This standard covers a broad range of basic sheet (up to and including 3 mm) metalworking competences that will prepare you for entry into the engineering or manufacturing sectors, creating a progression between education and employment, or that will provide a basis for the development of additional skills and occupational competences in the working environment.

You will be expected to prepare for the sheet metalworking activities by obtaining all necessary information, documentation, tools and equipment required, and to plan how you intend to carry out the required cutting, forming and assembly activities, and the sequence of operations you intend to use.

You will be required to select the appropriate equipment to use, based on the type and thickness of material, the operations to be carried out and the accuracy to be achieved. In carrying out the cutting and shaping activities, you will need to use a range of hand tools, portable power tools and simple machines to produce a variety of shapes, profiles and forms. You will also be expected to produce simple sheet metal assemblies, using self-secured joints, thermal methods or mechanical fastening devices.

Your responsibilities will require you to comply with health and safety requirements and organisational policy and procedures for the sheet metalworking activities undertaken. You will need to take account of any potential difficulties or problems that may arise with the activities, and to seek appropriate help and advice in determining and implementing a suitable solution. You will work under a high level of supervision, whilst taking responsibility for your own actions and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out.

Your underpinning knowledge will provide an understanding of your work, and will enable you to apply appropriate sheet metalworking techniques and procedures safely. You will understand the cutting, forming and assembly process, and its application, and will know about the tools and equipment used, to the required depth to provide a sound basis for carrying out the activities to the required specification.

You will understand the safety precautions required when carrying out sheet metalworking activities, and when using the various tools and equipment, especially with the use of guillotines and bending/forming equipment. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices throughout, and will understand the responsibility you owe to yourself and others in the workplace.

Specific Standard Requirements

In order to prove your ability to combine different sheet metal cutting and forming operations, at least one of the jobs produced must be of a significant nature, and must contain a minimum of three of the features listed in scope 7 plus three of the features listed in scope 9.

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1. work safely at all times, complying with health and safety legislation, regulations, directives and other relevant guidelines
2. plan the sheet metalworking activities before you start them
3. obtain the appropriate tools and equipment for the sheet metalworking operations, and check that they are in a safe and usable condition
4. mark out the components for the required operations, using appropriate tools and techniques
5. cut and shape the materials to the required specification, using appropriate tools and techniques
6. use the appropriate methods and techniques to assemble and secure the components in their correct positions
7. measure and check that all dimensional and geometrical aspects of the component are to the specification
8. deal promptly and effectively with problems within your control, and seek help and guidance from the relevant people if you have problems that you cannot resolve
9. leave the work area in a safe and tidy condition on completion of the sheet metal activities

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1. the health and safety requirements, and safe working practices and procedures required for the sheet metalworking activities undertaken
2. the personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE)to be worn when carrying out the sheet metal activities (such as leather gloves, eye protection, ear protection), and the importance of keeping the work area safe and tidy
3. the correct methods of moving or lifting sheet materials
4. safe working practices and procedures to be observed when using manual and power operated tools
5. the hazards associated with carrying out sheet metalworking activities (such as handling sheet materials, using dangerous or badly maintained tools and equipment, operating guillotines and bending machines, and when using hand and bench shears), and how they can be minimised
6. the procedure for obtaining the required drawings, job instructions and other related specifications
7. how to use and extract information from engineering drawings and related specifications (to include symbols and conventions to appropriate BS or ISO standards) in relation to work undertaken
8. how to interpret first and third angle drawings, imperial and metric systems of measurement, workpiece reference points and system of tolerancing
9. how to prepare the materials in readiness for the marking out activities, in order to enhance clarity, accuracy and safety (such as visually checking for defects, cleaning the materials, removing burrs and sharp edges, applying a marking out medium)
10. how to select and establish a suitable datum; the importance of ensuring that marking out is undertaken from the selected datum, and the possible effects of working from a different datum
11. use of marking out conventions when marking out the workpiece (including datum lines, cutting guidelines, square and rectangular profiles, circular and radial profiles, angles, holes linearly positioned, boxed and on pitch circles)
12. ways of laying out the marking-out shapes or patterns to maximise use of materials
13. the tools and techniques available for cutting and shaping sheet metal (such as tin snips, bench shears, guillotines, portable power tools, bench drills, saws)
14. the use and care of tools and equipment (including checks that must be made to ensure that the tools are fit for purpose - such as sharp, undamaged, plugs and cables secure and free from damage, PAT tested, machine guards or safety devices operating correctly)
15. hand tools used in sheet metal forming activities (such as range of hammers, stakes, formers, sand bags), and typical operations that they are used for
16. the various machine tool forming equipment that can be used to produce a range of shapes (such as bends, box sections, cylinders and curved sections, wired edges and swages)
17. methods of stretching and shrinking materials, and the tools, equipment and techniques used for this
18. how to set up the various machines to produce the required forms (setting up of rolls; setting fingers on bending machines; setting forming tools for swaging)
19. ways of limiting distortion, marking, creases, flats (in curved sections)
20. the characteristics of the various materials used (with regard to the bending and forming process)
21. how the materials are to be prepared for the forming operations, and why some materials may require a heating process prior to forming
22. the importance of using tools or equipment only for the purpose intended; the care that is required when using the tools or equipment; the proper way of preserving tools or equipment between operations
23. the various methods of securing the assembled components, and the range of mechanical fastening devices that are used (such as nuts and bolts, rivets, screws, special fasteners), resistance and tack welding methods and techniques, adhesive bonding of components and self secured joints (such as knocked up, paned down, swaged and joggled)
24. the preparations to be carried out on the components prior to assembling them
25. how to set up and align the various components, and the tools and equipment that are used for this
26. methods of temporarily holding the joints together to aid the assembly activities (such as clamps, rivet clamps)
27. inspection techniques that can be applied to check that shape (including straightness) and dimensional accuracy are to specification and within acceptable limits
28. the problems that can occur with the sheet metalworking activities (such as defects caused by incorrectly set or blunt shearing blades), and how these can be overcome
29. when to act on your own initiative and when to seek help and advice from others
30. the importance of leaving the work area and equipment in a safe and clean condition on completion of the sheet metal activities (such as storing power leads, isolating machines, cleaning the equipment and removing and disposing of waste)

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1. Carry out all of the following during the sheet metalworking activities:

   1. adhere to procedures or systems in place for risk assessment, COSHH, personal protective equipment (PPE)and other relevant safety regulations
   2. ensure that all power tool cables, extension leads or air supply hoses are in a tested and serviceable condition
   3. return all tools and equipment to the correct location on completion of the sheet metalworking activities
   4. check that all measuring equipment is within calibration date

2. Use marking out methods and techniques, including:

   1. direct marking using instruments

Plus one more from the following:
2. use of templates              
3. tracing/transfer methods

3. Use a range of marking out equipment, to include all of the following:

   1. scriber            
   2. rule or tape
   3. square
   4. dividers or trammels
   5. punch             
   6. straight edge 
   7. protractor   
   8. chalk, blueing or paint

4. Mark out material, to include all of the following features:

   1. datum and centre lines   
   2. curved profiles
   3. square/rectangular profiles        
   4. cutting and bending detail (including allowances)
   5. angles                         
   6. hole centring and outlining (such as circular or linear)
   7. circles           

5. Cut and finish material to the marked out shape, using both of the following hand tools:

   1. tin snips               
   2. bench shears

Plus two more from the following:
3. hacksaw              
4. files
5. hand power tools (such as drill, nibbling, saw)   
6. pneumatic tools
7. trepanning                        
8. thermal device
9. other specific tool

6. Cut and finish material to the marked out shape, using the following machine tool:

   1. guillotine

Plus two more of the following:
2. pillar drill                  
3. punch/cropping machine     
4. trepanning machine
5. bench saw               
6. nibbling machine  
7. band saw

7. Perform cutting operations to produce components with all three of the following shapes:

   1. square or rectangular profiles 
   2. angled profiles      
   3. external curved profiles

Plus two more from the following:
4. notches        
5. internal curved contours   
6. round holes            
7. square holes

8. Use both of the following types of forming equipment/techniques:

   1. bending machine (hand or powered)       
   2. rolling machine (hand or powered)

Plus two more from the following:
3. hammers/panel beating equipment       
4. wheeling machine
5. stakes and formers                    
6. swaging machine
7. presses                          
8. shrinking techniques
9. jenny/wiring machine   
10. stretching techniques

9. Carry out forming operations which produce components having all of the following shapes:

   1. bends/upstands            
   2. tray/box sections
   3. folds/safe edges        
   4. cylindrical sections

Plus one more from the following:
5. wired edges                    
6. cowlings and rounded covers
7. swages                         
8. square to round trunking
9. curved panels              
10. lobster-back trunking
11. ribbed components    
12. concertina ducting or trunking

10. Assemble sheet metal components, using two of the following methods:

    1. temporary tack welding               
    2. adhesive bonding
    3. soldering or brazing           
    4. flanged and mechanically fastened (such as bolts, screws)
    5. resistance spot welding      
    6. self securing joints (such as knocked up, paned down, swaged, joggled)
    7. riveting (such as hollow or solid)      

11. Use sheet metal (up to and including 3 mm) in two different materials from the following:

    1. hot rolled mild steel             
    2. cold rolled mild steel
    3. coated mild steel (such as primed, tinned, galvanised)          
    4. copper
    5. brass
    6. lead
    7. stainless steel             
    8. titanium
    9. aluminium

12. Produce sheet metal components which meet all of the following:

    1. all dimensions are within +/- 2.0mm or +/- 0.079"
    2. finished components meet the required shape/geometry (square, straight, angles free from twists)
    3. completed components are free from excessive tooling marks, deformation, cracking, sharp edges, slivers or burrs
    4. all components are correctly assembled and have secure and firm joints

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​Additional Information

You will be able to apply the appropriate behaviours required in the workplace to meet the job profile and overall company objectives, such as:

• strong work ethic
• positive attitude
• team player
• dependability
• responsibility
• honesty
• integrity
• motivation
• commitment

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3

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2020

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Current

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Original

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Semta

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SEMPEO2-22

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Engineering, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies

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5221

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engineering; engineering operations; sheet metal components; sheet metal assemblies; metalworking; manufacturing; cutting; shaping; profiles; forms

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