What is shim sheet?
A shim is a thin and often tapered or wedged piece of material, used to fill small gaps or spaces between objects. Shims are typically used in order to support, adjust for better fit, or provide a level surface. Shims may also be used as spacers to fill gaps between parts subject to wear.
What are shim stock used for?
Shim stock is typically used for support, leveling, and fit adjustment. Some common applications include electrical insulation, seal joints, and adjusting valve spring pressure.
What does shim stock mean?
A shim stock is a roll of thin gauge metal or foil used to create shims. Thin gauge cut sheet metal may be as thin as 0.0005 inch (0.0127 millimeter) to allow for fine positioning adjustments. Since the material is so thin, stock can easily be cut into custom shapes using standard tools such as metal shears.
What is the material of shim?
Shims come in different thicknesses and materials. Materials can include plastic, aluminum, brass, stainless steel and cold rolled, low carbon steel. Specialty applications may require other materials, but these are the most commonly used shim materials and cover most design requirements for most applications.
What's the difference between shim and wedge?
The wedge provides any thickness desirable, theoretically to the . 001”, but only one contact point. The shim is constrained to an exact thickness but can make contact with as much surface area as desired.
Are shims and spacers the same?
While shims typically feature a thin profile, spacers are designed with a much wider range of thicknesses from several inches to several feet depending on application requirements. Spacers can also be purposed as sleeves, bushings, axles, or pins.
What is a steel shim?
In automobile manufacturing: Steel shims are used regularly in the manufacturing of automobile parts. Shims allow for a greater flexibility when it comes to the clearance level of a particular part, such as a valve. In plumbing repairs: Shims are used to align pipes when a plumber needs to do some repairs.
What are the different types of shims?
Different types of shims include arbor shims, variable shims, slotted shims, shim rings, and shim stock. While they are all used to take up excess tolerances, they each provide unique value to specific applications.
What is plastic shim stock made of?
Made from materials such as Polypropylene (PP), High-Impact Polystyrene (HIPs), and ABS, plastic shims are the most versatile of the three common shim materials. Requiring little or no shaping, and available in consistent shapes, thicknesses, and material properties, plastic shims save labor time.