Bending Aluminum Sheet Metal

How to bend sheet metal without a brake.

Bending aluminum sheet metal.

For most applications with stainless steel or aluminum you can get away with a zero radius bend on anything under 0 050 thick. If your bend radius needs to be adjusted a member of engineering design services team will contact you before your design is manufactured. A brake is a device that allows you to bend a piece of sheet metal at a particular angle. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece.

How to bend sheet metal without a brake in 4 different methods with minimal or homemade tools. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. To bend your sheet metal with a vise and hammer you will need.

Having the right tools on hand will help this process go smoothly and quickly. The bend radius you select may not be available if the geometry of the part will not allow us to bend with the specific tooling required to achieve that radius. Is it a metal press. If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius.

Metal shops have brakes mounted at different angles with automated braking arms however it is possible to bend sheet metal at home without the use of a brake. In this video i ll show you how i made a simple jig that allows me to easily bend plate steel and sheet met.