I thought about this, and decided that this was actually pretty
difficult to do. 1/8 inch is pretty thick, and not easy to work with. I
usually work with material about 0.043 inches thick, much thinner, and I
could make these in my shop out of that material, but not easily. I
have a few thousand dollars of metalworking tools in my shop, and I
don't see a practical way for me to make these out of 1/8" plate, even
though I work with metal a lot. You said that you had little experience
with metalworking; take the advice of people that have that experience.

I suggest that you take Randy's advice to go to a fab shop and have them
make this for you. Any shop with heavy duty slip forming equipment
could do this quickly and efficiently, and inexpensively. Focus on the
wooden parts of the waterwheel, which I suspect you know how to make.

Richard


zukecanoe wrote:
I am gearing up for building a 14' metal overshot waterwheel {Fitz
replica}, but am quite befuddled about how to bend the buckets. I
would like to use 1/8" plate but don't know how bend anything that
thick with home shop tools. Each bucket starts as 1/8" plate 30"
wide by 19-3/16" tall; about a 3-7/16" up from the bottom end is a
90 degree bend forming the "heel" of the bucket. From the 90 degree
bend up to the top is a curve of about 20" radius. Since I am
beginning this project without much experience or knowledge of
metalworking, I will appreciate any help provided.

zukecanoe