sheet metal hell/heaven

[dcduct]

I am new to the world of sheet metal fabricating.
I have only been doing it for the last 2 months.
Yet i find myself in the curious position of running a sheet metal workshop/business.
It is part of my other company which is the installation of ductwork.
In september I am going back to college to start my qualifications in this field.
There are only 2 of us in the workshop and I am the main fabricator out of the two of us.
I'm able to form square to rounds having downloaded instructions off the internet first, then being shown for an hour how to set them out, make them and fold them etc.
There are a few things that are going wrong and i'm unable to figure out why, so please help me if you see any threads I have left, as any new information is invaluable to me.
Most other things i think them through, try and draw them out, break down each part and then try and transfer them to the sheet.
this works out 90% of the time in theory but about 50% in practice due to the implemetation of incorrect methods and tools or just general lack of knowledge.
This as you can imagine is extremely frustrating especially when you get right to the making up of the piece and find it only needs a fold here or there that should be done right at the start.
there is 1 full swear jar in the workshop at the moment. lol.
but when you get it right there is not many better feelings.

kind regards to any1 that reads this and helps me out in my pursuit of becoming a proper tinbasher.

[Bud]

dcduct, welcome to the site, I'm sure you'll find plenty of help here. Thanks for joining us.

[DMNyankee]

I keep this in mind and practice for when I lay out custom pieces. I'll use rosin paper, light cardboard, whatever to dry-run a piece and then if I need to make several or it may be a piece I'll make again in the future, I trace out the first layout and fab the second piece. I save the first as a template and write any pertinent info on it such as degrees and bending order. It adds a bit of time to the original piece but saves a ridiculous amount of time on successive pieces. I have a wall full of odd looking scraps of metal with words and numbers scribbled on them hanging on my wall in an effort to eliminate ( well, at least diminish) human error in the shop.

[sheetmental]

hire a qualified guy and then as you go to school, you can also learn from him. he will teach you things that school never will.

[cactassdupree]

I am new to the world of sheet metal fabricating.
I have only been doing it for the last 2 months.
Yet i find myself in the curious position of running a sheet metal workshop/business.
It is part of my other company which is the installation of ductwork.
In september I am going back to college to start my qualifications in this field.
There are only 2 of us in the workshop and I am the main fabricator out of the two of us.
I'm able to form square to rounds having downloaded instructions off the internet first, then being shown for an hour how to set them out, make them and fold them etc.
There are a few things that are going wrong and i'm unable to figure out why, so please help me if you see any threads I have left, as any new information is invaluable to me.
Most other things i think them through, try and draw them out, break down each part and then try and transfer them to the sheet.
this works out 90% of the time in theory but about 50% in practice due to the implemetation of incorrect methods and tools or just general lack of knowledge.
This as you can imagine is extremely frustrating especially when you get right to the making up of the piece and find it only needs a fold here or there that should be done right at the start.
there is 1 full swear jar in the workshop at the moment. lol.
but when you get it right there is not many better feelings.

kind regards to any1 that reads this and helps me out in my pursuit of becoming a proper tinbasher.

Get rid of the swear jar you'll only go broke :) dupree