V-grooving, also known as V-cutting, is a process for cutting grooves in flat sheet metal and serves as an auxiliary step to shearing and bending. After V-grooving, the sheet has clear reference lines for shearing and bending; following the bend the fillet can be removed to achieve a true right-angle bend.

V-grooving is an auxiliary forming operation: at the intended bend line special equipment and tooling cut a V-shaped groove so the material can be bent more easily and the outer bend radius is minimized. The bent part is then formed on a press brake or manually. The V-groove’s depth, width, and angle are determined and controlled by the cutter geometry and the cutting/feed depth during the grooving operation.