metalworks products.
Steel
Steel really is a very common metal that you’d see a lot of every day. Steel can be much finer and lighter, unlike iron, and makes for the perfect material for everyday household items. Scissors, eating utensils, and more. Even though steel is very strong, it still plays a very important role in a lot of construction projects. It’s also resistant to corrosion, which is why it makes for such a reliable construction component.
Aluminum
Aluminum is a great metal with countless applications. It can be seen in many lightweight metal constructions. It’s not as strong as steel, but it’s still lightweight and incredibly strong. Aluminum is great for making custom metal parts and it can also be easily machined into intricate shapes and designs. It’s great for custom metal fabrication and perfect for machining. More complicated designs and shapes can be made from aluminum, from signs, to car parts, to computer components, and even cans. It’s fairly simple to work with, and it’s easily recyclable. Creating aluminum products is fairly easy and cheap. Just as easily rusty as steel, aluminum is very resistant to corrosion.
Copper alloys
While not typically used for utensils and heavy-duty constructions, copper has more unique properties than other everyday metals. It has excellent conductivity, which makes it great for making cables and other important items. It can also be machined easily, which makes it ideal for making intricate products. Like aluminum, it’s very machinable which makes it easy to create intricate products. Except for electrical cables and wires, you’ll find copper in your plumbing because of its excellent corrosion resistance. There’s no rust or wear from water compared to other metals.
Zinc
Zinc is often found in metal stores and is great for many things. Zinc is incredibly easy to recycle and reuse because it has a very low melting point meaning that it can be recycled and reused easily. It is used to galvanize iron and steel, which will allow them to resist rust. You can also find it in some medicines and such.
Want to learn more about what types of metals can benefit your business? Visit us at Metals4U.com today!