[TheForge] Iron Foil

[Ries Niemi]

> 	I am looking for a source for thin sheets of iron and iron foil, 
> anyone have any ideas where I can get this stuff from:
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry
>
>

When shopping for something, using the proper definitions and words are 
important. Hanging around the back of the pickup, it makes no 
difference.

I doubt you are really looking for "iron foil". If such a thing was 
available, it would cost a fortune and take forever to get.

What you want is sheet metal- sheet steel, to be exact, in gauge 
thicknesses. Sheet steel is commonly available down to about 32 gauge, 
which is .0134" thick. Up to 10ga, at .1382". Then it changes to plate, 
and is measured in 1/16" increments.
32 Ga is not foil, but pretty darn thin. Many larger steel distributors 
stock this stuff- and in larger cities, there are HVAC suppliers that 
stock sheet metal.
You want cold rolled steel- as opposed to galvanized or galvalume, 
which are zinc plated.
It used to be that deep drawing alloys were hard to get in most areas 
of the country, but nowadays almost all cold rolled sheet is "aluminum 
killed" which is the technique used to make deep drawing steels move 
more without cracking. Industry has found it cheaper to make fewer 
different types, which benefits us if we want a repousse steel.  Cold 
rolled is available in 4x8 and 4x10 sheets. It comes work hardened from 
the factory, but when I want it to move, I have had some success 
annealling it by heating my work piece to dull red, then letting it 
cool as slowly as possible. I have done some cold forming of up to 16ga 
cold rolled, with a hammer and shot bag, and english wheel, and of 
course it moves very easily when heated.
You might want to buy a sheet metal gauge- this is a very elegant tool 
for measuring sheet metal- it is a circle of steel about 3" in 
diameter, with precise thickness notches all around the edge. You can 
use it tell you exactly how thick the material you find at the junkyard 
is. Plus they look really cool. The best ones are made by Starrett, and 
will last forever.

ries