Bracket Bending vs. Welding WRT to Cost
Bracket Bending vs. Welding WRT to Cost
(OP)
Hi all, I have a question concerning costs for different manufacturing processes. I'm a rather fresh ME, so please bear with me. I am concerned with the cost of manufacturing the bracket depicted in the attached image. I am looking for the lowest cost option to manufacture the bracket from 3/16" thick, 4" wide, low carbon steel.
In general, which would be lower cost: bending a single piece of steel sheet, or welding 3 pieces to form the bracket. Is there a lower cost option than those aforementioned?
Thanks for your help, and please let me know if I left out any pertinent info!
In general, which would be lower cost: bending a single piece of steel sheet, or welding 3 pieces to form the bracket. Is there a lower cost option than those aforementioned?
Thanks for your help, and please let me know if I left out any pertinent info!





RE: Bracket Bending vs. Welding WRT to Cost
It all depends on the tooling your fabricator has (one can do it another cannot because they don't have the tooling).. But I suspect this shouldn't be an issue. In fact I just looked in my Wilson tooling catalog and this is not an issue with their taller gooseneck tooling.
RE: Bracket Bending vs. Welding WRT to Cost
It's better to not specify an exact bend radius because it's dependent on what tooling is available, but to instead specify a maximum radius that you can tolerate, and let the fabricator work out the details.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Bracket Bending vs. Welding WRT to Cost
How many do I need to make?
What are the tolerances of the part?
What equipment do I have? Do I have a pressbrake? Do I have a welder?
How much do I want to invest in tooling and equipment?