Bending Curves Sheet Metal

This is done through the application of force on a workpiece.

Bending curves sheet metal.

Mark a bend line and place the sheet metal on the edge of your bench. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. The inside bend radius should be equal to the thickness of the material that you re forming. The diagram shows one such mechanism.

Make sure the first bend mark lines up exactly with the curve in the form so that the bending will begin in the right spot. Next place the wood parallel and slightly behind the bending line. Clamp the wood on top of the metal to the workbench. Finally bend the sheet up by hand to the angle desired.

The average hack requires at least one angled metal part and the best tool to make one is still the good ol press brake. Geometry of tooling imposes a minimum bend dimension. In other words if you re bending 1 8 sheet use a tool with a 1 8 radius to form the inside of the bend. Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend.

Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle. If you want a sharp 90 bend tap along the crease with a mallet.

If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius. Refer to the chart for values for folder as well as various press brake tooling combinations.