Sheet metal bending and cutting?

[Franko]

Interesting about that point. Right now I'm looking at cutting .050" aluminum sheet, and was thinking that a thinner kerf would get through with less resistance, letting it run cooler and lose less material. Do you think the thicker kerf would be important for material like that, or did that apply to thicker workpieces such as rod, tubing etc?

I wouldn't worry about it Frank. The stiff blade will go through it like melted butter. The only times I've seen anything get hot is when cutting 1/4" or greater.

 

[projectnut]

If you'd like another project you can build your own sheet metal brake. I built one a while ago. It was only supposed to take a few days, but I managed to procrastinate long enough to make it last 2 years.

Here's a link to the thread:

Sheet Metal Brake

This is a project I've had in the works for a couple years. I didn't work on it on a daily basis, or even a monthly basis for that matter. It's been sort of a fill in thing for when I had a few extra minutes to spend in the shop. With the recent "social distancing" recommendation I felt it...

www.hobby-machinist.com

About the 4th post down are the plans for the original machine. I made mine big enough to handle 36" wide stock.