To keep perpendicular flanges from clashing in a corner, use our Min Corner Relief Distance from Bend Line spec (pictured below). If the clearance between bend lines meets or exceeds that value for your chosen material thickness, you’re in the clear.
Our bending specifications — including bend radius, K factor, flange length, bend angle limits, and more — are listed in our Material Catalog and Bending Calculator. Use them exactly as provided to ensure your parts form within tolerance.
Yes — we offer free Fusion 360 gauge tables with our bending specs built in. Import them to set the correct bend radius, K factor, and bend relief for each material thickness we bend.
Bend radius depends on more than just thickness — tooling, material tensile strength, and die width all play a role. Some thinner materials may even have a larger bend radius than thicker ones.
Our bending service requirements are detailed in our Bending Guidelines. Use this checklist of bending considerations to review your designs before uploading part files!
To bend a flange with an irregular shape, add a flat reference edge parallel to the bend line. You can either modify your design to create a straight edge or add break-off tabs that you’ll remove after receiving your part.
Prevent deformation by meeting the minimum flange length, keeping cut features away from the bend line, and adding bend reliefs where needed. These design adjustments give the tooling enough support to form a clean, accurate bend.
Bend relief notches reduce stress and tearing where bends meet corners. For sheet metal, we recommend reliefs — especially on thicker materials. For polycarbonate, reliefs are required and must meet strict shape and depth specs.
Our channel bend (also known as u-channel and c-channel) requirements depend on the material, stock thickness, and part design geometry. Read the full FAQ to learn our general and specific limits for these types of bends!
Window bends have additional requirements since they’re enclosed. Read the full FAQ to learn about minimum sizing and other considerations for window and recessed bends.
Our requirements for joggle bends depend on the material and bend angles. Generally, the more acute the angle, the more space is required between bends. Learn our specific criteria in the full FAQ!
Flange length is measured from the center of a bend to the nearest cut edge. Learn how to apply our minimum flange specs for successful parts and quick turnarounds!
We bend sheet metal and polycarbonate with a process known as air bending. This means our bend radii are set for each material thickness and we’re unable to offer large radiused flanges. compound bends, or custom bend radiuses upon request.
Bending polycarbonate comes with a different set of considerations than forming sheet metal. Learn about design requirements for plastic bending to ensure your parts are processed successfully!
You can access the part preview tools by clicking the preview image on any part in your account, or when getting instant pricing. Then, under the preview image of your part, select the Tools option. From there you can directly measure your part or access material specs.
Upload your part, choose a material that is eligible for bending services, check that the bending definitions are correct, save your definitions, and add the parts to your cart. You should see that bending services have been added for the line item.
Everything you need to know to design for laser-cutting, CNC routing, bending, and tapping.
Everything from software-specific tutorials to material selection tips.
We have sheet metals, plastics, composites, and wood/boards for every project.
Min and Max part sizes for all our materials
We accept .ai, .dxf, .dwg, .eps, .stp, and .step
Customize one of our simple parts templates
