With amateur design and construction, it is often necessary to bend a sheet of metal. To do this quickly and accurately without damaging the sheet is not so easy in practice.
Instructions
Step 1
If you need to bend a sheet of thin metal (for example, tin), draw a deep scratch (groove) along the fold line using a ruler and cutter. After that, the metal will be easily bent along the drawn line, the fold will turn out to be very accurate, going strictly at a right angle. Make a cutter from a piece of a hacksaw blade for metal about fifteen centimeters long. Wrap one end with insulating tape, sharpen the other on an electric sharpener so that a sharp "tooth" is formed at the tip, which cuts through the metal.
Step 2
Bending thick metal is more difficult. Carefully work your chisel along the fold line, chipping the sheet to about half its thickness. Place an anvil or any other suitable flat and heavy piece of metal underneath. To bend evenly, you need a long, flat surface with a clear angle - for example, a metal corner clamped in a vise or placed on the edge of a concrete slab, step, etc.
Step 3
Lay the sheet on the corner so that the cut groove falls just on its edge, press firmly. Then begin to gently bend, trimming the fold with hammer blows. The deeper the groove cut, the easier the sheet bends. Nevertheless, it is quite difficult to gently bend a thick and large sheet of metal, and this requires some experience. It is desirable to have an assistant; together, this work is much easier to do.
Step 4
If you need to bend a sheet of metal with a ring, do so by tapping its surface with a hammer. Apply blows along lines parallel to the fold lines. The sheet will bend more and more, especially carefully tap the edges - the bend radius should be the same at all its points. When the ends of the sheet, bent, come together end-to-end, they can be welded or riveted, after which the shape of the resulting ring can be finalized.
