Bending Aluminum Sheet Into U Channel

How to bend sheet metal without a brake in 4 different methods with minimal or homemade tools.

Bending aluminum sheet into u channel.

3 16th thickness steel is the max thickness most scrolling machines accept. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece. A u bend is made with a u shaped punch of the correct curvature. I am using 24 long sheet metal stock cut into 4 thick pieces.

The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. This would be ideal for a press brake but i do not want to invest a ton of money in a heavy duty one. Insert your aluminum sheet into the brake beneath the removable clamp bar. Lift the clamp bar away from the rear of the brake frame and slide the sheet in perpendicularly to the direction you want to bend it.

We can bend channels with the flanges out with the flanges in and the hard way of the web. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Make sure the bar is seated firmly inside the frame. Then place the clamp bar back down on top of the aluminum crosswise.

I can not make thin u channels. This should anneal the 6061 t6 or other t into a t 0 material. Chicago metal is the leading resource for steel and aluminum channel bending and more. How to bend sheet metal without a brake.

π 180 x b x ir k x mt bend allowance ba where b is the angle complementary to your desired bend angle 1 to 180 degrees mt is the thickness of the material ir is the inside radius and k is the k factor. Also as aluminum comes from the mill it develops a coating aluminum oxide as it cools. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. This makes the aluminum about as bendable as it can get.

The easiest channel bending process is flanges out flanges in channel bending can be difficult if the flanges are relatively tall. When i bend both sides 90 degrees i get about a 1 5 inch thick channel which works great. Channel bending uses a shaped punch and die to form a sheet metal channel. You can find your bend allowance with the following formula.

I like scroll work but a lot of it looks very skinny and weak.