In the metal finishing industry, there are many classifications of products used across industries worldwide. Products such as sheet metal, plates, pipes, tubes, and others are among the most commonly seen—but what about extruded metal products?
Extruded metal products, or metal extrusions, are specialized shapes formed using a unique forming process called “extrusion.” The final products created by extruding metal vary quite widely, and they’re often grouped together due to the wide variety of shapes and sizes available.
As a global leader in metal finishing, our team at Polished Metals is often asked to finish a wide range of extruded metal products. In today’s post, we’re sharing more about metal extrusion and the types of products that are commonly extruded for use across many industries.
What Is Metal Extrusion?
Metal products can be formed using a variety of processes. For example, metal may be formed by stretching it into long, thin pieces or flattened out using a series of rollers.
Metal extrusion is another common process of metal forming. During metal extrusion, the metal (either hot or cold) is forced through a device called a “die,” producing a specific shape or product.
Dies are similar to molds; the primary difference, however, is that molds are generally used to form molten metal that then hardens into its shape, while dies can shape from sheet metal and other solid forms.
Types of Extruded Metal Products
Metal extrusions form a large category of products with the metal industry. In fact, many other common metal products are frequently extruded during the manufacturing process. Extruded metal products may include:
- Pipes
- Rods
- Tubes (all shapes)
- Bars
- Angels
- Channels
While these types of products are not always extruded, this is often a favored method for manufacturing them.
The Advantages of Extrusion
In addition to the common shapes listed above, metal extrusion is also used to form more detailed and specialized metal products. Any material with a constant cross-section, no matter how complex, may be formed via extrusion, which is a unique advantage of the extrusion process.
Because of this benefit, in many cases the category of “extruded products” refers specifically to these types of products that are otherwise uncommon or difficult to sort into groups.
Another advantage of extrusion is the ability to form long, seamless metal products. Seams can become weak points, and they are often an inevitable result of many manufacturing processes. However, with longer products such as pipes and tubes, the extrusion process allows for much larger sections of seamless materials, which can help improve the overall integrity of the finished structure or product.
Polished Metals Has the Experience and Skill to Finish Your Products!
Finishing extruded metal products—particularly those with more complex cross-sections—can be difficult without the right equipment. In many cases, metal finishing companies may not have the ability to process certain shapes.
At Polished Metals, however, our team operates from a fully equipped 50,000-square-foot facility with a wide range of machinery and tools at our disposal. This enables our professional team to process high volumes of extruded metal products.
If you have questions about our inventory or would like a quote for your project, please reach out to us.