Choosing Steel For Sheet Metal Bending

If you try to bend it when it s hardened it ll probably snap.

Choosing steel for sheet metal bending.

This is very malleable and you should be able to bend it cold without problem. When you re getting started on a metal project the first step is determining what type of material will work best. When bending steel no material is lost and no material is gained. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece.

Depending on the cut shape you ll use left cut right cut or straight snips typically indicated by the handle color. It is possible to choose other bends but tooling charges may apply. When folding sheet metal if the resulting radius is less than the thickness we are bending then the extra material must go somewhere and can cause an undesirable deformation. For most projects steel stainless steel aluminum and copper have a good range of properties and are easily available at a reasonable price.

Stainless steel there are a number of grades to choose from for the purpose of this white paper we will focus on the top three found in precision sheet metal fabrication. Choosing the right gauge sheet metal for your fabrication. Thereby forming a certain angle and curvature shape. This is choosing the right thickness or gauge of sheet metal.

A radius that is larger than the thickness of the material has no aesthetical issues. Bending is a stamping process that uses pressure to force the material to plastically deform. The sheet metal bending height should be at least 2 times the thickness of the sheet metal plus the bending radius that is h 2t r. Red for left green for right and yellow for straight.

Building with metal is great it s strong versatile and looks cool. Commonly known as aviation snips or tinsnips these scissor like tools are great for cutting soft sheet metals such as tin aluminum brass and thin gauge 24 gauge or thinner steel. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Determine your minimum bend by measuring the distance from your closest feature i e.

Choose a bend radius that matches your minimum bend. It is very important that you are using the correct product to optimize efficiency and functionality. Very bendable when fully annealed. Grade 410 offers less corrosion resistance but is heat treatable.

Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. You ll need to heat treat it again to get it to perform like spring steel once it s formed in the shape you want. Standard type magnetic stainless for sheet metal fabrication is the 400 series. Commonly used bends include v bend z bend offset bend and hemming bend etc.

Now moving into something that will be more specific to each customer and each sheet metal project. A cutout or the edge of your flange to your bend.