Steel sheet cuttings - individually made to measure
Would you like to create a magnetic board for your study, install a splash guard in the kitchen or build bookends for your favourite novels? Sheet steel from our cut-to-size range is the ideal basis for many of your DIY projects. Discover with us what makes sheet steel special and for which of your ideas the robust material is suitable.
What is sheet steel? Facts worth knowing
Before the sheet steel is cut to size, let's start at the beginning. What exactly does the term sheet steel mean?
Steel is an iron alloy whose carbon content is usually no more than 2.06%. In order to optimally adapt the material to its intended use, various elements can be added. They have a significant influence on the properties of the steel and thus also on the properties of the steel sheet blank that is later made from it. Chromium, for example, increases hardness and corrosion resistance. Manganese, among other things, makes steel more wear-resistant and tensile.
We speak of sheet metal when your steel blank is a rolled sheet. From a thickness of 3 mm it is a heavy plate, below that you are dealing with a thin sheet. The latter are usually cold rolled. They are stronger and harder than their hot-rolled, coarser relatives.
Interesting for your projects: The steel sheets from our cutting service are usually cold-rolled thin sheets.
Sheet steel cut to size - our service for your ideas
Up to a thickness of one millimetre, you can easily cut sheet steel to the desired size using sheet metal shears. However, this option is particularly suitable for short cuts, as the shears bend the metal upwards slightly with every movement. Stronger types of sheet metal require electric or hydraulic tools. The fact that even owners of a well-equipped workshop benefit from our cutting service is mainly due to the fact that cutting steel to size requires precise work. If you order a steel sheet cut online from us, you enjoy added security. The sheet metal is delivered directly to your home with only minor cutting tolerances. You can start directly with the realisation of your ideas without delay.
Find out more about the exact details and conditions on our individualization page.
Versatile - your sheet steel blank
Do you already have a concrete plan or are you still looking for inspiration? A steel sheet blank is dimensionally stable and resistant to high temperatures or vibrations. You can easily use it as a floor protector in front of the fireplace, to cover sensitive corners, walls and fronts or as a shelf. The cool grey adds stylish industrial accents to your projects.
Things get a little more casual when you give your steel sheet cuttings a deliberate rust look. How do you do it? Very simple!
How to achieve the rust look
It's very simple: The optical effects are particularly good on raw, degreased steel. All you need is a spray bottle filled with vinegar or citric acid and you should wear protective gloves and goggles.
- Clean the sheet metal thoroughly.
- Spray it evenly with vinegar or citric acid.
Wait until enough rust has formed and you are satisfied with the result. - Fix the surface with linseed oil or Zapon varnish so that the rust does not eat away at the entire sheet.
The same effect can be achieved more easily and evenly with our Modern Options patina. In this case, it is necessary to sand the steel sheet before applying the rust solution. In addition, it is also advisable with this variant of controlled rusting to fix the surface when the desired condition is achieved.
Do you feel like a little more colour? With our colour spray Molotow One4all Acrylic Spray, you can give your steel blank a cheerful, colourful look.
Typical steel sheet blank: resilient and durable
Steel sheets, like the raw material from which they are made, are both strong and robust and easy to form. They have an impressively long service life and can be recycled almost indefinitely. The variants in our range are not made of austenitic steels - they all have magnetic properties. So you can easily turn your sheet steel blank into a cool magnetic board that brings order to your collection of notes.
If you are looking for a steel sheet to use outdoors, be aware of the following: steel is somewhat sensitive to contact with water and oxygen: it rusts. To protect it from corrosion, it is therefore often dipped in a zinc bath. A thin film of the metal is deposited on the surface. When you cut sheet steel that is galvanised, it is important to remember that the cut edges do not have a zinc film. To be on the safe side and prevent rusty surprises, you can seal them with our Weicon metal spray, for example. The zinc variant forms a scale-like, impermeable weather and water protection.
Good to know: The type of post-treatment influences the processing possibilities of a steel blank. Raw steel sheets, for example, can be soldered and welded better than galvanised ones.
Metal meets metal - keyword contact corrosion: You want to combine different metals for your project? You should consider the following when planning your project: Depending on the inherent electrical potential, the presence of an electrolytic conductor and a different corrosion resistance of the materials, an electrochemical reaction can occur. As a result, one of the two metals begins to corrode.
To avoid this contact corrosion, it can be useful to:
- shield the different metals from each other,
- choose the materials in such a way that contact corrosion does not occur,
- make sure that no corrosion medium is present.
Would you like something special? Here you go - stainless steel cuts!
Our cut-to-size service also produces stainless steel sheets to your desired dimensions. The steel from which they are made has a very high degree of purity. Its mass content of sulphur and phosphorus is a maximum of 0.025%. It can be alloyed with chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, niobium, vanadium and tungsten, the so-called steel refiners.
What is special about stainless steel sheets? As a rule, they are harder and tougher than their base metal relatives and thus ideal for projects that require heavy-duty use. As a logical consequence, however, the processing of such steel blanks is also more demanding.
Stainless steel has the reputation of being rust-free. In reality, this is only the case if the respective alloy has a chromium content of at least 13%. The so-called chromium steels are protected from environmental influences by a non-metallic protective layer of chromium oxide - the passive layer. They can easily come into regular contact with moisture or fluctuating temperatures. These properties pay off especially when your sheet steel is used in the bathroom or kitchen. The smooth and hard surface of a stainless steel sheet can also score points here: It hardly provides a foothold for bacteria to take hold.
Attention: In contrast to our regular steel sheet blanks, the stainless steel versions are not magnetic or only weakly magnetic. The silver-coloured materials are therefore not suitable for use as magnetic walls.