[robs ss]

sheet metal work

The question about a sheet metal brake came up, so I put this together tonight. this piece is 18 gauge steel or .0478 or real close to 3/64 of an inch thick.

It took about an hour and a half including pictures to make this piece. This is stuff we can make at home, I have never worked in a sheet metal shop or ever used a sheet metal brake, so this is something us hobbist can do.

I used 1 1/4'' x 1 1/4'' angle iron, 1/4'' thick to do it. You could make stuff like this several feet long, I just did a hurry up on a short piece to demonstrate it.

Using angle iron clamped to a piece of sheet metal, put in a vice, you can bend it into curves a lot easier, so you can have 90% with a curve, theres a lot of ways to go on this.

I was going to make one more 90% bend, but it was getting late, and I don't have a problem with the neighbors, but hammering after eight at night, probably isn't a good thing.

I was in a hurry to do it, so the pictures aren't that good, but the piece you see, if you wanted to take a slapping spoon and a piece of angle iron, in your vice, you could make it perfect, but the pictures will show you the intent

http://www.2manitowoc.com/sheetmetal.html

Rob

 

[home brew]

Thanks for the info. :thumbup: :thumbup: Added it to my body work file.

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[adtkart]

I have been bending sheetmetal that way for years. A sheetmetal brake takes up alot of room, that I don't have to spare. You do need to watch out when doing long pieces that you need to be real straight. The angle iron wants to bend/move, in the middle. I use large "C Clamps" to hold the stuff together, and depending on the size of the lip being bent, you can often use one or more in the middle. I have done pieces as long as 6' on the floor. After getting the bend mostly done, I go back with a hammer and flat piece of steel and finish it off.

Aaron