In primary press forming process, a piece of blank sheet metal is draw worked so as to form a preformed work piece (Wb) provided with a bent portion (a) substantially conforming to a three dimensional contour of a leading edge of a blade to be protected and extending along a longitudinal direction, and a pair of planar portions (b and c) extending from either side of the bent portion. In a secondary press forming process, the planar portions (b and c) of the preformed work piece are stretch formed into a final shape that conforms to the corresponding profile of the blade while the bent portion (a) of the preformed work piece is clamped and protected from deformation. In other words, the bent portion of an edge protector (100) is already given with the final shape of the edge protector by the primary press forming process while the planar portions (b and c) thereof are given with the final shape by the secondary press forming process so that the two press forming processes can be executed without interfering with each other, and only two relatively simple press forming processes are required for forming the complex three dimensional shape of the edge protector.