How To Fold Curved Lines In Metal Without Fancy Tools

A hobbyist named John demonstrates a technique for folding curved lines into aluminum sheet metal using only hand tools, by drilling a series of small holes along each intended fold line to weaken the metal so it bends cleanly along a curve. He built the piece as a curved cover matching the aerodynamic lines of a Belly Tank Lakester. An earlier attempt using a scored groove instead of holes caused the aluminum to crack, while the perforated line method allowed clean bends. The resulting small perforations are mostly hidden once the part is mounted and polished.

Source: https://hackaday.com/2026/09/11/how-to-fold-curved-lines-in-metal-without-fancy-tools. 8 Sync News only summarizes and links out; content copyright belongs to the authors and original sources.