NOSE CAP

[yip]

  WHATS THE BEST WAY  TO FORM THE WRAP AROUND FOR A NOSE CAP MADE FORM .O40 STEEL?

[2 shots]

 perhaps you could start to  form it around a pipe or make a hardwood form. .040 sounds a bit heavy.

[Daniel Coats]

Material is too thick. Either way open your vise a little and place the material about half way in and free form the bend a little at a time towards the edge. Flip over and do the other side. Check your progress and tweak with pliers as needed and you'll get there.

If it doesn't work out throw the pennies worth of material away and do another one.

[Steeltrap]

If you believe the material is to thick and difficult to work with, why not file it thinner first? Of course, this needs to be done carefully as you want the thickness to be the same across the material.

Just a passing thought.....

[brushyspoons]

I made my first steel nose cap by bending it freehand with the assistance of a bench vise and some needlenose pliers like Daniel described. I scrapped my first attempt, I had a better grasp of things on my second try. I used 22ga mild steel from Ace Hardware, my calipers measure it right at 0.030". For my next nose cap I plan on making a form out of wood to match a reduced profile of the upper forearm and bending around that.