How To Make Ribs In Sheet Metal With Plywood Forms

On the templates faces are the paper patterns from bearhawk plans which are well detailed with locations and sizes for all critical items such as locating pin holes rivets miscellaneous holes etc.

How to make ribs in sheet metal with plywood forms.

Using little more than a sheet of 16 gauge steel and some hand tools we recreated the floor pans including the ribs where needed. These radii increase if you bend the sheet along the grain of the wood instead of across it because splinters are more likely to form when bending along the grain. The tool forms the sheet metal by pinching the material between two ball bearings in the upper assembly and one ball bearing in the lower assembly. Then clamp the plywood to the form using bar clamps and leave it overnight.

The shape of the form is the result of programs created in the punch press programming system. Eet s look at the process of forming ribs of aluminum sheet. Follow along as i demonstrate how you can begin shaping metal with hand tools only. The little cutting templates with fingers are made of mdf and apple plywood.

Doing so creates the stiffening rib that can be used to strengthen the sheet metal. If i recall correctly to summarize. To bend plywood start by creating a form out of medium density fiberboard that has the curve you want to bend the plywood to. How can you go about shaping metal with hand tools alone.

You can get a bend radius of as little as two feet by bending 1 4 inch plywood whereas the minimum bend radius for 3 4 inch plywood is 12 feet. Next unclamp the plywood from the form and try bending it to see if it holds its curve.