How To Fix Bent Sheet Metal

The following is a 6 step method to help you repair those dents in no time at all.

How to fix bent sheet metal.

The metal in the included picture looks relatively small. If you can get behind and put a dolly it and flatten it out is really works good. This week we work on knocking dents out of damaged panels. This server cabinet was damaged in shipping and needs repair so i will walk you through some of m.

Careful preparation of the metal surfaces will ensure a strong metal to metal adhesive bond. Click maybe not professional heck that is exactly what you should be doing. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle. You have a few options.

Thoroughly clean the metal surfaces to be bonded. This means it s a lot easier to flatten. Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. You will first need to pull out the dent in the sheet metal in order to straighten it.

Sheet metal isn t all that different from a car s bodywork so most methods which will remove dents from a car work for sheet metal. You are simply returning the bent metal back to the way it was originally good job. In order to counteract this stretch you have to be able to shrink the metal back to its original position. Understanding sheetmetal we are dealing with damaged dented bent and generally twisted sheetmetal here and the first step to repairing damaged sheetmetal is understanding how it moves and.

This is really easy especially with a flattening tool. On a molecular level the increased heat causes the molecules of the sheet metal to become excited. That means removing all paint rust or corrosion with a scraping or sanding tool and removing dust dirt wax oil or grease with a cloth or paper towel wetted with a degreaser or detergent. With the right tools you can easily straighten aluminum yourself rather than spending money on a new piece of metal.

The process of straightening metal is one that while seeming easy is actually a fairly difficult thing to do correctly. Aluminum is highly malleable which makes it easy to work with but also easy to accidentally bend. One involves using a blow dryer or a paint stripper which emits heat to warm the metal of the dent. If you do inadvertently bend a piece of aluminum don t assume it is ruined and throw it away.

This is made easier if you temporarily weld small metal rods to the damaged sheet metal using a rospot or a stud gun.