Folding Bars
From DT Online
Description
Commercially available Folding Bars are a single piece construction formed by bending a length of Mild Steel bar as shown.
The design enables the bars naturally to spring together and grip a piece of sheet metal prior to being placed in a Vice to hold the sheet firmly for bending.
Additional force can be applied by G Cramps or Hand Vices, if needed on longer folds for example.
Folding Bars can readily be self-made using strips of steel bar or angle section which are then gripped together in a Vice.
They are more convenient to use if they are located against each other with Bolts and Wing Nuts as shown.
Note: When folding sheet metal which has been marked out using a Scriber, always ensure the scribed line is on the inside of the fold. In this way, the scribed line will close up because of Compression whereas, if on the outside of the fold, the resulting Tensile forces could open it up and even cause the metal to tear or start to fracture - especially if it is then subjected to vibration. For this reason, scribed lines must not be used at all to mark out fold lines in aluminium for aircraft manufacture.
Larger Sheet Metal Folders may be floor standing but more commonly used hand-operated sizes are often bolted to the bench top and some smaller versions can be mounted in a Vice. Most Folders are able to bend sheet metal beyond a right angle and usually up to approximately 1200
Box Folders, or Box and Pan folders differ in that the clamping plate is made up of several different width sections which can be arranged to enable folds within the limitations imposed by the width of boxes or trays to be folded.
