How Are Aluminum Diamond Plate Sheets Made?

People commonly cover surfaces with diamond plates to protect them and make them look great. Different diamond plate grades are used for different purposes based on their toughness. You have probably seen diamond plates on floors for added traction, wrapped around pillars to support their edges from wearing down, and in home gyms and garages to create an industrial look.

When it comes to do-it-yourself projects, our cosmetic aluminum sheets are easy to work with. Let’s explore how aluminum diamond plate sheets are made.

Create Sheets From Ingots

The sheet-making process starts with an ingot of metal. An ingot is a block of either pure or alloyed metal cast into a shape that is easy to process. The most recognizable ingots are gold and silver bars, but we’re discussing aluminum in this blog.

A fabricator transforms the aluminum ingot into a sheet by pressing it between rollers. The worker heats the ingot before passing it through the rollers. As the hot metal goes through the rollers, they exert intense pressure on it, flattening the ingot into a sheet. The fabricator runs the sheet through the rollers again until it reaches the desired thickness.

Stamp the Pattern

Next, the fabricator makes the pattern that gives an aluminum diamond plate its beauty and traction. While fabricators can stamp the pattern on a completed, room-temperature metal sheet, another method is more common.

Metal fabricators often create the diamond pattern during the rolling process, either on hot or cooled metal. The worker covers one of the rollers in a raised diamond pattern. When the roller presses into the metal, the diamond pattern raises on the opposite side of the sheet. This is the key to making aluminum diamond plate sheets.

Roll the Sheets

After embossing the sheet, it gets rolled up for easier handling. The rolled metal is called a coil, but it doesn’t look like a spring. Instead, these coiled sheets look like a metallic paper towel roll.

After winding the metal into a coil, the fabricator passes the coil through cold rolling mills to cool it. Once cooled, you have the finished product: aluminum sheet metal! It is amazing how much the aluminum’s form changes without compromising its durability and shine.

Get Your Aluminum Diamond Plate From CutsMetal

If you want to add durable shine to a project, get your polished aluminum diamond plate sheet from CutsMetal. This material is simple to cut and easy to apply. Shop our diamond plate products today!