I used aluminum sheet coil but you could use paper or any flat material.
How to bend sheet metal into a cone.
Draw a line onto your sheet metal the same length as you want the slanted edge of your cone to be.
When working with sheet metal one particularly useful piece of equipment is the brake.
If your sheet metal is long ask a friend to stabilize the part hanging out from the form blocks so it doesn t affect the bend.
Sheet metal cone calculator.
The flat cone templates can be bent either by rolling the plate with a three roller bending machine or by press braking on a power press.
The most suitable bending method depends on the material plate thickness and the circumference of the small diameter.
It a job that requires a little skill and a lot of patience.
A brake is a device that allows you to bend a piece of sheet metal at a particular angle.
Mark one end of the line pivot and the other end wide step 2 cut a length of string with a loop at one end and the other end held at the pivot mark.
To bend sheet metal in a vice start by marking a line on the metal where you want to bend it.
Video showing the processes involved in producing a steel cone.
Both methods will be explained below.
Next put your wooden or metal form blocks in the vice and clamp your sheet of metal between the forms.
Using the anchor point of your compass as a target and stopping point cut up to it in a straight line from any side.
It allows you to determine either the size of raw material needed or the number of gore sections to fit on your available material.
You will now have a circle of sheet metal with a cut from one side to the center.
You can find cone calculators online.
Metal shops have brakes mounted at different angles with automated braking arms however it is possible to bend sheet metal at home without the use of a brake.
View the cone instructions below to learn how to manually layout the flat pattern for a truncated cone in single or multiple gore sections.