Edge Flange On Curved SS Sheet

[curvyrace]

Hello All!
I've got a 12 ga 304 stainless steel sheet that has one edge cut to a radius of about 140". It's forming the top of an outdoor industrial power unit, so its pretty big. Since it's the top of the power unit, I want to edge roll it down 90 deg to create a 1" high lip to seal out rain and debris. It seems to me this should be a pretty easy thing to get a sheet metal shop to do, but our Purchasing Dept is having a hard time finding someone that can do it. The other edges of the sheet are straight, so those aren't a big deal with a finger brake. Any ideas out there for who can make this part with the rolled edge? Thanks!

 

[MikeHalloran]

I used to work in a marine exhaust shop that did stuff like that in stainless and tougher stuff all the time.
There's probably at least one such shop in every coastal city near you.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[curvyrace]

Thanks Mike but I'm about as far from a coast as you can get in the US, Missouri.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Well, yeah, except for those two major rivers...

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[dhengr]

Curvyrace:
The 140" radius isn’t so bad, but how long is the circumferential length of that flange? The sum of the two (total size) might make it pretty tough to get the piece in a shop and into the forming machine. Then 12ga. is probably starting to stretch the thickness which could be roll formed in stainless stl. without edge/corner cracking, etc. Could you take a .1" x 1" ss bar and weld it to the edge of the cut, to shape, top plate? Weld this to the very edge, forming almost as rounded edge, with a little grinding and clean-up. Or, welding the bar to the under face of the top pl., with a small fillet weld, with the bar set in 3/16" from the edge of the top pl. In either case, you fit and tack the bar to the top pl. every inch or so, then come back and do a complete final appearance weld.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Or, since you've got a finger brake and a welding machine, make the edge flange polygonal and just weld the tabs at the notches?



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[curvyrace]

Thanks everybody! I think we'll try to go with edge welding a piece of flat bar around the curve.