Best Way To Shape Sheet Metal

Hammering off dolly is a precision operation that is used to shape metal without stretching it.

Best way to shape sheet metal.

If a straight line is required it is best to shear flat metal in a metal shear. Instead we recommend using a diamond blade that s rated to cut ferrous metal. Next place the wood parallel and slightly behind the bending line. First if you want to cut a duct near the middle and use both ends mark and cut the duct before snapping it together.

Mark a bend line and place the sheet metal on the edge of your bench. There is no perfect or best way to cut sheetmetal materials. Often called the poor man s pullmax tuck shrinking is another way of shrinking metal to gain shape. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.

Sheet metal fabrication is a cold processing process which is commonly used for punching bending drawing and forming. Finally bend the sheet up by hand to the angle desired. For sheet metal parts the thickness is the same everywhere. Straight cutting compound snips work best for cutting thick or doubled up sheet metal.

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. Metal nibblers are the best option for making curved cuts because of its increased range of control. Different methods of cutting metal work best in different situations. But the discs wear down quickly cut slowly and shrink in diameter as you use them.

This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line. A stationary or hand shear is a very good approach to delicate detail work. This photo shows hammering on dolly but in this case the dolly is rubber clad. Clamp the wood on top of the metal to the workbench.

Although you can use a metal nibbler for long cuts in sheet metal it takes more time and is generally less convenient. Sheet metal usually refers to a thin metal plate with a thickness of 6 mm or less. 2 secure the sheet metal and position the metal nibbler against the line edge. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards.

It s ideal when lots of shrinking needs to be done and you don t have access to a machine. There are two ways to cut round ducts.