How To Fold Thin Sheet Metal

You can find your bend allowance with the following formula.

How to fold thin sheet metal.

With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet. Place the metal on a hard surface to score it and on long pieces do the bending with the score place along a sharp edge of a bench and if necessary clamp the fixed piece with a long piece of flat wood to prevent buckling the metal while bending it back and forth. Simple sheet metal bender using a hand roller clamps and plywood. Monkeys spinning monkeys by kevin macleod.

Here s a good rule of thumb for most materials. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line. The inside bend radius should be equal to the thickness of the material that you re forming. Folding tab joints.

The simplest method is to clamp the metal down on a table and use your body weight and hands to bend it over. π 180 x b x ir k x mt bend allowance ba where b is the angle complementary to your desired bend angle 1 to 180 degrees mt is the thickness of the material ir is the inside radius and k is the k factor. This assembly method is relatively simple and convenient and can complete rapid assembly. If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius.

Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. You can bend the metal many different ways. Flip the sheet over and repeat. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.

Another is to again clamp the metal down but use a body hammer and the edge of a dolly to fold the metal over the dolly.