bending sheetmetal

[planebuilder]

I read some posts about bending the sheetmetal with clamps and 2x4's etc.
There is an easier and more accurate way.
Get a piece of angle iron, 2x2x1/8 works great, and it should be a little longer than the longest bend you need to do. Lay it on a cement floor with the point of the angle pointing up, like this ^. Then lay the sheet metal over it with the proposed bend line lined up with the peak of the angle. It can be clamped with visegrips at each end so it doesn't shift but it's not mandatory. Get a big, 3 or 4 inch dia rubber hammer and hammer along the peak. The metal will bend sharply and straight, it won't be all the way to 90 deg. but once the crease is there it will be easy to push the sheet to 90 deg by hand. If you don't clamp it, hammer a few inches at each end to form a reference crease before creasing the whole length.
Hope this helps

[ed_denu]

Thanks for sharing this tip. It should come in handy for anyone building an oven without a metal brake.

[recklessnova]

would have been maybe easier then the 2x4 but it worked just the same had it not been 16 ga it would have worked great with the 2x4s as it was the bend isnt perfect but it works
Josh