Bending For Sheet Metal

Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations.

Bending for sheet metal.

Commonly used equipment include box and pan brakes brake presses and other specialized machine presses typical products that are made like this are boxes such as electrical enclosures and rectangular ductwork. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius. 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.

Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. This neutral line. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle.

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.