Most sheet metal cost overruns are designed in, not manufactured in. These four rules catch the common ones.
1. Keep the inside bend radius equal to the material thickness. A radius smaller than the thickness needs a special punch, and on higher-strength steels it cracks the outer fibre. If your drawing says R0.5 on 2 mm steel, expect a question from us.
2. Keep holes at least 2.5× thickness away from the bend line. Closer than that and the hole deforms into an oval. If the hole must be close, we can pierce it after bending — but that is a second operation and a second setup.
3. Use the same bend radius everywhere on the part. Every different radius is a different tool change on the press brake, and setup time is real money on short runs.
4. Watch for a flange shorter than 4× thickness. It will not clear the die shoulder and cannot be formed on a standard V-die.
None of these are absolute — we bend parts that break every one of them. But each violation adds either a tool, an operation or a scrap risk, and it is much cheaper to know at the drawing stage than after the first article.
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