How To Bend A Thick Sheet Of Stainless Steel

The spring back of the stainless steel.

How to bend a thick sheet of stainless steel. The slack between the wipe die and the punch plays an important role in getting a good result. The return of stainless steel is indeed troublesome. If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius. Wipe bending or edge bending is another way to bend sheet metal edges.

In other words if you re bending 1 8 sheet use a tool with a 1 8 radius to form the inside of the bend. For most applications with stainless steel or aluminum you can get away with a zero radius bend on anything under 0 050 thick. As a result the wipe die also determines the bend s inner radius. To remove irregularity or improve uneven bends place a hardwood piece lengthwise along the bend and hit the bend with increased strength using a heavy duty hammer or mallet.

It is important to make sure that the sheet is properly pushed onto the wipe die. Measure and mark the bend location along one edge of the stainless steel sheet with the tape measure and awl. Compared to carbon steel for the same thickness of stainless steel the bending angle is larger special attention should be paid to this point otherwise the bending crack will appear affecting the strength of the workpiece.