Sheet metal brake

[Jack Hamilton]

I'm not sure about where to post this thread, and because of a request I will post it here so it will be easy to find for other prospectors who like to build their own gear. I noticed "member submitted how to's" but could't find a DIY thread,So without and further doo doo My home made sheet metal brake.

Parts: you will need 3 pieces of 1/4" thick by min. 2" angle iron cut to exceed the length of the metal you wanna bend.
1 piano hinge. A box of steel rivets, 1/8" to 3/16" should work for 36" bends and under. One flat piece of steel bar 1-1/2"n by 3 feet. Keep in mind this is my "first" brake and it can definitely be improved on, and I already have plans to do so. One neccesity is to add triangle wedges welded in place to beef up the angle iron. Believe it or not, thin sheet aluminum exerts enough force to bend angle iron. This gives you a slight curve in your fold. No bueno!
I have 1 piece of angle that sits with an edge on my work bench surface and face. One piec of angle on top of that, thin edge forward, tall edge in the back. One piece of angle riveted to the bottom angle via piano hinge, in reverse position, bwith a handle bolted to it. I have drilled through both pieces of angle on the work bench, and the work bench, with a 3/8" drill bit. 2 bolts go from the top piece of angle, through the bottom piece and through the bench and get washers and a nut below the work bench. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I took quite a few pics........Most of this stuff can be bought at lowes or depot. Its alot cheaper at a recylce center

 

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[Jack Hamilton]

The bottom piece is screwed with wood lag bolts to the bottom 2x4 of my work bench. This helps make it stronger. The sheet metal is slid between the upper and lower pieces of angle iron, and the nuts at the bottom of the work bench tightend. My sample fold was done for example, and the nuts were not even tightend. When snug, or tight the fold will come out straighter. I also drilled 2 different sets of holes for smaller and longer folds.

 

[Jack Hamilton]

One last thing which is important. When setting up the top piece of angle, make sure to set it back about 1/16" to an 1/8" to allow you to bend past 90% slightly. Metal has a memory and you need to bend just past your desired angle as the metal will come back slightly. You only need to bend a few degrees past what you want, 5% maybe. Play with some scraps and you will get the feel. Here is a close up of what I am trying to describe:

 

[strickman]

decent home ade brake ,that should get you going -when are the proto types ready?jack's sluice is in BIN-NESS!!!

 

[Jack Hamilton]

Thanks, strickman. In the last 2 pics in post 1 you can see an ugly array of rivets. The force exerted from bending long thin bends while making my drywasher ripped the rivets right through the metal on my piano hinge and I had to drill two holes for every factory hole on the hinge. It seems to be holding but could definitely be improved on. I want to get to a point where my understanding of this tool will let me build one 6 feet or longer and bend thicker metal nice and straight. For now it will make 36" bends and is fine for small stuff like drywashers and backpackable sluices.

 

[AV8R]

That's perfectly easy and simple! I'm looking to build a feeder/hopper for a homemade highbanker as well as a crash box for a small dredge. I can't thank you enough for the informative writeup and pictures.

I'd buy you several pints of dark beer if you didn't live so dang far away.

 

[Jack Hamilton]

I like to share knowledge,... av8r, just not my good diggin holes in public Fly out here and I'll take you to some places not many know about. Under the radar and not on the geocommunicator, not even as closed claims. I find gold all over. Most of it is fines though. I need to get up to nor cal, randsburg or Arizona. I want some more nuggets to add to my collection

 

[SCBUZZ]

don't know if any of you guys are familiar with Harbor Freight . But they have really good prices on pretty good tools. I have used some of there stuff and tho not name brand they preform just as well. And they warntee what they sell. Here is a link to a $40.00 brake http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=266&pricetype=

 

[Jack Hamilton]

thats not a bad brake for the price. it bends 30".rivets do wonders My longest bend on my brake is 36" I
ts not made for it but i made it work. ,I'd like to make my next one capable of bending 6' clean. Going to have to find a welder for that one, or learn the basics.

 

[SCBUZZ]

Explore that site more. They have several diff sizes. I am not the most mechanically inclined person. So its easier to buy it for $39.00 than try to build it over and over and spend $300.00 in the process. Most would do like you and do well with it . I have a knack for making the ez seem hard in things like that. I am also the person that throws away the directions when you buy somethin new.

 

[pressbrake]

A press brake, also known as plate bending machine, is a kind of machine tool for bending sheet and plate material, most commonly sheet metal, material could be normal steel, stainless steel, aluminum and so on. Regularly, two C-frames form the sides of the press brake, connected to a table at the bottom and on a moveable slide at the top. The bottom tool is mounted on the table with the top tool mounted on the upper beam.

A Press brake could be described and distinguished by basic specifications, such as the force or tonnage and the working length (length of plate sheet). Additional parameters include the amplitude or stroke, the distance between the frame uprights or side housings, distance to the back gauge, and work height. The upper slide usually operates at a speed ranging from 1 to 15 mm/sec.

There are many different types of press brake as described by the means of applying force: mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and servo-electric. Hydraulic press brake operates by means of two synchronized hydraulic cylinders on the C-frames moving the upper slide. Servo-electric brakes use a servo-motor to drive a ball screw to exert tonnage on the ram.

SUZOU DAFU MACHINE TOOLS CO.,LTD., is a professional manufacturer of hydraulic press brake and servo-electric press brake. Established in 2003, Suzhou Dafu Machine tools have been engaged indesigning, building and selling hydraulic press brake, CNC hydraulic press brake, guillotines shear and CNC guillotine shear for many years. Thanks to full attention upon press brake and guillotine shear building, and the great investment in metal processing equipments. Dafu had made agood start in the industry of press brake and guillotine shear after our products hit market.
In 2007, due to reliable quality of press brake and guillotine shear we built and sold, Dafu had gained remarkable reputation in Chinese market and Dafu’s share in the market had been kept increasing year by year, at the same period, Dafu started to pay more attention upon oversea market and seek sales increase from global market. In order to pursue quality of machines and service, our boss decided to expand production capacity, and extended workshop buildings 15,000 square meters more, plus original 15,000 square meters workshop, totally 30,000 square meters in total.

 

[russau]

Jack, another good addition to your brake is cutting out extra peices of different lengths of angle iron for fingers for your brake to bend peices that have already been bent with edges/corners.