The Fab Shop

I had a project to test this out on.

I bent 25 pieces of 1/4" Aluminum 5052 to a 1/2" radius. It all worked really well but was about the practical limit for the tool, both in terms of load and number of cycles.

The tool was printed with PLA, 15 vertical layers and 25% infill. Some better internal reinforcement would have helped. This could do 1/8" mild steel all day.

I've been looking at lots of videos lately on used 3D printed part dies to bend metal, inspired by some work Chad has done recently and some links he has shared with me.

Here is a video on doing tooling for a simple bend

This one is quite good (Part 2) of forming a complicated shape with some articulating printed tools:

3D Printed Sheet Metal Forming Part 2

Part 1 here with lots of trial and error.

And another video of using PLA to create the bend tools for specific radiuses, which can be pricey.

PLA Tooling

Some of this can just be done on a vice, others require a proper press. The last one shows a full on press brake but a regular press will work fine with a few attachments.