Slotted Steel Shims and Hot Dip Galvanizing: Increase Expedience and Lower Cost
Preparation in advance leads to The Steel Supply Company's ability to anticipate and fulfill the steel fabricator's needs.
Frequently, The Steel Supply Company receives orders for slotted steel shims that are hot dip galvanized. While a shim is seemingly simple, there are a few considerations that a steel fabricator should take into account when placing an order. The most important of these considerations are manufacturing quality and the hot dip galvanization process.
Slotted steel shims are manufactured in either a punch and die process using a stamping machine, or a burning process on a laser or plasma table. The process used depends on the thickness of the shim. Thinner shims can be made with the stamping machine, while thicker shims will require burning.
In either case, there are several deformities that can occur in the shim as a byproduct of the manufacturing process. These are:
- Crimping (the middle of the shim becoming bent in a ‘v’-like shape)
- Uneven fingers (the fingers of the shim are not parallel with each other)
- Burrs (steel that knurls off the edge of the fingers during stamping)
- Slag or dross (the melted steel that form at the underside during plasma burning)
Shims made with a thinner material shims can have these deformities corrected post production, but thicker sized shims cannot. Regardless of whether the issue can be fixed, these deformities will cause time and material to be wasted in completing the steel fabricator’s order.
Additionally, hot dip galvanizing is another factor that fabricators need to take into consideration when ordering shims. The process of galvanization will add 5 to 10 days to the time required to complete an order.
To ensure that shims are delivered to the steel fabricator in the shortest amount of time, The Steel Supply Company stocks many different types of manufactured, quality tested shims. The majority of our slotted steel shims are stocked in both plain finish or hot dip galvanized. Stocking shims in this way allows us to provide expedient, in many cases same day shipping, to our customers.
With over 100 variations of galvanized slotted steel shims, The Steel Supply Company can almost certainly accommodate your steel fabrication needs.