Stretch Forming

Stretch Forming is widely used in today’s industries:
Great American Rolling is always working continually to add more machines and capabilities in order to expand our services and better meet your needs. For this reason Great American Rolling acquired the stretch forming company Hi-Tech Curving in 2018. We continue to offer the stretch forming services Hi Tech Curving offered with the same operations, same staff and same quality of services.

Stretch Forming is used extensively in the aerospace, marine and ship-building industry, automotive industry, rail car and industrial buildings. It opened up architects to possibilities of curved facades, architectural details and roof lines previously not possible. Large curved glass facades are now possible, as the process is a perfect match for the curving of large curtain-wall systems.

A couple of wooden rails that are in the middle of a floor.

Stretch-forming is commonly used in the curving of aluminum sheet, extruded profiles, stainless sheet, bent or rolled profiles, structural shapes, various steel alloys, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, bronze and copper. It allows the curving of true radius contours, ellipses, compound bends and helical bends.

Process

Stretch forming is the process of forming sheets and profiles by the combined application of tensile and bending forces. Stretch forming keeps the extrusion under constant tension while wrapping it around a form, or die, to make parts into simple or complex contoured curves.

We offer production for bending:

  • Curtain Wall Assemblies and Storefront
  • Skylights
  • Railing Systems
  • Extrusions
  • Tracks
  • Window Frames
  • Gutters
  • Base Shoe
  • and more
A couple of metal arches sitting on top of concrete.

Capabilities

  • Curtain wall assemblies and storefront, using aluminum extrusions, tubing, open back for center glaze and off-set glazing. Sizes of material includes 1 ¾” x 4”, 2” x 4” and up to 4” x 15” tubing.
  • Skylight and solarium for curved or flat glass, using up to 2” x 6” aluminum rafters or 4” x 6” angle.
  • Railing Systems, using cap rails of aluminum with 1 ½”, 2” and 3 ½” diameter with glass pocket.
  • Solid Aluminum tubing from 1 ½” to 6” diameter.
  • Brass cap rail from 1 ½” to 3 1 ½” diameter. Also special extrusion brass caps.
  • Stainless Steel cap railing from 1 ½” to 2 ½” diameter.
  • Flat bar, heavy aluminum base shoe and cladding.
  • Showcase display and lighting fixtures using all types of material, such as U-channel, caps, angles, tubing and special extrusions.
  • Drywall, using metal track and studs, including 3 5/8”, 4”, 6”, 8” and 12” galvanized or red iron. These can be formed to most types of counts including elliptical and compound curves.
A red chair sitting in front of a blue wall.
A building with many windows and glass on the outside.
A building with a curved balcony and a sky background

Stretch Forming

A metal corner of a building with concrete floor.
A bunch of metal pieces are stacked on top of each other
A couple of metal arches sitting on top of concrete.
A couple of metal arches sitting on top of concrete.
A view of the inside of an old building.
A pair of curved rails in the middle of construction.
A row of wooden shelves with metal arches.
A wooden curved piece of wood sitting on top of the floor.
A couple of wooden rails that are in the middle of a floor.
A group of curved metal rails sitting on top of a floor.
A bunch of metal blades sitting on top of each other.
A curved metal structure being built in the middle of a floor.