The invention belongs to the field of sheet metal machining and particularly relates to a sheet metal machining method for automatically polishing a hole based on punching potential energy. The methodmainly comprises the steps of shearing, punching, bending, stretching and forming. Punching equipment used in the sheet metal machining process comprises a box, wherein a support is fixedly connectedto the box, a puncher is arranged on the support, and a metal plate is placed on the box. According to the method, through cooperation of a polishing rod and a compression spring, the press-down potential energy of the puncher can be accumulated in the compression spring; after punching is completed, the reactive force of the compression spring is utilized to drive the polishing rod to ascend; and under the transmission action of a worm and a worm gear, rotation of the polishing rod is realized, the polishing rod can polish the inner wall of the hole in the process of penetrating through thehole, waste of time in late polishing is avoided, and sheet metal machining efficiency is greatly improved.