Metal Spinning = Cost Effective Metal Forming

Metal Spinning has a long history that spans back to ancient Egypt and has progressed through the years to today’s more advanced methods of forming metal via spinning it.  Today, the modern metal spinning process takes place on rigid lathes that incorporate high velocity spindles that shape the metal.  These spindles are operated either manually or via advanced computer controls.

With these various advances in equipment and tools, almost any ductile metal can be formed into various shapes and configurations (e.g., intricate curves, tight grooves, etc.).  These metals include aluminum, stainless and carbon steels, as well as high performance alloys.  Below are just a few of the thousands of parts and components that are produced via metal spinning:

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Metal spinning also offers cost advantages over other types of metal forming.  Here’s a short list of some of the advantages that metal spinning offers when looking at production costs:

• Tooling and Design Flexibility – Tooling for metal spinning is simple and economical to produce.  Initial tooling investment for metal spinning a component can be 80 to 90% less in comparison to other metal forming processes.
• Improved Material Yield -- Since metal spinning is a process that produces components by actually deforming a piece of metal or in other words, the component is reshaped without adding or removing material to it.  With metal costs constantly rising, conserving metal resources provides a significant cost advantage via metal spinning.
• Reduced Material Requirements for Structurally Superior Parts – Another cost advantage involving the use of less material is the fact that when a piece of metal is deformed and cold-worked the metal compresses and realigns the grain structure to harden the material.  This process improves the tensile strength of the metal which allows thinner walled components to be fabricated from lighter gauge materials.

This is a quick overview of the advantages of metal spinning.  Helander has written an eBook, titled “Metal Spinning = Cost Effective Metal Forming” that goes into greater depth on the subject.  You can download it for free by clicking on the button below.  We hope you have a chance to download it and will learn more about metal spinning and how it could save you time and money on your next project.