Determine the angle at which you want to brake the metal and mark it on the protractor.
How do you bend sheet metal without a brake.
Example for a manually bendable bracket by crown international image source to define the bend region and reduce the force required to bend a part out of sheet metal down to something you can.
Now that you know your bend allowance take your protractor and draw a clear line with your marker across the point at which you will bend your sheet metal.
Mark your bend lines.
Then use your bend allowance to draw your second bend line the intervening distance between your bend lines bend radius.
There are lots of other ways to bend sheet metal especially if it s a smaller piece.
Not everything requires a brake.
Bend sheet metal without a brake.
I have never tried this method but if you don t have a metal brake this may work fine.
This video will show you how to do it and hopefully save you some money.
The bend won t be quite as sharp but suitable bends can be made for many construction projects without using a brake.
One way that i often work with sheet metal for automotive panels is to sandwich 2 4 s in a vise with the workpiece in the middle then work the metal with a rubber mallet.
You will use the protractor to gauge the brake as.
Slide the angle iron into the jaws of the vise so that it lays flat the length of the piece of metal.
Stacey demonstrates a technique of how to bend a sheet of metal using a vise and 2 4 s.