How To Make Ribs In Sheet Metal With Plywood Forms

You can get a bend radius of as little as two feet by bending 1 4 inch plywood whereas the minimum bend radius for 3 4 inch plywood is 12 feet.

How to make ribs in sheet metal with plywood forms.

The ribs are rough cut with snips put between plywood templates routed to size put between plywood forms the flange is hammered into place then single flute pliers are used to flatten the rib. There is an excellent series in the working with metal area that deals with this very subject. These radii increase if you bend the sheet along the grain of the wood instead of across it because splinters are more likely to form when bending along the grain. How can you go about shaping metal with hand tools alone.

Doing so creates the stiffening rib that can be used to strengthen the sheet metal. If i recall correctly to summarize. The shape of the form is the result of programs created in the punch press programming system. Material costs were cheap less than 50 and we picked up.

Next unclamp the plywood from the form and try bending it to see if it holds its curve. To bend plywood start by creating a form out of medium density fiberboard that has the curve you want to bend the plywood to. Follow along as i demonstrate how you can begin shaping metal with hand tools only. Eet s look at the process of forming ribs of aluminum sheet.

On the templates faces are the paper patterns from bearhawk plans which are well detailed with locations and sizes for all critical items such as locating pin holes rivets miscellaneous holes etc. The little cutting templates with fingers are made of mdf and apple plywood.