#HTE

Surprising Production Methods: Expanded Metal Sheets

Sometimes confused with wire mesh, expanded metal is a versatile, grate-like surface that comes in sheets.

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It’s used to make everything from catwalks to protective cages for machinery to security surfaces (added to one side of a sheetrock wall, for instance). Out here in the country, I often see expanded metal used in ramp gates for utility trailers. Expanded metal can be made with either aluminum or steel, but I’ve only ever seen steel examples.

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What’s absolutely incredible is the way that it’s made. Expanded metal is cut from a single sheet of raw material, and none of the holes are punched out, exactly:

I call that a marvel of modern manufacturing!

Interestingly, the same technique can be used in…pastry making:



https://www.core77.com/posts/112586/Surprising-Production-Methods-Expanded-Metal-Sheets