Scale remote mount... I really need a bigger press

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I got a call yesterday to make some mounts for a couple scale remote displays. These are the displays that show the weight when the truck crosses the scale. I was given most of the critical dimensions over the phone but I really prefer to see the parts... so I called the manufacturer... they emailed a print and I was in business. Sure beats dropping everything to go measure some parts. I started by modelling the display and then made a sheet metal part. All I had on hand was 1/4" plate... so I guess it will be truck driver resistant. Before I cut the first part I reviewed the tonnage chart... and noted in my mind it would take 15.3 tons per foot and the part is 25" inches... piece of cake... about 32 tons. But when I started the bend... it was very obvious I must have looked at the wrong row.  In actuality this bend would require 22 tons per foot because my press has a 1.5" die opening!! Not the recommended 2". For under 1/2 the opening should be 8 times the thickness... or two inches in this case! Unbelievably... I was able to pull off the bend. I only needed 80 degrees... but the last bit was tough. Northern tool rates this press brake for 1/4in. x 10in.  Attached Images
Reply:Whew!  Serious homework. "I was under the impression there would be no math...." City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Your brake looks like one of the Northern tool ones. How do you like it? I've thought a couple of times about investing in one and building a small 40 ton press..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:You could have heated it up to make things easier to bend.I had to bend some 1/4"x4" flat stock during a project, so I just ran a quick spray arc bead across the back and just pushed it down with my left hand to bend down. piece of cake.If you didn't want to work with hot steel, you could have also put a torch to it to anneal it part way through and basically reset the work hardening that occurred to that point, even after it cooled off.Last edited by Groo; 09-16-2012 at 09:07 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWYour brake looks like one of the Northern tool ones. How do you like it? I've thought a couple of times about investing in one and building a small 40 ton press.
Reply:We have the same press in our shop, and use it in a 50 ton Dake. Been well pleased with it so far. I ordered two sets of adhesive backed rules from McMaster, one set reads left to right and the other set right to left. I put zero in the center, and can always tell at a glance if I am even in the die now.
Reply:i cant believe you bent that.
Reply:Originally Posted by forhire I really need a bigger torch in the shop.