press brakes

[mpower]

got tired of the other methods of bending steel and threw this together a few weekends ago. just used what i had laying around the shop to see if my idea for the dies worked. well it worked quite well for tabs and smaller stuff and now need a bigger brake. bends 3/16 steel effortlessly and was even bending 4" wide 1/4" thick aluminum without issue.

im now working on version 2 , hopefully 16-28" wide die. i know there are units out there for purchase, but i dont like the fact there are only 1 size die made for bending 1/4" and i rarely use that thickness.

thats being said , id like to see what others have built in the way of press brakes for some inspiration!

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[goofballracer]

Pretty good idea

[D-rek]

Looks great what size is the hex? and the springs?

[blue dog]

Simple and effective, good job.

Here are a few more shop built tools from THE HAMB. Kiwi Kev is awesome.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=185116

Some more good ideas in this thread
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...=68451&page=11

[mpower]

upper hex is 7/8" and lower die hex is 3/4", 1.125" finger width. the spring is mcmasterrcarr part number 96485K156.

kinda bummed that 1/8" cold roll bar dosent like to bend without snapping. any tricks to bending cold roll without heating it ? i really like to use it for making brackets. but looks like i better stock up on hrpo.

[john92223]

I bought the Swagg Offroad press brake. It comes as a kit and you weld it together. Fits in my 20 ton press and I have bent up to 3/16 Chromoly plate with no issues.

[blue dog]

I bought the Swagg Offroad press brake. It comes as a kit and you weld it together. Fits in my 20 ton press and I have bent up to 3/16 Chromoly plate with no issues.

I have seen this kit, just wondering how it has held up ?

[goofballracer]

I'm going to build one

[mpower]

I bought the Swagg Offroad press brake. It comes as a kit and you weld it together. Fits in my 20 ton press and I have bent up to 3/16 Chromoly plate with no issues.

yeah i tried that one at a friends and i dont like the radius of the bends on 11ga and smaller . even the 3/16" stuff had a bigger bend radius than i liked. thats why im making my own tooling. i really wanted to make a press that uses industry standard tooling, but the tooling is soo pricey. i have at most 50$ of materials in this one and its just more of my prototype anyway

[john92223]

I have seen this kit, just wondering how it has held up ?

For me it has been fine. I sharpened the edge of the gillitine and that helped with making sharper bends.