Aluminium in the three forms buyers actually order
Flat-rolled sheet and coil, blanks cut and punched to your drawing, and 6063 channel extruded on our own press. Same metal, same yard, one pallet out.
Three forms, one plant
Flat-rolled sheet and coil, blanks cut and punched to your drawing, and 6063 channel extruded on our own press — the same metal, at three different stages of finished.
Most buyers arrive wanting one of the three and discover they need two. A sign shop orders blanks, then finds the channel that stiffens them comes from the same yard; a fabricator orders sheet and asks whether the offcuts can be sheared to size before shipping. Because all three are made metres apart, they share a pallet, a certificate and a bill of lading.
| Form | What it is | Usually bought by | Decided by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet & coil | Flat-rolled 1060, 3003, 3004, 5A02, 5052, 6061; 0.3–6.0 mm | Sheet-metal shops, OEMs, stockists | Alloy, temper, thickness, width |
| Sign blanks | Sheet cut to outline, punched, deburred, film-ready | Sign makers and printers | Outline, hole pattern, flatness, edge finish |
| 6063 sign channel | Extruded stiffening section, 60#–110#, wall 2.0–4.0 mm | Sign fabricators, installers | Section width, wall, length, hole spacing |
All three are quoted from the same enquiry — send the drawing and the cut list together and the answer comes back as one price with the freight shown as a single line.
What happens between the coil and the pallet
The value we add is not the melting. It is the six operations between the coil and the pallet, each of which is a place where a cheaper supplier quietly saves money.
Tolerances we sign up to
Tolerance is where a quotation is won and lost, and where most disputes start. These are the figures we put in writing on the quotation — not the ones that apply "typically".
| Property | Standard range | Held on request |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness | ±0.05 mm under 1.0 mm, ±0.10 mm above | Half of standard, on slit coil |
| Width | ±1.0 mm slit, ±2.0 mm sheared | ±0.5 mm on slit coil |
| Length | ±1.0 mm cut to length | ±0.5 mm |
| Diagonal (blanks) | ≤1.5 mm on 1 m² | ≤1.0 mm |
| Flatness | ≤3 mm/m off a surface plate | ≤2 mm/m on 5052-H38 |
| Hole position | ±0.2 mm from DXF | ±0.1 mm on laser |
Ask for the tolerance table as a PDF if it has to go into a contract — the numbers above are the ones we will sign against, and they are the ones the inspection report is written to.
Buyer questions
Do you sell sheet and the finished parts on the same order?
Yes, and it is usually cheaper. The sheet, the blanks cut from it and the channel that stiffens them ship on one pallet with one set of documents. Send the drawing and the cut list together and the quotation shows material and cutting as separate lines.
What is the smallest order?
One pallet, mixed sizes allowed. On stock sizes a trial quantity below a pallet is sometimes possible — ask for the current stock list rather than assuming.
Which alloys do you actually hold?
1060, 3003, 3004, 5A02, 5052 and 6061 in the thickness ranges shown on the sheet page. Others are rolled to order, which changes the lead time rather than the price.
Can you cut to a DXF?
Yes — outlines, holes and slots to ±0.2 mm on the laser, from your file. Cutting is quoted per part, as a visible line, not built into a unit price.
Related
Send a drawing and a cut list.
Material, cutting and packing come back as one quotation with the freight shown separately.