alfer® aluminium

Installation tips

Working with sheet metal

Straight bends (angle or U-shapes)

For straight bends first draw your bending edge. We recommend leaving the protective foil on the sheet. It is optimal protection for the sheet and facilitates scratch-free processing.
Tape the sheet with the protective foil onto a particle board in such a manner that the bending edge comes to lie precisely on the edge of the board. Then place the second particle board precisely flush on the bending edge and screw both boards together outside of the sheet.

Anchor the sandwich pack with alfer®-Multi-clamp tightly in front of the work bench.

Tip: The better the sheet can be prevented from slipping by taping, clamping, or screw-fastening (if possible in the sheet area) the more dimensionally true the bending edge will be!
For the subsequent bend we recommend using a profile, roof strip, or board to bend the projecting sheet forwards (towards the body) as uniformly as possible until it reaches the desired bend angle. If you do not want to bend just one angle, but rather a U- or Z-shaped sheet, then repeat the process on the other side of the sheet.

Here you see the finished U-sheet. It is precisely flush, parallel, and rectangular.
If you do not manage to achieve the bend due to too great a length (over approx. 80 cm) or to too great a sheet thickness, you can also obtain the desired bend using a hammer and impact protection (profile or wood batten) by carefully knocking it down.

Round bends (tubes, rounds, semi-circles, etc.)

If you want to bend your sheet into a round object, then round timber, available in different diameters is well-suited for this purpose. Screw the sheet, together with its protective foil, onto the round timber. Ensure that there is a precise right-angle to the longitudinal axis of the round timber!

So that the sheet is bent exactly parallel, it must not slip under any circumstances during the powerful bending process. For this purpose you must ensure that it is firmly clamped on the edge of the workbench (e.g. with alfer®-Multi-clamps or other vises).
Then turn the round timber uniformly towards you and apply a lot of force, at the same time you push the wood away from you and keep it under high pressure.
Pay strict attention to the straight course of the round timber, so that the round body formed by the sheet is not spiral shaped. This straight course is controlled by ensuring that the rolled sheet edge is always precisely aligned with the edge of the sheet still lying flat.

Due to the spring recoil of the sheet you must rotate it about 1.5 times. After unscrewing the round timber the bent sheet will go back to an approx. 30% larger diameter.
Now you can push the sheet so far into itself until your precisely desired diameter is reached. Afterwards fix this diameter by riveting, soldering, bonding, or welding.

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