Bending Metal

Bob Thomas from DuBois, PA says: "Metal Brakes are expensive. You can easily make a break out of your vise by using pieces of 2x4s. You cut the 2x4s the length of the piece of metal your bending and clamp it in the vice. Works great! I made new rocker panels this way. Saved a lot of money by cutting the metal out of the roof of a parts car too." Stacey's comments: Great tip. It just goes to show that you don't always need a bunch of expensive tools to work metal. Bending over 2x4s will give you a nice rounded, 'radiused' bend. If you need a sharp 90 degree bend for, say, the bottom of a rocker, just cut the rounded sides off of the 2x4s so you can get a sharp bend and then bend away.