Ideas for forming a bracket

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I want to make two brackets, each of which consists of two pieces of 1/2" x 4" flat stock, 12" long.  On each bracket one piece is bent to a 15.5" radius and one is bent to a 16" radius. Given this is a one-off project I'm not set on any efficient means of pressing the pieces (heated to soften).  I don't have any way to roll them and would rather make them myself, but would consider quoting a fab shop if it's clearly the best route. Any clever ideas?Last edited by AmericanWelder; 01-16-2015 at 11:44 PM.Reason: typo
Reply:Post pics/drawings of what the finished parts looks like.Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:Just curved flat stock.  (Curved along the 12" dimension) Like pieces cut out of the wall of a 4" long piece of 32" pipe.
Reply:So curve the two pieces and weld the corner..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:so you are starting with 12" pieces and bending easy way? Not much arc will be put in them.  I form some 1/8" into a radius weld and support it well on a solid fixture.  Then heat the bar to form the radius around the 1/8" form.  I use bending fork for this stuff.  It is tough to get a 12" in arc starting with 12" parts.  Just noticed you changed the radius.
Reply:Thanks, I hadn't given a lot of thought to bending them around a plate cut to the radius.  I considered making dies and pressing them but that seems inefficient for a one-off.  I should add, the smaller radius slides inside the larger radius so they are adjustable.  So they need to be actual true curves.  Rolling may be the best option.  Just wish I had the capability to fab them myself :-)
Reply:Where are you?
Reply:Nashville, TN
Reply:Whatever method you use to form the radius I think you'd be better off starting with longer stock and cutting to finished size after bending. Rolling would be nice, or it could be bumped on a press brake.If you heat and bend around a form make the form radius longer and use extra length on the stock for more leverage. Then cut what you need out of all curve.
Reply:Back in the early 70s when we needed to bend flat bar or pipe in long radius.  We would find old truck or tractor wheel or heavy equip loader wheel and tack it to a table we had that was 8 ft wide and 12 long made out of 1 inch plate.  We made a bearing / swivel out of schedule 80 pipe that we welded to he top side of the wheel or big piece of pipe we were using for the die.  We found a piece of  2 inch thick by 4 inch wide bar at the scrap yard about 6 feet long.   We would swivel this from the center of the wheel with a smaller diameter pipe inside the schedule 80 pipe.   We would weld a piece of 2 inch diameter shaft to this handle / lever arm that we had constructed at the predetermined location on the handle so that it would allow us to slide a pipe over the shaft for a roller. We added some stops to the steel table to hold what we were be bending.  As three of the biggest guys we could find would pull on the lever arm. The roller sleeve slid over the welded 2 inch shaft would track the radius of the tractor/truck/pipe that we had welded to the table.  Very crude but it worked well with a lot of repeat bends.  We bent hundred of pieces of schedule 401 1 /2 in black pipe this way to make the bows for gooseneck cattle trailers. At this point in our fab business we could not afford any type of commercialBender.   The concept can be adapted to about any kind of bend.  Hope I didn't confuse you.  Richey
Reply:Originally Posted by AmericanWelderAny clever ideas?
Reply:Originally Posted by geezerbillUh,Start with a short section of pipe?
Reply:I made mud gates years ago that the frames started off from I think 5/8"x 4" flat bar. The rectangular frames were made from two pieces and welded together in the middle of the short sides. They had a jig made up of a heavy plate with 2" pipe welded on to form the corners. The pipes also had a flat bar inside them to stop the pipe from squishing. You tacked the flat bar on the middle of the short side with a good tack about an inch long. The flat bar was cut a few inches longer but a piece of square tubing was welded in the middle of the free end to give extra leverage to bend the flat bar. Then you took a rosebud and started heating the flat bar while slowly bending it around the 2" pipe. You couldn't force the bend. You had to have it hot enough that it bent easily. When the first corner was done the flat bar bar didn't spring back at all. It was right up against the pipe for the second corner. I think we put a small tack in the middle of the long side just so it couldn't move. Then you bent the second corner the same way. Once it cooled enough, you ground the tacks off and the sq. tubing. Then you took a square and made a line to cut the flat bar the right length. You made two of these, beveled the ends and welded them together to complete the frame. You had nice round corners. Making a die would have been nice and this company had a 250 ton press brake which would have bent it like it was sheet metal. They had good equipment but were still cheap. The owner was always screaming and yelling over little stuff. I had to take a crappy bench vise off the table to use on a really nice radial arm drill. It made no sense at all. I made tear drop hinges out of 3/8" and 1/2" flat bar. I had a cardboard template and would cut a 20' length of flat bar into 30 or so hinges. 3 hinges had to be tacked together, drilled and then ground so they were all the exact same size. If ever there was a need for a shape cutting machine, this was it. And people ask me why I always carry a tip cleaner. LoL Grinding 1 1/2" thick material is not fun.