Thick Sheet Metal Bending

Unfortunately sheet metal bending is not always going to be the same in every shop.

Thick sheet metal bending. The bend radius refers to the inside radius. How to bend sheet metal without a brake. A cutout or the edge of your flange to your bend. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations.

The inside bend radius should be equal to the thickness of the material that you re forming. To think about bending a sheet of metal that has appreciable thickness focus on an imaginary central sheet the so called neutral line or neutral axis within the thickness. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece. In steel between 0 5 and 0 8 in.

Keep in mind that many kinds of fabricated metal have extremely high melting points and applying your torch injudiciously could cause damage or do harm to your sheet metal or equipment. The formed bend radius is dependent upon the dies used the material properties and the material thickness. The largest variations come from the materials themselves. Choose a bend radius that matches your minimum bend.

Bending a sheet will create forces that act in the bend region and through the thickness of the sheet. How to bend sheet metal without a brake in 4 different methods with minimal or homemade tools. The important factors influencing the mechanics of bending are material sheet thickness width over which bend occurs radius of bend bend angle machinery tooling and specific metal bending process. We are here to help.

When sheet metal is bent it stretches in length. If you have any questions or want to discuss your design contact us. Thick grade 350 and 400 may have a minimum bend radius of 2 5 times the material thickness when transverse bending. Protective coatings variations in the alloy and thickness as well as many other small factors all add up to give you bend allowances unique to your operation.

In the event that you are bending a thick piece of sheet metal you can apply heat from a blowtorch along the seam of your bend line to facilitate your bend. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. For 0 5 in thick 7050 aluminum the minimum bend radius may be specified as much as 9 5 times material thickness.

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.