This versatile product has the flexibility for unique uses for display cases for retailers. The extrusion process allows custom designs for specialized display needs. It is also extremely versatile for organization and storage systems. Not only can it provide strong shelving and hooks for products, it can also hold storage units, cabinets, and other special uses in industrial applications, warehouse, machine shops, schools, and anyplace where flexibility is necessary to adjust systems to meet the changing need of the owner.
Advantage of Aluminum Extrusions
Aluminum is the most popular metal for slatwall due to its lightweight and ease of using the extrusion process to make a wide variety of “slots.” Using other metals such as magnesium, will produce an aluminum alloy to make it strong, versatile, and combined with aluminum panels, will produce a system that can hold heavy weights without buckling.
Extrusion Process
Aluminum extrusion process is used by aluminum fabricating plants to produce the forms for the slatwall trenches. Basically, the company uses an aluminum alloy producing a stronger metal. The aluminum is heated to 900 degrees F and molded to a loaf shape called a “billet.” While still soft, the metal is pushed through a die to produce an extrusion that is long, straight, flat, and has various “slots” for the inserts to lock into place.
The resulting product is allowed to air cool for “touch up” to ensure no “burrs or bent slots” are in place. Then they are cut by a finishing saw to the desired length and allowed to harden with age. Sometimes they are placed into an “aging oven” to speed up the “curing” process that will produce a strong, reliable product that can handle weight with ease.
The Importance of Slatwall Inserts
When improperly fitting inserts are inserted into the “slot,” the weight is not distributed properly and the panel cannot contain the insert and will buckle, destroying its ability to manage heavy weights. The extrusion process can produce aluminum inserts to fit precisely into the slots and the two pieces working with the panels can handle weight many times its size.
Looking for custom designed slatwalls? Want to find an “in stock” system that may suit your needs? Contact the design specialists at Eagle Mouldings for assistance in finding or designing the slatwall to suit your needs. Visit for more information.
