Why Metal? The answer is simple. As great as wood is for building furniture and shop projects, sometimes you need the extra strength of metal. And other times, it’s just nice to incorporate metal into a project to give it a different look.
This jig allows you to bend metal rods and bars into curves by hand. With it, you can make your own hardware items such as hooks, handles or even decorative shelf brackets like the ones shown below.
The principle behind the jig is pretty simple. A number of holes are drilled in the base of the jig to hold steel pins. These pins serve as fulcrum points for bending the metal. You can bend the metal using a pair of pins, as you see in the main photo above. Or you can bend it around a wood wheel using a single pin as a fulcrum point.
A weekend and this easy-to-build jig will give you a chance to add another skill to your workshop repertoire!