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Guide How To: Metal Bending Guide

Discussion in 'Modding' started by GuardianStorm, 13 Jan 2007.

  1. batuhan

    batuhan What's a Dremel?

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    not bad
     
  2. karolis

    karolis Code Monkey

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    good thinking. i tried that, and you know what, it worked! I had to go a bit further than a quarter, but trimming the excess is not difficult...

    Any idea on a non-welding method of joining perpendicular pieces?
     
  3. GuardianStorm

    GuardianStorm Minimodder

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    90 degree bend on the upright, then bolt through maybe? If you are lucky you might find a strong metal glue somewhere, but i don't know how strong those are.
     
  4. karolis

    karolis Code Monkey

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    Thanks man, will try. :thumb: Looks like i'll be opting for a 'bolted' look on my case :D
     
  5. Xer0-

    Xer0- Waste of space

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    For small pieces you can use hand tongs also

    Very useful for crimping "Pittsburgh" bends closed tighter if they cant be positioned in the break.

    [​IMG]
     
  6. karolis

    karolis Code Monkey

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    I've got a question. i'm still experimenting with scrap materials and noticed something (something really obvious though). if you bend a 2cm long piece in half, you don't get exactly 1 cm on each side, i.e. material is used for the bend itself, so end piece is shorter.

    Is there a quick way (maybe some formula i'm unaware of) to calculate that bend length? I tried calculating outer diameter with L=(pi*R)/2; for 90 deg., R being the thickness of the material, and that gave me some results, but with nothing to check against i can't be sure.
     
  7. ỒĊBłůē

    ỒĊBłůē Also available in black

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    Try the formula (and calculator link) here.
     
  8. JJ McTiss

    JJ McTiss What's a Dremel?

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    gooooood!
     
  9. karolis

    karolis Code Monkey

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    uh, perfect. thank you. saved me a trip to my physics teacher :)

    EDIT: Great site too. so much info. should be added to modding index. :)
     
    Last edited: 6 May 2008
  10. Javerh

    Javerh Topiary Golem

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    Even better is using sheetmetal tools inbuilt into Solidworks!
     
  11. D-Mon Taurus

    D-Mon Taurus What's a Dremel?

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    For one this is very useful, and i thank you. Specially when you don't have the heavy machines at your disposal. I have read a lot about bending aluminum and i know that there is a bend radius to think of, which depends on the grade of aluminum.
    But what aluminum is best suited for bending without cracking?
    what grade? the gauge mostly used for the outside of a case?
    Thank you in advanced.
    TJ
     
  12. Javerh

    Javerh Topiary Golem

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    Boy, you dug up an old thread. If you want to avoid cracking you want to get alu that has the highest possible elongation at break. Best alloys are in the 5000, 1000, 3000 and 6000 series in that order. The variation from alloy to alloy are great. For example, according to matweb, the highest e@b for 5000 series is 121% but the average is only 14.2%. Also, because we are talking about aluminum here you should make sure the surface is polished before bending. Anodize (Aluminum oxide aka sapphire) is very hard and brittle.

    The actual elongation you need depends on the material thickness and your bend radius. Good luck.
     
  13. D-Mon Taurus

    D-Mon Taurus What's a Dremel?

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    Thank you thank you Jawerh. You got me one step closer at planning my build.
    It is for a newbie like me not easy to find the right materials. I think nobody wants to spend money on materials that crack.
    And even though it is an old thread it fits very well with the question i had. I think its better then opening a new thread.

    So i will be good with 5052 making sure its not anodized.
    this old dog is learning something new everyday
     
  14. DanSonley

    DanSonley What's a Dremel?

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    so simple but very effective. i would have defo messed up here. Would probably do something stupid like hammering it flat...
     
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