Metal Spinning

Metal spinning (spin forming) is a method to form sheet metal into a round or conical shape.

Metall spinning includes three important parts. Firstly, a piece of sheet metal mounted on a lathe. Secondly a form, called mandrel on the lathe's rotating axis which has the shape of the intended inside profile of the workpiece and lastly a tool. While spinning, the workpiece (the piece of sheet metal) rotates at high speed. The tool then pushes the workpiece against the mandrel so that the workpiece take the mandrel's shape. This can be done in small steps to reduce the metal stress. In some cases the sheet metal is also heated before or during spinning for the same reason.

This process, metal spinning, has many advantages. The biggest one might be its short set-up time, therefore it is cheap and simple to make changes to the produciton, making it very suitable for small or medium volumes. Metal spinning is a process that can easily be automated making it possible to do larger volume as well. Another advantage is that the whole component is made in one piece. As seams are weak points, a seamless part is suitable for products that need to withstand force, such as pressure vessels.

The most competing method is deep drawing, which has large initial costs for set-up and tools. On the other hand, deep drawing has shorter production cycles so it is usually only considered for large volumes.

Picture: Elland Metal Spinning & Pressing Co. Ltd