Bending 2mm 316 sheet ?

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Boo2

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Hi,

I've bought a piece of 2mm thick 316 sheet from M-Machine Metals, here : http://www.m-machine-metals.co.uk/metals_ss_sheet.html to mount my new Aqua Signal type 34 LED bicolour on and I need to bend it to 90 degrees so I can scew the upright part to a plate on my pulpit and the horizontal part to the light.

I have a machine vice I can clamp it to and can probably find a metal bar to use as a "pusher" but has anyone done this with 316 and can tell me a) how tough it is to bend, and b) does it need heat treating beforehand ? How much tougher is it than ms for instance ?

Thanks,

Boo2
 
Quite a lot tougher than MS. No heat treatment required and heating won't make it much softer.. Force depends on radius of bend and length involved.
You may well have to resort to hammering for a tight bend!.
L
 
A better way would be to fabricate the bracket by using two pieces and welding, bending to 90 deg. and hammering will severely weaken the metal.
 
TWINSCREW said:
A better way would be to fabricate the bracket by using two pieces and welding, bending to 90 deg. and hammering will severely weaken the metal.
Click to expand...
I would rather have used 75mm angle but couldn't find it in 316. Haven't got welding gear so that's out.

Boo2
 
TWINSCREW said:
A better way would be to fabricate the bracket by using two pieces and welding, bending to 90 deg. and hammering will severely weaken the metal.
Click to expand...

It is only a bracket for a lamp.
i would clamp it in your vice between 2 pieces of hard wood. then use another piece of hw to soften the hammer blows & stop any marking by the hammer on the ss
 
Boo2 said:
Hi,

I've bought a piece of 2mm thick 316 sheet from M-Machine Metals, here : http://www.m-machine-metals.co.uk/metals_ss_sheet.html to mount my new Aqua Signal type 34 LED bicolour on and I need to bend it to 90 degrees so I can scew the upright part to a plate on my pulpit and the horizontal part to the light.

I have a machine vice I can clamp it to and can probably find a metal bar to use as a "pusher" but has anyone done this with 316 and can tell me a) how tough it is to bend, and b) does it need heat treating beforehand ? How much tougher is it than ms for instance ?

Thanks,

Boo2
Click to expand...

Did you consider aluminium may be 3 mm thick. Easier to work with and more compatible with aluminium masts and would be strong enough.

Sorry you are not local else you could use my bending machine which would have taken you 30 seconds to bend 90 degrees
 
Rogershaw said:
Did you consider aluminium may be 3 mm thick. Easier to work with and more compatible with aluminium masts and would be strong enough.
Click to expand...
Yes, I even have some 3mm 5083 marine grade sheet to hand but the bracket will need to be clamped to an existing plate on the pulpit and that is made of 316 so I would prefer not to mix materials in this case.

Rogershaw said:
Sorry you are not local else you could use my bending machine which would have taken you 30 seconds to bend 90 degrees
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thought, the job doesn't really justify me buying a bending machine and I've nowhere to keep it either. I will make the holes and then apply brute force while holding it in the machine vice as sugested.

Thanks to all for the replies,

Boo2
 
Bending a 2mm stainless steel strip is the easiest thing in the word.Put it in a vice with jaw protectors ,rest a short length of hardwood square over the part uou want to bend and hit it with a heavy hammer(light hammers are useless and you get much more control with a heavy one) until the angle you wish to achieve is nearly there.Then hit it along the bend,protecting the metal with a strip of soft metal,aluminium or copper for example, until the bend is square and neat.Cold forming stainless won't weaken it.
 
Boo2 said:
Hi,

I've bought a piece of 2mm thick 316 sheet from M-Machine Metals, here : http://www.m-machine-metals.co.uk/metals_ss_sheet.html to mount my new Aqua Signal type 34 LED bicolour on and I need to bend it to 90 degrees so I can scew the upright part to a plate on my pulpit and the horizontal part to the light.

I have a machine vice I can clamp it to and can probably find a metal bar to use as a "pusher" but has anyone done this with 316 and can tell me a) how tough it is to bend, and b) does it need heat treating beforehand ? How much tougher is it than ms for instance ?

Thanks,

Boo2
Click to expand...


Your question cannot be answered. Austenitic stainless sheet can be anything from 30 TT in the annealed state to more than 100TT is really hard rolled so bending it can be anything from easy to damn near impossible without power presses. Likely your material is annealed and then lightly rolled which will make it difficult to bend but not impossible.
 
316 bends easily - it does it all the time when you do not want it to.

I'd follow the advise given, soft wood, big hammer etc but I would hold one end in the vice and bend a bit, turn it round and bend from the other end. You have a better chance of getting a neat 90 degrees that way. If it were a long length of SS the I'd clamp 10mm mild steel either side, to make a MS/SS/MS sandwich, and then bend the complete sandwich. You need good clamps to do this. But its only a little bracket for a lamp and I think you will find it easier then you think. Just use lots of cushioning to minimise damage to the SS.

Jonathan
 
Boo2 said:
Hi,

I've bought a piece of 2mm thick 316 sheet from M-Machine Metals, here : http://www.m-machine-metals.co.uk/metals_ss_sheet.html to mount my new Aqua Signal type 34 LED bicolour on and I need to bend it to 90 degrees so I can scew the upright part to a plate on my pulpit and the horizontal part to the light.

I have a machine vice I can clamp it to and can probably find a metal bar to use as a "pusher" but has anyone done this with 316 and can tell me a) how tough it is to bend, and b) does it need heat treating beforehand ? How much tougher is it than ms for instance ?

Thanks,

Boo2
Click to expand...
http://www.axminster.co.uk/adjustable-vice-jaw-benders
or for the cheapskates within the fold
[url]http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-metal-bender
[/URL]
 
Last edited:
What a horrible mess !

Well, my attemts to make a bracket out of 316 have died a messy death : I went in with too high a cutting speed while while drilling one of the holes and didn't keep the feed up. The result was the drill bit turned red hot and ended up like the pic below :

I went in with the next size up but the result of the above was the hole is now in the wrong place and because of the shape and the bend the nav light would point in the wrong direction. So my only piece of 2mm 316 sheet is scrap now, sigh.

So can anyone tell me someone who can make a polished ss bracket to my spec at a reasonable price ? Ideally in or near East Sussex but it will not weigh much so anywhere would do. Ideally someone who specializes in doing exactly that ?

Thanks,

Boo2

burned_drill_bit.gif
 
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