That metal stuff, you know, sheet and plate, what’s the difference between sheet and plate in mm? I always hear folks talking about it, never quite got it straight. One is thinner, one is thicker, that much I know.
That sheet metal, it’s the thin stuff. Like that tin roof on my old shed. That’s sheet metal, I reckon. Thin as a pancake, almost. You can bend it real easy, that’s for sure. This thin stuff, they measure it funny. They call it “gauges.” Don’t ask me what that means. Just know the bigger the number, the thinner it is. It is thinner than plate, and is more lightweight. It is also more affordable than metal plate.
They use it for all sorts of things. Cans for your beans, that’s sheet metal. Your washing machine? Probably sheet metal. Even them cars, they got sheet metal on ’em. This kind metal, if its thickness is less than 6mm, then we call it sheet. And if the metal is thinner than 0.2mm, we call it foil.
Now, plate, that’s the thick stuff. Real thick. Like the side of that old tractor my grandson uses. That’s plate, gotta be. You ain’t bending that with your hands, no sir. They use inches to measure that. Big, thick pieces of metal.
So, sheet is thin, plate is thick. That’s the main thing. Sheet is for things that need to be light and easy to shape. Plate is for things that need to be strong and tough. Like a bridge or a big building. You wouldn’t use sheet metal for that, no way.
Let me tell you a little story. My grandson, he’s a good boy, always tinkering with things. He wanted to build a little cart to haul things around the yard. He asked me, “Grandma, should I use sheet or plate for this cart?” I told him, “Well, boy, you want it strong, don’t you? But you don’t want it too heavy either. Maybe something in between?”
Turns out, there’s a whole bunch of different thicknesses, even for sheet and plate. You got your real thin sheet, almost like paper. And your real thick plate, like armor. And everything in between. If the thickness of the metal is 6mm or more, then it is plate. And the plate thickness is measured in inches.
- Sheet metal is thin, measured in gauges.
- Plate metal is thick, measured in inches.
- Sheet metal: thickness less than 6mm.
- Metal foil: thickness less than 0.2mm.
- Metal plate: thickness more than 6mm.
- Sheet is for things that need to be light.
- Plate is for things that need to be strong.
- Sheet metal is used for cans, appliances, and cars.
My grandson, he did some figuring. He found out that for his cart, he needed something thicker than most sheet metal, but not as thick as most plate. He ended up using some metal that was about, oh, I don’t know, maybe an eighth of an inch thick? Something like that. It was strong enough to hold what he needed, but not so heavy he couldn’t pull it. How to calculate the thickness of a metal sheet or plate? They told me we can divide the volume by the surface area to calculate the thickness. For example, the thickness is 15.5 cubic cm / 96.774 square cm = 0.16 cm or 1.6 mm.
So, it ain’t just sheet and plate, there are more than that. There’s a whole range. It is important to know what is sheet and what is plate. And what thickness of metal to use is very important, you need to pick the right one for the job. You use the wrong one, and your project might fall apart, or it might be too heavy to move. Or maybe it will cost more money.
I remember one time, my neighbor, bless his heart, he tried to build a roof for his chicken coop out of sheet metal that was way too thin. First good wind that came along, ripped that roof right off! Chickens went everywhere. He should have used something thicker, maybe not plate, but definitely thicker sheet metal. He learned his lesson, though.
So, you see, knowing the difference between sheet and plate in mm is important. Even if you ain’t building nothing yourself, it’s good to know. You never know when you might need to fix something, or help someone out who’s building something.
