Mini press brake attachment

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Hello all, I am looking to do some light duty bending on some 18 gauge sheet metal. I am looking for a small attachment for my 20 ton press. Something like this is idealbut Northern Tool wants $600 for that little thing. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I will only be doing 45* and 90* bends.I know I could probably fabricate one but I'm quite short on time. I wouldn't even know what to use for the die other than angle iron?Thanks for anyone's help.
Reply:well i dont know how to upload pics so i hope you can follow me here. our company has a 30 ton very cheesy press and i built a brake for it. i used 1" plate to sit on the horizontal channel. 1/4" x 2" angle with the heel of the angle setting on the 1" ( so it looks like a V). 1/4" x 2" flat braces along the toes of the angle. i used 1" colled rolled round about an 1" out from the bottom die. (bottom die being the angle and flat) perpindicular to the 1" plate. we are dealer for CUMMINS engines so i use some KT valve springs to push the top die i havent described yet up. the top die, 1" x 2" flat with 1/2" cold rolled sqaure welded along the 1" edge on a 45 degree angle. I used some pipe i had laying around that would fit over the 1" round i mentioned earlier. the pipe sets on the valve springs. ive bent 1/4" x 12" steel on a 90 with this but it was all the press had to bend it. you probably wouldn't have to go as heavy as i did for 18 gauge but at least you get the idea I HOPE AND GOOD LUCK
Reply:I kinda sorta get the idea.. a bit confused about the position and purpose of te 1" round.Do you have any pics? Perhaps you can email them or post them here?To post on here you just need to upload the pics to some hosting site and insert the link. If that is a bit too much trouble maybe an email to me would work. I'll pm you my email address. Thanks a million.
Reply:You can fab up a cheap press easily to make your 90 degree bends, use angle iron for the dies, i built one and it works well but i got to tweek the piece a little to make a full 90, I am thinking about trying a vertical plate for the male die instead.Nothing Ever Got Done By Quitting, Never Give Up.
Reply:Easy  way to make onehttp://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=25448A butterfly without wings, is just an ugly bug
Reply:I hope you got those pics. you can see in magnetic mechanics pics that there is 3/8" round i used 1" round. we generally work with commercial vehicles and what not, so i went alittle heavy.
Reply:Here is one I made for my harbor freight 20 ton. Works well for me.  Utilized angle iron for both top and bottom.  1/4" X 4 Flat stocked and 1/2" square stock I bent displayed in photos. Attached Images
Reply:Thank you 19662 for those pics. They sure did explain a lot. Thanks to everyone else for their input as well. BD2 that is a very nice setup. How are the quality of bends using angle inside of a flat die on top? Do you think it would give me clean bends in 18 gauge steel? The bender seems simple enough to make. I wonder why there isn't a cheap option on the market already.
Reply:hi, I bent 18 gauge with it too. With the angle iron it is more of  a radius type bend. It is still a perfect 90 but not as a 90 bend would be  like the corner on a 2' square.If you look on the 2nd and 3rd photos you can see it is more of a roll.  It does a nice job and got to use some scrap too. I never got prices on dies. I needed some 1/4 x3 bent right now so I made that set up. good luck. BOB,
Reply:How far beyond a 90 do you actually have to go in order to achieve a true 90?"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Hi, i usually stop bending when it feels like its getting really tight. I do not really have to over  bend at all.  As you can see in the pictures it is kind of a radius. It is the same on that 1/2" handle that I  bent.I even bent some in a "U" shape that turned out well. I was trying to say it is not a tight 90 bend that to could set  a 2' square inside but on the outside it is a true 90.
Reply:Originally Posted by BD1Hi, i usually stop bending when it feels like its getting really tight. I do not really have to over  bend at all.  As you can see in the pictures it is kind of a radius. It is the same on that 1/2" handle that I  bent.I even bent some in a "U" shape that turned out well. I was trying to say it is not a tight 90 bend that to could set  a 2' square inside but on the outside it is a true 90.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammI wasn't figuring it would be a tight corner.  Sorry if you misunderstood.  I wouldn't even know if that would be possible with heavy material.I've never done much bending with a press.  What little I've done it always seems that the metal has a little bit of springback after it's bent.  It's probably because I don't have a proper brake.  I just pile stuff up to serve as an anvil.  My initial angle was probably never right.
Reply:Thanks, I thought it was just me"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/