bending metal
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From: muscatine abouts
bending metal
any one make a small metal break. need to make some patch panels. tried the dead blow hammer trick i saw on the hamb. but i want better seams. the miller site had a couple but not to liking.
More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Wichita, KS
I've made a few. I have a 30" that I use for most of my stuff now.
I had and sold a 20" brake that would bend 18 ga nicely, and did ok on 16 ga. (I don't have a pic on my computer here at work of that one.) My 30" will bend 18 ga full width pretty well and 16 ga up to about 20". Each cost me less than $20 in materials.
In the plans are a 48" but I haven't priced materials yet. If it's over 2/3 the cost of a purchased one, I'll probably just buy it.
Dave
I had and sold a 20" brake that would bend 18 ga nicely, and did ok on 16 ga. (I don't have a pic on my computer here at work of that one.) My 30" will bend 18 ga full width pretty well and 16 ga up to about 20". Each cost me less than $20 in materials.
In the plans are a 48" but I haven't priced materials yet. If it's over 2/3 the cost of a purchased one, I'll probably just buy it.
Dave
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 16,893
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From: SE Wisc. (the Rust Belt)
Are you looking to build one yourself or buying one?
I built one almost identical to Dave's. Not very hard, a couple of pieces of ¼" angle and some round stock. If you only need to bend a few pieces grab a couple pieces of ¼" angle iron, clamp them to top of a sturdy work surface with your piece of metal between them and tap away with a big hammer until they take the from of the underlying piece of angle iron.
If you want to by one try places like Northern Tool or Harbor Freight, they sell decent, not great, tools at low prices. Mostly imported stuff not made for the trades but good enough for the home DIYer.
I built one almost identical to Dave's. Not very hard, a couple of pieces of ¼" angle and some round stock. If you only need to bend a few pieces grab a couple pieces of ¼" angle iron, clamp them to top of a sturdy work surface with your piece of metal between them and tap away with a big hammer until they take the from of the underlying piece of angle iron.
If you want to by one try places like Northern Tool or Harbor Freight, they sell decent, not great, tools at low prices. Mostly imported stuff not made for the trades but good enough for the home DIYer.
Cargo Master
Joined: Feb 2008
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From: Windermere Valley,B.C. Ca
This might, or might not, be of some significance.
A lot of the bending we do has two bends at right angles, French-ed tag boxes, floor boards, rear pans etc. To do two right angle bends you need a pan brake, import ones are available as are some of the import two in one or three in one bench tools that have a pan break, …..of which none of the features works really well.
A lot of the bending we do has two bends at right angles, French-ed tag boxes, floor boards, rear pans etc. To do two right angle bends you need a pan brake, import ones are available as are some of the import two in one or three in one bench tools that have a pan break, …..of which none of the features works really well.
More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 593
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From: Wichita, KS
The brake I posted a pic of is a piece of 4" structural channel for the bed. I have several clamping bars with different profiles/radii, all made of 2x2x1/4 angle. The apron is not really ideal for some stuff, as it's a piece of 2x2x1/4 angle with a section of rectangular tubing welded underneath. I made this brake before I really dealt with any commercially available brakes so I didn't really know what I was doing. It works surprisingly well, though. The way I made this one, it has a handle at one end instead of the two handles underneath for pulling the apron up. This is nice for some of the stuff I make, which tends to be long on both sides of the bend. However, because the apron is 2" deep, I can't do offsets as easily. Lacking the knowledge at the time of how to clamp the metal down, I simply welded a 1/2" nut to the bottom of the channel at the end and then welded a piece of angle to the end, with a corresponding hole in it. Then a 1/2" bolt clamps it down.
Dave
Dave
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From: muscatine abouts
dave that looks like what i want . ive got the hinges and angle iron base made this afternoon with what i had laying around. its 36" but only 3/16 thick 2"-2" hinges worked good. do you have a better pic of the clamping setup. ill have to reinforce the platform for strength. thanks
More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 593
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From: Wichita, KS
Just got home... Here are a few pics of the smaller brake I made. It's similar to the bigger one, but uses 3" channel for the bed, and a piece of 1/2"x3-1/4" strap for the leaf. The clamping bar is similar to the bigger one.
Here is the slot milled in the end and the adjustment stop to allow for different thicknesses (and thus bending radii).
Here is the front of the brake.
This is the shot from the end.
Hopefully these pics help somebody.
A couple tips...
Don't paint working surfaces. It may seem like a no-brainer, but HF powder coats the entire brake. Workpieces tend to slide around if they require a lot of force to bend.
Fit the leaf/apron, tack, and work it around to check for alignment before welding everything, unless you have some adjustment built in.
Be sure to post some pics!
Dave
Here is the slot milled in the end and the adjustment stop to allow for different thicknesses (and thus bending radii).
Here is the front of the brake.
This is the shot from the end.
Hopefully these pics help somebody.
A couple tips...
Don't paint working surfaces. It may seem like a no-brainer, but HF powder coats the entire brake. Workpieces tend to slide around if they require a lot of force to bend.
Fit the leaf/apron, tack, and work it around to check for alignment before welding everything, unless you have some adjustment built in.
Be sure to post some pics!
Dave
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More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 593
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From: Wichita, KS
You might notice on the smaller brake, I have a clamping bar with a knife edge. On the bigger brake posted earlier, if you look closely, you'll see that there is a piece of 1/4" round welded to the edge, which produces a 1/8" radius. Handy for getting a consistent bend.
Dave
Dave
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