Easiest Way To Shape Sheet Metal

Mark a bend line and place the sheet metal on the edge of your bench.

Easiest way to shape sheet metal.

Clamp or hold a straightedge or square along the cutting marks and score a line with the tip of a sharp utility knife blade. They look like big scissors and work the same way. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.

Bolting on a fender may be the easy way but for some there is no substitute to actually working the metal back into shape. If you want a sharp 90 bend tap along the crease with a mallet. The work shown here is a fine tuning operation in the final stages of forming and flattening a surface. Then bend the sheet back and forth a few times to snap it.

Clamp the wood on top of the metal to the workbench. If your sheet metal is too thick you may need special machinery like a brake or a torch to bend your sheet into the desired shape. You can shrink steel or you can stretch steel. How to bend sheet metal without a brake.

This measurement will be necessary for calculating your bend allowance. And you can use the same technique anytime you need a straight cut on aluminum or other light gauge sheet metal even steel. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.

If your project requires curved cuts make an easy economical and adjustable. Cutting your own copper shapes can be easier than you think. It s strong and flexible. Place the sheet metal on top of the workbench and lay out your pattern using a tape measure pencil and straightedge.

Finally bend the sheet up by hand to the angle desired. Hammering off dolly is a precision operation that is used to shape metal without stretching it. This photo shows hammering on dolly but in this case the dolly is rubber clad. For thicker copper sheet you would want to use a jewelry saw it s a bit slower but gives you a nicer finished cutting edge.

How to bend sheet metal without a brake in 4 different methods with minimal or homemade tools. Steel is an impressive material. Next place the wood parallel and slightly behind the bending line.