DIY press brake

[Paul Allwood]

Not sure if this is the right spot for it, but here's some progress on a press brake I'm making so I can make a bucket for the FEL, ballast box, tool box....

I bought the tooling, and a couple of air-over-hydraulic 20 tonne jacks and making the rest.

Used the FEL to move the base that weighs about 120 kg today. Every home should have one .

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Very cool man.

Where did you get the “V” part, and is it solid?

What is the width of it?

 

[jaxs]

Doesn't matter how much modern technology one has at their disposal, old school methods can be real handy. Those blue and white reins as example.

 

[jaxs]

Very cool man.

Where did you get the “V” part, and is it solid?

What is the width of it?

Too wide to bring through the house and into your basement.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Too wide to bring through the house and into your basement.

Think so?…….Just wait until I buy my “Bridgeport"

 

[Paul Allwood]

Thanks. The tooling is 600 mm each, I bought 2 sets for a total of 1200 mm (a good loader bucket width). The vee block is solid and about 80 mm wide. The pics below show what I got and where from (in Australia).

I've cut the end bits and the guides off to suit sitting in my frame. I might also cut one of the top punches into different width sections to give it a bit more versatility.

Little bit of progress today - got the base tacked together.

 

[Paul Allwood]

Doesn't matter how much modern technology one has at their disposal, old school methods can be real handy. Those blue and white reins as example.

Yeah, needed a way to stop it spinning

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Wow….thats gonna be one nice brake for sure.

(Side note….I wish we would start using the metric system……Well maybe Jimmy Carter will finally come through on his campaign promise…..)

 

[Paul Allwood]

Wow….thats gonna be one nice brake for sure.

(Side note….I wish we would start using the metric system……Well maybe Jimmy Carter will finally come through on his campaign promise…..)

Thanks. I'm lucky that I'm old enough to have used both imperial and metric. Mostly metric now but my old lathe graduations are imperial.

 

[GeoHorn]

When I made the fire-box flue and damper for my living room fireplace I simply laid the 4’ x 8’ 10ga steel in a ditch and ran the 9N Ford over it to make the perfect bends in it then welded the seams. That was 25 years ago…

 

[Yooper]

What thickness of steel are you attempting to form with this?

 

[Dustball]

Very cool man.

Where did you get the “V” part, and is it solid?

What is the width of it?

Sounds like you're considering your own brake. You may want to check out Swag- https://www.swagoffroad.com/collections/swag-press-brake-kits

 

[Paul Allwood]

What thickness of steel are you attempting to form with this?

Starting with 4 or 5 mm over 1.2 m length for the loader bucket. Haven't settled on a thickness yet.

 

[Sidekick]

I had a bunch of brackets to bend and designed and built a 12 ton mini brake a while back from stuff that I had laying around. Simple air logic circuit to pump the jack. Here's a old video.

Always wanted a bigger one so keeping an eye on this build. My 20 ton press with a northern tool break will only bend about 8 inches of 1/4 inch.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Sounds like you're considering your own brake. You may want to check out Swag- https://www.swagoffroad.com/collections/swag-press-brake-kits

Hahah….BTDT.

I bought one of their 20 ton kits.

It was a cool build.

Taking a break from “thinking” was nice.

Kind of like building a model when I was a kid, but with a welder instead of glue.

My next brake will be a “Tennsmith Box and Pan” style brake.

 

[Yooper]

Paul, with that thickness range and length I would suggest you add a truss rod system to your lower die holder so you can ‘crown’ it to compensate for deflection. Your dies are wide enough to reduce the amount of tonnage that is required to bend that thickness but you are still in the 5 to 8 tons per foot range I am guessing. The center flexing will cause a ‘canoe’ effect on your bend. Assuming you are using mild steel?

 

[Paul Allwood]

Paul, with that thickness range and length I would suggest you add a truss rod system to your lower die holder so you can ‘crown’ it to compensate for deflection. Your dies are wide enough to reduce the amount of tonnage that is required to bend that thickness but you are still in the 5 to 8 tons per foot range I am guessing. The center flexing will cause a ‘canoe’ effect on your bend. Assuming you are using mild steel?

Thanks. I'm hoping it won't be needed, but I've bolted it together so it's relatively easy to add support as you suggest if it is needed. Yes, all mild steel. My plan is to try it first and see what deflection I get - by my calcs it should be less than 2 mm.

 

[Paul Allwood]

A little more progress on the press today. More drilling and started assembling some of the bits. The top punch holder and some cross bracing to go, then it should be ready for a test run.

My quality inspector is on the job too - she is trained to sniff out bad welds.

I have a boat winch on the way to raise and lower the bottom tool support. Might need to use the chain block until it arrives.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Thats one nice brake for sure.

(Love the inspector too)

 

[Paul Allwood]

Thats one nice brake for sure.

(Love the inspector too)

Thanks. Hope it works.

The inspector is Jayse - she is my Service Dog, and yes, she is pretty amazing. I'd be lost without her. For some stupid reason the government decided to call them Assistance Dogs in Australia, but most people still understand Service Dog better.