Sheet metal brakes.

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Since my old post on building this old brake doesn't work anymore I decided to redo it. They moved the RCM metalworking dropbox making my old references to it not work. This is likely to take a while for me to get all the info I want to get up. Possible more than a day but we'll get started here with my old write up and pictures from the dropbox.These are pictures of home made sheet metal bending brake. Posted by Wayne Cook . The following description was provided:==================================================  ===============  This is some pictures and explanations of a sheet metal brake a madea few years ago. I'm also going to include the few things that needsome change.  First things first. Please ignore the weeds and mess. This is takenin my current construction zone ie my shop. :-)  brake1  This is a overall shot of the brake. All the major part of the brakeitself are made from pieces cut from a 12"x12" wide flange beam I gotcheap at a auction. The legs are pieces of truck frame. The bows aremade from sucker rod. In other words this was a low budget projectmade from what I had on hand.brake2  This shows approximately where and how I cut the I-beam to make thepieces. As you can see I cut the top of the clamp so that there wouldbe some extra meat down where the real pressure is applied. I also cutthe table so that some of the web was left to provide some meat wherethe table is stressed the worst.brake3 This shots gives a good look at the web left under the table. brake4  This shot shows the cross section of the clamp. Notice the extraleft from the web radius and how I used it as a place to weld the backbrace on.brake5  This shot shows the back of the clamp. Notice the 1" bar runningacross at the clamp point. You can also see the heavy adjustable bow.When I built this I wanted to be darn sure it would bend 14ga at 4'.It does this pretty well with only a little bit of flex. brake6  This shot shows the bow I added to the bottom of the leaf. The leafis only about 3/8" thick. There was no way it could bend 14ga withonly 3/8" worth of leverage (I knew that before I even tried it thoughI did manage to bend some thinner stuff). I think my original plancalled for using the extra piece I cut from the beam to laminate theleaf. For some reason I decided instead to weld a piece of 1"x1"x1/4"angle at the top of the leaf to provide the leverage needed to bendthe heavy stuff. I had to add a bow to the back of the leaf to takethe bend that welding put in it. It worked great that way but thenearly 1 1/2" thickness of the leaf doesn't allow close reverse bends.I later cut the leg off the angle iron leaving about a 3/4" wide topfor the leaf to help with this problem (I was in need of some tightreverse bends). When I did that the bow in the leaf got worse andoverpowered the light bow I'd put behind it so I put this one ininstead. At any rate based on how the brake acts when in use I thinkyou could get by with a 5/8" thick leaf if you do something to stiffenit like this bow. However if you laminate similar to way I did you canget by with less on the main leaf but I'd just add 1/4" strap orsimilar instead of the angle. brake7  This shows the addition to the bending lip as I talked about above.You can also see the bow I put on the leaf. One reason I put that bowon there when building it was it allowed some adjustment of the leaf.I also felt it would help stiffen the leaf against twisting in themiddle (the reason I place the bow on the outside).brake8  Here is the back bottom of the table. Notice the really heavy bow onit. You can also see how tight it was to fit the bow on the back ofthe leaf. Some more room needs to be planned for there in the design.brake9  Here's a shot of the toggles for clamping the bar. It also shows theback of the clamp support and the hinge for the leaf. There is acouple of things I need to change in this area. First there needs tobe a adjusting bolt setup to push the back clamp support toward theleaf. It's possible to clamp it in place the way I have it but it'shard to adjust which it does need depending on the thickness of thematerial you bend. Second is the bottom toggle pivot. It really needsa second bolt in a slotted hole to help clamp it. It's possible toclamp it with the one 1/2" bolt that I'm using but it will move if youget too rough with it. brake10  This shot gives another view of the leaf hinge. Placement of thatpivot point is one of the most critical and hardest things to getright about this whole project. It needs to be a little above andslightly in front of the table's top corner so that the leaf has someclearance with the table and doesn't slide on the metal being bent tomuch. I wish this was a little higher. Also note the gap between theends of the brake and the clamp bar. Unfortunately the piece of beam Iused to make this was only 47" long. I had to add to the table andleave the gaps on the ends of the clamp bar so that I could get 491/4" in there (needed since most sheet stock is over size by at leasta little). The gap has actually proved fairly useful at times since itallows bending of a corner for a short box into it. I'll have to continue this in the next post.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Here's the rest of the old files.brake11  This shows why I decided to make the toggle's easy to remove. I bentthe 4' length of 14ga into the a duct (the cut off end of which isshown in this shot). If the clamp wasn't easily removed it would ofbeen nearly impossible to get it off even with the one corner notwelded (the pic shows it welded). Note that there's if a fair amountof rounding of the corners. I admit that this brake is not capable ofmaking a real sharp corner in 14 gauge. Actually it might if I madethe couple of improvements I mentioned above but it would be a realbear to make the bend. As it is it takes two people to effectively doit. I can jump up and down on the balance bars and barely manage it ifI go from one side to the other but it's not a good bend when I do.  One other thing I would change on the next brake is that I'd makethe clamp bar at least 45deg angled back. I made it straighter thanthat on this one in fear that it wouldn't be strong enough. Experiencehas shown it to be plenty strong (most of the flex comes from the overhang of the 1" clamping shaft). brake12   This is the last one folks Honest.  As you can see it's a shot of the clamping toggle. These where deadeasy for me to make when I had access to the machines where I used towork. They'd take a little longer now but not much. The cams aresimply 1 15/16" cold rolled slices (I used that size because there wasa lot of it where I used to work). I welded two of the slices to thehandles as shown and then drilled a 1" hole offset in the disc. As aearlier picture showed I drilled a 1/2" hole offset in the bottom discto allow for adjustment of the clamp. It should really have anotherbolt in there since I've had it slip a few times. The toggle barswhere easy for me since I had a big radial drill and a 1 15/16" shellreamer to make them with while stacked. I'd have to use a boring headnow.  I later rebuilt the old brake just before I got my new commercial made brakes. I'll have to take some pictures and write some stuff about it. I also plan on adding some of my later press brake attachments to this thread so be patient.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Ok here's some pics of the brake as it sits now. I added a piece of maintainer blade to the bottom of the clamp and machined it so I could make sharper bends.  I also reworked the clamping and positioning system though I got rushed there and really need to go back and redo it some.  As you can see I made it easier to adjust. But I should of used heavier threaded rod and mounted my swivels at the bottom better.  I also reversed the direction of the clamping levers so that they would clamp when up. I'd run into times when they got in the way clamping the other direction. Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Ok. I'm going to gather up some of my other brakes from the many different posts and move/reference them here.  First here's a finger press brake I built. It allowed me to make some 10ga drawers and tool box. I don't use it as much as I'd like just because it's so heavy and time consuming to setup on the press.  The original thread is here.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...ighlight=brakeMillermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Here's one of my brakes from the poor mans thread here.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...ighlight=brake It's capable of about 50" of 10ga + as it's configured here. It works fairly well though not perfectly but the real problem is that it takes forever to get setup.  Some examples of bends made by the above brake. Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Here's another "little" press brake attachment. I made this to bend 3/8" plate for a big job I was doing.  The original thread it was in is here. http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...ighlight=brakeMillermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Good job, great ideas. Thank you.Tim Beeker.
Reply:Thanks and You're Welcome. BTW if anybody else wants to post there brake ideas in this thread feel free. It would be nice to get some this stuff in one place.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:I like your ideas - makes me think I should put a base under the one I made and attach the hold-down instead of clamping it on.Btw, it sure is nice to see other unpainted stuff - I was starting to think I was the only one who left stuff "naturally coated." Lots of painting, waxing, polishing, and cleaning going on by the members of this website  Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Thanks.  Yeah well I'm strange about painting. If I can't do it 100% right. From sandblasting/sanding clean metal, good grade primer, and good grade of paint. Then I don't want it done at all. The one thing I REALLY hate is flaking, chipping paint. Also paint over dirt and grease really gets me wound up.  I'd rather have it rust than deal with a lousy paint job.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:I hear you Man you would hate the used tractor market around here then - seen them painted so bad the tires didn't even get masked off.Painted without even washing the oil and grease off and right over the hoses and belts too Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:That kind of **** drives me crazy. It's like the 10 coats of paint I'd like to get off my radial drill.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Originally Posted by irish fixitThat kind of **** drives me crazy. It's like the 10 coats of paint I'd like to get off my radial drill.
Reply:Originally Posted by MinnesotaDaveI like your ideas - makes me think I should put a base under the one I made and attach the hold-down instead of clamping it on.Btw, it sure is nice to see other unpainted stuff - I was starting to think I was the only one who left stuff "naturally coated." Lots of painting, waxing, polishing, and cleaning going on by the members of this website
Reply:Willie while I am sorry to hear about the damage your property incurred during the flood (we had a house in the family suffer foundation damage during Irene), you have to post pictures of these amazing descriptions, both brake and tractor! It sounds like digging for lost treasure in your own yard  Originally Posted by Willie BYou like unpainted? I'll study up and figure out how to post pictures. My neighbor's brake 4' went in the auction after he died for more than I could pay. At the time I was making soldered pans for Maple evaporators. I looked around at the steel pile and built one worthy of Mother Earth News. It includes rail road rail, (I still haven't figured out why the train didn't wreck), top bows from an army 6x6, and lots of other clutter. I invested about $100. half of that was electrode! It does 7' 4" 14 gauge. It's ugly, especially after the flood (Irene)! I couldn't find it for months, then one day I noticed a piece of metal sticking out of the ground. It proved to be about an inch of one clamping handle. It wasn't all that much the worse for wear.I also lost my first vehicle I've had since the age of 9, a Farmall Cub Tractor. The current took some mighty big pieces of iron, no surprise it took a little tractor. A week later excavating for a new foundation under the building, I discovered it right where it always was but 7 feet lower and covered in gravel. It's now a basket case with a rebuilt engine, most parts restored near ready to bolt together!
Reply:Originally Posted by el bobWillie while I am sorry to hear about the damage your property incurred during the flood (we had a house in the family suffer foundation damage during Irene), you have to post pictures of these amazing descriptions, both brake and tractor! It sounds like digging for lost treasure in your own yard