Best Way To Shape Sheet Metal

With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.

Best way to shape sheet metal. Sheet metal fabrication is a cold processing process which is commonly used for punching bending drawing and forming. For sheet metal parts the thickness is the same everywhere. It s ideal when lots of shrinking needs to be done and you don t have access to a machine. Metal nibblers are the best option for making curved cuts because of its increased range of control.

Hammering off dolly is a precision operation that is used to shape metal without stretching it. Instead we recommend using a diamond blade that s rated to cut ferrous metal. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line. Clamp the wood on top of the metal to the workbench.

There is no perfect or best way to cut sheetmetal materials. They don t cut curves well. This photo shows hammering on dolly but in this case the dolly is rubber clad. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards.

Although you can use a metal nibbler for long cuts in sheet metal it takes more time and is generally less convenient. Straight cutting compound snips work best for cutting thick or doubled up sheet metal. Often called the poor man s pullmax tuck shrinking is another way of shrinking metal to gain shape. Different methods of cutting metal work best in different situations.

If a straight line is required it is best to shear flat metal in a metal shear. An angle grinder fitted with an abrasive metal cutting disc works well to cut all kinds of metal including bolts angle iron rebar and even sheet metal. Next place the wood parallel and slightly behind the bending line. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.

There are two ways to cut round ducts. The work shown here is a fine tuning operation in the final stages of forming and flattening a surface. First if you want to cut a duct near the middle and use both ends mark and cut the duct before snapping it together. 2 secure the sheet metal and position the metal nibbler against the line edge.

Finally bend the sheet up by hand to the angle desired. Mark a bend line and place the sheet metal on the edge of your bench.