Bending Stainless Steel Sheet Metal

Understanding the bend allowance and consequently the bend deduction of a part is a crucial first step to understanding how sheet metal parts are fabricated.

Bending stainless steel sheet metal.

Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Mild steel 1 16 ga. It just won t really. Chromium and nickel give stainless steel its stain resistance and attribute to the hardness of the metal.

Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. 2 the stainless steel sheet has a strong rebound tendency compared with carbon steel when bending. As you bend a stainless steel sheet the bend area cold hardens increasing the amount of pressure required to finish the bend. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle.

Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. This added hardness increases the amount of force needed to place a bend on a stainless steel sheet. Stainless steel 1 20 ga. 3 the percentage of elongation of stainless steel plate is lower than the carbon steel the bending angle of the workpiece r is larger than that of carbon steel or there is the possibility of cracks.

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. If you can stick with folder radii it will get your parts through our manufacturing process faster with the most precise dimensions. Is it a metal press. Stainless steel 1 14 ga.

The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. When the sheet metal is put through the process of bending the metal around the bend is deformed and stretched. Folding is the most accurate way for protocase to bend parts. How to bend sheet metal without a brake in 4 different methods with minimal or homemade tools.

In this video i ll show you how i made a simple jig that allows me to easily bend plate steel and sheet met. For most applications with stainless steel or aluminum you can get away with a zero radius bend on anything under 0 050 thick. Mild steel 1 brake shear slip roll 1 metal forming 1. Mild steel 2 12 ga.