Scoring Sheet Metal

The term scoring refers to creating a groove in metal sheet and then bending it up and soldering it from the back to strengthen the seam.

Scoring sheet metal.

Scoring metal is incredibly important for custom jewelry construction. Place the metal on a hard surface to score it and on long pieces do the bending with the score place along a sharp edge of a bench and if necessary clamp the fixed piece with a long piece of flat wood to prevent buckling the metal while bending it back and forth. It is a severe form of adhesive wear and occurs due to the tearing out of small particles that weld together as a result of overheating due to high contact pressure and or high sliding velocity of sliding surfaces permitting metal to metal contact. It enables you to reduce the number of parts in a catch or a hollow piece which increases strength and cuts fabrication time.

Silicon carbide separating discs are superb for scoring metal for bending particularly when the metal sheet is less than 4 or 5 cm across. Typically the user creates a deep score and then gently taps the material to encourage it to snap in half. If your project requires curved cuts make an easy economical and adjustable. Place the sheet metal on top of the workbench and lay out your pattern using a tape measure pencil and straightedge.

While i was originally taught to use discs for catch building which involves only straight lines i discovered that they are superb for curved line scoring. This process is caused by lack of adequate lubrication under extreme pressure.