Quote:
Originally Posted by Feroz1325
At school we have a sheetmetal brake, so I was wondering if it would be okay to get the parts CNC'd and then bend it on our brake? This would save us a lot of time as it wouldn't need to be shipped out to a sheetmetal shop. Any thoughts?
Also, yes we will be adding a plywood baseplate and another cross member.
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If you have a sheetmetal shop that is willing to do this for you, most likely they would be more than happy to cut it all for you. I doubt many shops would willingly take parts that were cut elsewhere to bend. Each shop has their own practices for bend tolerances, relief cutouts and other minor details that you would not have if you cut it yourself.
CNC (I assume you are milling this) is
not going to cut thin sheet well, and I would not recommend it. Fixturing will be a big issue, and milling puts forces on the sheet that will likely warp it in ways you don't want unless your material is thick enough. Even with 1/8" plate (which is really getting towards the upper limit of what you could probably bend well on your school's brake), you will likely get lots of vibration and tool chatter. If you absolutely must mill it, use a straight flute endmill to help keep the sheet from being pulled up.
Bending parts precisely on a brake is not an easy task, and requires a fair bit of experience to do well and/or an automated setup. It is highly likely the parts will not be precise enough for all of your holes to line up well if you pre-drill them.
All said, if you want to do a sheet metal design, you should aim to do it with the proper tools or your design won't be able to realize the benefits of sheetmetal. If you have a local sheetmetal shop, ask them if they'd be willing to sponsor you.