We manufacture a wide variety of precision metal shims, spacers and shim washers which can be supplied flat or formed to your design specification.
What are precision metal shims?
Thin metal shims are used as spacers between mechanical parts to absorb impact, reduce ‘play’ and protect a material surface in precision applications.
Some of the typical thin metal shims we supply include:
- Precision shims for Formula 1
- Steel shims for automotive fuel injection
- Shims for nebulisers
- Ultra-thin titanium shims for cryocoolers
- Brazing foil shims for plate heat exchangers
Economical and precise custom metal shim manufacture
From simple spacer washers to complex steel shims for racing engines, our precision custom metal shims manufacturing service is accurate to ±0.020mm, producing flat-and burr-free shims with no rough edges that could interfere with other mating components.
The flexibility of chemical etching means complex custom metal shims can be manufactured quickly using low-cost digital tooling.
Metal shim materials
We etch over 2,000 material types, including all grades of stainless steels, non-ferrous sheet metals, and hard to etch metals including Inconel and titanium, a material often specified for aerospace, medical, automotive and sanitary ware shims due to its strength, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility.
We produce medical steel shims for nebulisers and glucose monitoring as small as 200μm, and brazing foil shims to 1500mm long for heat exchanger plates used in photolithography cooling systems.
Metal shim thicknesses can range from 0.010mm to 1.5mm.
Forming and finishing
Three-dimensional, lipped or formed shims can be produced in-house.
A comprehensive range of finishing technologies – including passivation, electropolishing and electroplating – ensures finished components can be supplied from a single source.
Benefits at a glance
- Over 2,000 metal types
- Lead-times in a few days
- Low-cost digital tooling
- Burr and stress-free – metal properties unaffected
- Accuracy to ±0.025mm
- In-house forming, finishing and plating

Typical Applications
- Metal shims
- Precision metal shims
- Thin metal shims
- Metal shim washers
- Damping shims
- Steel shims and washers
- Gaskets
- Sealing shims
Processes
Materials
- Steel and stainless steels
- Nickel and nickel alloys
- Copper and copper alloys
- Aluminium
- Titanium and titanium alloys
- Full material stock list