ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Bending (metalworking)

Bending in metalworking is like bending a straw, but instead of plastic, it's metal. You need a thing called a "bender" to do it. This bender is like a giant pair of pliers that can grip really tightly on the metal and then bend it into a shape like a U, V or even a square.

Imagine if you had a long pencil and you wanted to make a square out of it. You can't just bend it with your hands because it's too stiff. But, if you use the bender, you can grip the pencil tightly and then use your muscles to push down on a special lever that will bend the pencil into a square!

This is basically what happens when metalworkers bend metal. The bender is used to firmly hold the metal in place and then slowly and carefully push it into the desired shape.

Sometimes, metalworkers need to create really precise bends, like in a car or airplane part. For this, they use a special machine called a CNC bender. This machine can be programmed to make exact bends in the metal that are needed for the specific part.

After the metal is bent, it might need to be cut or welded to shape it further. This can be done with other tools, like a saw or a welding torch.

In summary, bending is a way of shaping metal into different shapes using a special tool called a bender. It's like bending a straw or a pencil, but with metal that's much tougher and needs more force to shape.