Guide To Making Sheet Metal Brackets

Sheet metal brackets come in a variety of styles and shapes. It is important to note that each sheet metal bracket-style has its own specific application when mounting a component or adapting to a specific surface shape. With Omnidex’s commitment to meeting your deadlines, we can manufacture just about any type of bracket for your project (so long as it fits within our tooling requirements), regardless of whether it is part of a custom enclosure design or stands alone.

To help you in making design decisions, this blog post will describe five common bracket styles and their ideal use cases

Here are two quick tips before diving into the different bracket styles.

Firstly, our engineering design team uses CAD software, to design, quote and order parts, including brackets, that are capable of being manufactured. When you need to design brackets quickly, CAD software lets you pick the style, dimensions, material, and finish them quickly by adding cutouts and fasteners.

Secondly, keep in mind that not all brackets must be designed for 90 degrees. We can bend your brackets to within +/-1° of the desired angle so that your components are securely attached if you have parts or components at different angles.

Bracket styles

1. L-Bracket

The L-Bracket is commonly used to mount a vertical surface to a horizontal component. Additionally, L-Brackets are also useful for installing shelves in electronic enclosures.

If you are designing L-brackets, make sure you consider their material and thickness to make sure that they are strong enough to support whatever it is you are mounting without deflection or deformation.

2. Z-Bracket

Z-shaped bends are formed by bending them twice. Such bends are used for mounting off-center parallel surfaces. When you need to secure components at different elevations within your enclosure, Z brackets can be useful.

3. U-Bracket

The U-shaped design is easily recognisable. This profile is useful for attaching parallel surfaces together. Because of its ability to hug both sides, the space between two flanges is often used to retain components. Computer hard drives and power supplies are often installed with U-brackets.

4. Offset Bracket

This type of bracket mounts parallel surfaces in a similar manner to a Z-bracket. The offset bracket is also commonly used in conjunction with U brackets to contain components. Bottom flanges are typically mounted inside enclosures, while part components or parts are mounted to the raised surface.

5.Gusset Brackets

Gusset brackets have a triangular profile. Your design will be rigid when these brackets are used to connect adjacent surfaces. In general, gusset brackets are welded into an assembly to add extra support. Their name comes from a “gusset”, a piece of fabric that is sewn into a garment enlarge and stiffen it.

The seams of the brackets can also be welded to provide extra strength, and the brackets can be custom made to fit your application.

Summary And Final Tips

For custom brackets, we highly recommend Protocase Designer, as it provides the fastest and easiest way for you to design, quote, and order the parts you need.

Are you interested in discussing a design you’re working on? Contact us for more information. Please contact our team if you require a bracket design not listed in this guide. We can design any custom bracket design that fits within our tooling constraints.

Omnidex Metal Casting Services

Our company assists our customers in dealing with technical issues, metal casting processes, metallurgy, and supply chain optimization. In many cases, we are entrusted with the responsibility of quality control, budget control, and even stock holding of cast components.

Whether your castings are produced in one of our foundries or in one of our offshore partners, we support your project from the initial design phase through testing and quality assurance at our facilities in China and/or Vietnam.

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