Sheet Metal Bending 3

[sbozy25]

Ok, so I am having a brain fart. I used to have a handy chart for bending sheet metal. It had a series of formulas and factors for different kinds of materials and different bends to show how much the material would thin out at the bend section. I have tried googling many terms to find some sort of diagram or table with no luck. I even dug through all my old text books from college to find it, also with no luck.

Does anyone know where I might find something that will help me? Oh, and the machinery handbook is not an option as my company does not allow it on the premises.

I know this is kind of an easy question, so please spare me the arrogant snide little comments that ususlay come with them. I already feel dumb for having to ask, I don't need others to tell me as well.

Thank You...

 

[sbozy25]

hahaha....


Yeah, I do have a copy of the MH at home. This sheet I have is something an old boss put together a few years ago. It is just basicaly a guide to go bye when dealing with sheet metal. I will hapily post it up when my boss gets back in the office and I have access to our scanner.

In the mean time, if you go to the engineers edge, I found a handy bending calculator that works quite well.

Cory, you supprise me, infact most of you supprise me. 90% of the engineers I have every worked with despise the MH. They find that it lits impossible values for manufacturing, and find themselves in a bunch of trouble every time they base a calculation from it. I could go either way, I am not a fan, but I will atleast use it to get me started, then adjust for "real life" abilities.

 

[hydtools]

I have not had a problem with MH. I find it quite useful. The engineers, mechanical and manufacturing, I have worked with all refer to it from time to time.

I have not heard of MH having impossible values for manufacturing. That's curious. The book has been around for a long time. Supposedly written by 'practical' people.

Ted

 

[IFRs]

For bending sheet metal and thicker metal parts, I always went to the shop and did a trial bend - there were too many variables to use formulas for decent accuracy. Air bending, bottoming die, radius of the dies, speed of the prss brake, lubricity of the dies and the materials, temper and hardness, consistency of the maerials, etc etc. MH is a good start for estimating but mid thickness length through the bend is equally accurate. The Aluminum Association has minimum bend radii for most common alloys. Each shop I worked with had their own "cheat sheet" for bend allowances based on their experience/equipment/operations. I look forward to seeing yours!!

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The MH has been printed and re-printed for 90 years and is currently in its 27th edition. If the data in it was that bad, I doubt it would have remained so popular for so long.