How To Neatly Bend Metal Sheet

Preparing to bend sheet metal with a vise 1.

How to neatly bend metal sheet.

Wipe bending or edge bending is another way to bend sheet metal edges. Determine the thickness of your sheet. Calculate your bend allowance. Having the right tools on hand will help this process go smoothly and quickly.

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. If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius. Here s a good rule of thumb for most materials. To define the bend region and reduce the force required to bend a part out of sheet metal down to something you can handle without a brake press slots can be cut at the bending line to selectively.

The inside bend radius should be equal to the thickness of the material that you re forming. How to bend sheet metal without a brake in 4 different methods with minimal or homemade tools. For use in varied industrial applications sheet metal must be bent to required specifications. With care and patience full size sheets of aluminium can be cut using this method.

You can use a tape measure or ruler to measure the thickness of your sheet. How to bend sheet metal without a brake. Several tools are used to achieve precise bends with required angles and other features. Flip the sheet over and repeat.

As a result the wipe die also determines the bend s inner radius. This allowed a flat file to be easily created without worrying about the bend lines in a part. It is important to make sure that the sheet is properly pushed onto the wipe die. To get a good flat pattern one company i worked at reduced the bend radius to 001 in sw then controlled the bend allowance with custom tables and a sheet metal template everyone used.

After a few wiggles the sheet will fracture along the cut line leaving a clean break as shown in the above photos. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. The slack between the wipe die and the punch plays an important role in getting a good result.