SWAG 20T HD Finger Brake

[fried1765]

Does anybody have, and use, the SWAG 20 ton heavy duty finger brake?
It comes in both kit form, and pre-welded.
Looking for an opinion on usefulness, and quality.
I am considering the pre-welded (+$150).
I do have a Hobart Handler 190, but don't trust myself to do a nice job.

 

[barts]

You might ask on garagejournal.com if you don't get any bites... that does look like a useful unit, though.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Does anybody have, and use, the SWAG 20 ton heavy duty finger brake?
It comes in both kit form, and pre-welded.
Looking for an opinion on usefulness, and quality.
I am considering the pre-welded (+$150).
I do have a Hobart Handler 190, but don't trust myself to do a nice job.

Personally not a fan of the flame cut punches and angle iron dies. Real surplus press brake tooling can be had pretty cheap on eBay.

Dan

 

[fried1765]

Personally not a fan of the flame cut punches and angle iron dies. Real surplus press brake tooling can be had pretty cheap on eBay.

Dan

Thanks.

I have a Northern Tool 20T hyd press, so I want finger brake punches with holder assembly, (totaling 24" wide) to use with that.
The press brake equipment on E-Bay is WAY outside my price, and size limitations.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Thanks.

I have a Northern Tool 20T hyd press, so I want finger brake punches with holder assembly, (totaling 24" wide) to use with that.
The press brake equipment on E-Bay is WAY outside my price, and size limitations.

Same situation as me. I have a 20T Amrox press and I looked at the Swag offerings. In the end I decided to build something akin to the Swag brake that would accept standard press brake tooling. The Swag tooling is primitive and not a lot cheaper.

Dsn

 

[MOOTS]

Doesn’t @Runs With Scissors have one of these?

 

[TheOldHokie]

Doesn’t @Runs With Scissors have one of these?

He has one of their brakes. Not sure if its the finger model or not.

Dan

 

[fried1765]

Same situation as me. I have a 20T Amrox press and I looked at the Swag offerings. In the end I decided to build something akin to the Swag brake that would accept standard press brake tooling. The Swag tooling is primitive and not a lot cheaper.

Dsn

Thank you!
It would certainly be nice if the SWAG fingers were hardened steel.
At 83 I am only into USING tools!
Past time for building 'em.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Thank you!
It would certainly be nice if the SWAG fingers were hardened steel.
At 83 I am only into USING tools!
Past time for building 'em.

I understand that! It is the central selling point for the SWAG kits. But I am not much of a welder and building their kits require more than I liked.

Dan

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Doesn’t @Runs With Scissors have one of these?

Yes sir.

I just welded one up. Fun little project for sure.

Does anybody have, and use, the SWAG 20 ton heavy duty finger brake?
It comes in both kit form, and pre-welded.
Looking for an opinion on usefulness, and quality.
I am considering the pre-welded (+$150).
I do have a Hobart Handler 190, but don't trust myself to do a nice job.

Fried, I have never had any experience with a "professional" press brake, only Box and Pan brakes for aircraft sheet metal fabrication, when I was an A@P, so I can't give an educated opinion on how a SWAG brake compares.

However, for light duty use, for small'ish parts, I have had a good experience thus far.

The SWAG brake is just like anything else; On my first project I wish I had a bigger one..hahahahah

Overall, for the money, I think its worth it, and would recommend it.

There are 2 things I will mention,

1. A series of 'angle iron" inserts for bending smaller parts is a must.

2. The fingers are not hardened, but that has not been a problem yet

You pretty much have to add angle inserts for smaller projects.

You can see the inserts in this pic. They are just angle iron from 2 1/2" down to 1" stacked on top of each other.

 

[fried1765]

I understand that! It is the central selling point for the SWAG kits. But I am not much of a welder and building their kits require more than I liked.

Dan

Ditto ...
"Not much of a welder" here, either.
If I buy from them,....I will pay their already welded fee.

 

[fried1765]

Yes sir.

I just welded one up. Fun little project for sure.





Fried, I have never had any experience with a "professional" press brake, only Box and Pan brakes for aircraft sheet metal fabrication, when I was an A@P, so I can't give an educated opinion on how a SWAG brake compares.

However, for light duty use, for small'ish parts, I have had a good experience thus far.

The SWAG brake is just like anything else; On my first project I wish I had a bigger one..hahahahah

Overall, for the money, I think its worth it, and would recommend it.

There are 2 things I will mention,

1. A series of 'angle iron" inserts for bending smaller parts is a must.

2. The fingers are not hardened, but that has not been a problem yet

You pretty much have to add angle inserts for smaller projects.

You can see the inserts in this pic. They are just angle iron for 2 1/2 down to 1 inch stacked on top of each other.

View attachment 118675

Thank you for the very informative response!
Your post is EXACTLY the info I needed!

As you may know, I am 83 years old, so a small simple finger brake like this will likely not get much use.
(I will certainly croak before I wear this thing out!)
That said: I should have bought this 40 years ago,.... though I do not think it was available at that time.

Though he is approaching 60, it is quite likely that one of my sons will get some future use.

 

[DustyRusty]

You are going to live to 100, and if you don't we are going to hunt you down and shoot you!

 

[fried1765]

You are going to live to 100, and if you don't we are going to hunt you down and shoot you!

Better do that,.... "hunt you down and shoot",.... in the Winter, when I am in Florida.
If you carry a gun in the DPRT (Democratic Peoples Republic of Taxachusetts), Pocahontas will arrange to get you thrown in jail!

 

[Kennyd4110]

I have one of their regular brakes that I modded/welded to fit my Baileigh 30T press. It's just "OK" to me. I've struggled to get decent 90° bends, and making duplicate or repetitive parts is a bigger challenge.

If I was to do it over again, I'd get some lower/upper dies form eBay and make my own setup.

Brake Dies for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Brake Dies at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[fried1765]

I have one of their regular brakes that I modded/welded to fit my Baileigh 30T press. It's just "OK" to me. I've struggled to get decent 90° bends, and making duplicate or repetitive parts is a bigger challenge.

If I was to do it over again, I'd get some lower/upper dies form eBay and make my own setup.

Brake Dies for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Brake Dies at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

View attachment 118685

View attachment 118686

View attachment 118687

View attachment 118688

Good info!
Thank you!
Though I have always bought (overkill) quality tools, the SWAG 20T HD finger break is probably more than adequate for this old guy,....... likely to make less than 6 bends per year.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I have one of their regular brakes that I modded/welded to fit my Baileigh 30T press. It's just "OK" to me. I've struggled to get decent 90° bends, and making duplicate or repetitive parts is a bigger challenge.

If I was to do it over again, I'd get some lower/upper dies form eBay and make my own setup.

Brake Dies for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Brake Dies at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

I arrived at the same conclusion. This is a knockoff of a design I found online. Lot less welding and and what there is is less demanding.

American Standard tooling simply fits in slots in the top and bottom halves of the brake.

Dan

 

[dlsmith]

I bought an Eastwood press brake, and did some modifications to it, I drilled and tapped the guide posts and countersunk the base plate for flathead bolts instead of having the studs and nuts on the bottom of the base plate. Made a pair of rails to hold the die in positions and attached them as I did with the guide posts. Last thing was to take the die to a local machine shop and have him mill 30°, 45° and 60° reliefs in the die. Works great for me.

 

[fried1765]

I arrived at the same conclusion. This is a knockoff of a design I found online. Lot less welding and and what there is is less demanding.

American Standard tooling simply fits in slots in the top and bottom halves of the brake.

Dan

View attachment 118690

Any idea where to buy that design as a kit?

I bought an Eastwood press brake, and did some modifications to it, I drilled and tapped the guide posts and countersunk the base plate for flathead bolts instead of having the studs and nuts on the bottom of the base plate. Made a pair of rails to hold the die in positions and attached them as I did with the guide posts. Last thing was to take the die to a local machine shop and have him mill 30°, 45° and 60° reliefs in the die. Works great for me.

View attachment 118729 View attachment 118730 View attachment 118731 View attachment 118732 View attachment 118733

Very nice mods!
I would certainly consider the Eastwood, but it will only accept 12" wide material.
I think I want at least 18" wide capacity, as well as "fingers" and the SWAG seems to be my only option?.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Any idea where to buy that design as a kit?

My original plan was to make and sell them. Health problems have put an end to that plan.

Dan