Compound Curves In Sheet Metal

Learn how to bend sheet metal so you.
Compound curves in sheet metal. Extremely thin sheets are considered foil or leaf and pieces thicker than 6 mm 0 25 in are considered. As the hammering sometimes makes very loud noise ear protectors are worn. Common sense says that the graceful compound curves to be seen in them could hardly have been achieved by a sheet metal shop doing heating and ventilating ductwork. It s the very of what we do and we do it very well.
With thirty six years in the that s going to be tricky to make business we ve learned a few things we. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle. Works sheet metal into compound curves rapidly but not as smoothly as does the english wheel. Most shops shy away from this kind of work but advanced metal fabrication is right there in our name.
Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. The wheel pants often installed on volume produced light planes are made by fastening together right and left halves made of aluminum formed to shape by matching dies installed in a type of machine called a drop press. The curved pieces would be a 6 radius 90 degrees by 2 to 4 ft long. A foot operated control allows speed and power of strokes to be varied.
Metals have an elastic limit that needs to be exceeded in order to get the plastic flow to occur to effect this thickness change. Thicknesses can vary significantly. The corners would be the same radius 90 in 2 directions. Do you have a project which requires compound curves variable radius bends interfering parts or which has other complication.