Aluminium Rolling: Plate, Sheet, Coil and Foil

Flat aluminium is made by squeezing a thick cast slab between rolls, many passes, each a little thinner. Product over about 6 mm thick is called plate, thinner sheet; foil is thinner still. The thinnest foil is rolled two layers at a time (pack rolling), which is why kitchen foil has one shiny side, against the roll, and one dull side, against the other layer. The same idea, done cold on a small hand mill, is how a maker rolls brass or copper strip.