Small sheet metal brake?

[T i m]

Hi All,

I'm on the lookout for a small sheet metal brake (folder) to modify the ally chassis on a little 12th scale electric RC car my daughter wants to build, race and maintain herself (well that's one excuse bor buying another tool ) and for general bending-things in the workshop afterwards

Previously I have just set the sheet between two bits of steel (bar, angle or square tube) in the vice (and some clamps) and worked the bend with a soft hammer / drift bar etc but I fancy something a bit more sophisticated now ;-)

These folk seem to offer something in my price range .. (24.96 delivered )

down to "18" Mini Bending Brakes")

.. but has anyone seen something I could actualy 'touch / play with / take-away' in a local shed / chain that would be similar price / spec please?

I would probably adapt the above one to 'vice mount' in any case by bolting it to a bit of h/d angle ..

All the best ..

T i m

[Cicero]

=========================== If you're anywhere near a 'Machine Mart' store they will usually allow you to examine tools to see how they work / how good they are. I've had one like this for years:

's actually quite easy to make such benders - just a modification of your 'two bits of angle iron' really.

You might also consider a small flypress as they're much more versatile.

Cic.

[Stuart]

You could also try

[nightjar]

I normally use a 15" folding set in a No 4 fly press for bending small items.

Colin Bignell

[T i m]

Thanks for the replies lads ;-)

I saw the Machine Mart one online (and they are quite near and I have used them a bit over the years) but their one was nealy 50 quid inc Vat..

The Frost one was similar spec and price.

do have a 10 tonne hydraulic press (Machine Mart) but I wasn't sure what I would need to go with that and / or if I would get the same 'feel' as with a small hand bender, hensce something 'smaller'?

Frost do a 'Hand Folder' but it's more expensive than the bench folder I first spotted!

My 10 tonne press easily straightened some 20mm steel plates ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

suppliers ever.

They sell a Skytronics 150 watt invertor for 41 ex vat TLC sell a Skytronics 150 watt invertor for 22.20 ex vat

[meow2222]

Its probably as quick to make one. Thats what I did. A sheet of wood hinged to another sheet with a long bar handle added for leverage, plus add a bar over the top at the bending line to bend the metal against. I put different radii on the different corners of the bar, rutn it round to get the various sized radius bends.

Its all wood, 1" thick base, and uses 3 heavy duty 4" steel hinges. The hinges are only just strongly enough attached to the wood when bending

19" of 1.6mm steel, I needed to use 4" screws as the 2" ones pulled out at first. The other thing I'd do differnt next time is use something much meatier than 2x2 softwood bar for the metal to bend against, I have to stand on this bar to stop it bending when bending the max size of metal.

NT

[T i m]

Well I generally like to make things but 25 quid 'delivered' I could be making more interesting things ;-)

Sounds very versatile ;-)

Ouch .. ;-)

Hmm, and is the 'former' the bit that was screwed down (and bends)?

Food for thought though ..

All the best ..

T i m

[Autolycus]

I've seen small vice-mounted folders being sold at car restoration shows: the ones I've seen were nigh-on useless. Folding anything much longer than a few inches, and thicker than a bit of Bacofoil, resulted in a nice tight radius at the outer ends ballooning out to a vague curve in the middle, where the formers deflect.

Some models may be better than others, but I wouldn't risk even 25 quid without seeing if it worked on the size of materials I wanted to use. Buying one with a greater length capability than needed may also result in one that produces poorer results. And of course, cheap ones have no "box & pan" capability, which mackled-up arrangements of lumps of steel can have.

[Guy King]

The message from T i m contains these words:

Try eBay - folders often come up on there.

[T i m]

I'm looking .. ;-)

T i m

[T i m]

Understood. I know it's surprising how stiff something like that has to be to 'work' in that environment. What seem like a very substantial lump of stell can be fery 'springy' under the right loads?

Ok ;-( (makes sense though ..)

More chance of 'flex' ..

Hmm .. so start mackling you say then .. ?

All the best ..

T i m

[Andy Dingley]

It's a dog. Go for the one like the Machine Mart design instead, but with a single central handle and diagonal buttressing. Harder to store, but it gives you squarer bends. If you use these two-handled ones and don't have perfect synchronisation on the bends, then you got cockled edges. Might be OK on ally, but steel is a problem.

Mine was some generic Lucky Golden Hedgehog picked up at the Model Engineer for 30-some squid. At those prices it's not worth welding your own up (it really needs a milling machine with a boring head to accurately cut the counterbores for the bearings).

Dad has a real up-and-down brake, the Axminster 300 quid one. Goodness knows why, the thing is the worst of Chiwanese bucketshop manufacture and bits keep falling off it. There's a proper old British-made 6' wide brake in the shed too, if only he'd move the lawnmowers from on top of it.

[meow2222]

There is a simpler option. When I made mine I used steel butt hinges, and use 2 slippery plastic layers on the lift up section, so the workpiece slides a little over the lift up section as its bent. That has to happen becuase the hinge point is not quite in line with the workpiece bend.

NT