I've done some sheet metal in the past, but not a great deal. I decided that it would be a good idea to try out something small to see what can be done in house and what needs to be outsourced. Cutting is cheap, but bending still requires lots of manual setup and is consequently expensive for small runs.
I had access to a shop with a shear and box pan so I tried out a couple of tests in aluminum to work out the bending order and to verify the proportions. I glued on the tab to hang the brush as cutting it is out is pretty much impossible with hand tools.
Real parts in 20g stainless ready for polishing and bending:
This was a good exercise to test out the design tools and supply chain for the far more complex parts for the bodywork; almost all of which will have to be fabricated with grown-up tools that I don't have.
I had access to a shop with a shear and box pan so I tried out a couple of tests in aluminum to work out the bending order and to verify the proportions. I glued on the tab to hang the brush as cutting it is out is pretty much impossible with hand tools.
Real parts in 20g stainless ready for polishing and bending:
This was a good exercise to test out the design tools and supply chain for the far more complex parts for the bodywork; almost all of which will have to be fabricated with grown-up tools that I don't have.
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