I spent about 20 minutes today building some additional tools for my metal-slab workbench.


This is a ball swage. It's literally a 2" trailer hitch ball welded on top of 1" square tubing. I'll use this to create rounded shapes in the metal.


Because I'm often working with small pieces of metal, having a tight corner is very useful. This tool allows me to bend metal around a 90-degree angle, and also lets me bend the metal around a 1" tube.


Keep in mind that I'm not hammering on these tools like you would on an anvil. I work exclusively with sheet metal, so I'm only tapping on the metal to shape it. The 1" square tubing is more than strong enough to handle what I'm doing with the sheet metal.