press brake

[stafford]

Hi all I am building a new motor and needed a folder that could handle some thick stuff and couldn't find anything reasonably priced but found some plans on the net for a small press brake and knocked this up.

I have bent 5 inch wide 6mm steel in it no problem and 15 inch width 3 mm and it makes a very nice job. I think it cost about £100 to build.

Simon

[Team Idris]

Nice work

And nothing put a press brake or folder gives those 'buiscuit tin' sharp bends

[stuck]

Handy piece of kit that.

Any chance of posting a link to the plans / parts list?

Cheers,

Mick.

[stafford]

Handy piece of kit that.

Any chance of posting a link to the plans / parts list?

Cheers,

Mick.

Hi I can't find the web site any more it was an American desert race car fab shop but I did save the drawings.

I made the frame out of 50 x50 x 5mm wall, the plates are 10mm, the punch and die are just bright steel bar stock and the jack is a 12 ton of fleebay and I put the 2 plates in the die for 6mm, I did have a chart for tonnage required depending on the width of the Die but you can find them on the net.

If you make it as the plans it will make up to 60 deg folds.

I'm on the look out for a narrower die for thin stuff now.

Simon/

[simonr]

That looks fantastic!

Did you mill the die yourself?

Si

[stuck]

Thanks for the Pics!

[stafford]

No a friend of mine has a small machine shop at home and I helped him with a few jobs and he did the machine work. It is well worth making one I am building a new chassis and it is proving indispensable , with the pass through hole you can make two folds within 2 inches of each other.

[steve200TDi]

That's cool, I'll add that to the list of things to make!

@ Stafford: Looks like we need a build thread for this one, what are your plans?

Steve

[vinny]

Heres some plans I found earlier!

http://ch601.org/tools/brake_plans.htm

I couldn't get all the pdfs to open but all the dwg's / dxf's opened fine

Also attached a picture of a press which bolts together. I know some people have access to cnc profiling so its a very easy option to make.

Must say Im impressed with Stafford's vee block

[zim]

Looks good.

This is recent thread on pirate - http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262765

[longlandy]

split bottom tool is a good idea, very similar to sedgewick plate folder and the angle is set up for air bending which is good

[mickeyw]

Excellent engineering work Stafford

the angle is set up for air bending which is good

Is this like vapour bending? Plenty of use for that on here

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Stafford

I absolutely Love that

I have been thinking of a press brake now for a while, space is limited and no 3 phase,

this is a defo wake up call to what can be

done- lovely idea and work, got me mind a buzzin' it has

Having had a lookie at the plans and DXFs that are linked yours is in my humble far beter as a HD

bender doing thin and thicker stuff. Thats with a 12T jack, any clever peeps know what bigger jacks

might bend ?, and yes beefed up frame etc dimensions would be good.

I seriously fancy making something like this, but it would be good if it could say bend 6mm at 90 degrees

say 24 inch, so, clever peeps whats the tonage needed would 2 x jack do it, what thickness frame

The last idea on this is to use a Hydro Transit tipper ram unit (thanks to Paul W for this idea) anyone

know the tonage they are rated to ?

Me mind is a buzzin

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-32-Ton-Hydraulic-Bottle-Jack-New-/250659491644?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=item3a5c784f3c#ht_5033wt_1139 32 ton for £44

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/US-PRO-TOOLS-20-TON-AIR-HYDRAULIC-HAND-BOTTLE-JACK-/140591296356?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20bbe4ef64#ht_2200wt_1139 20 ton and air

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-TONNE-TON-HYDRAULIC-BOTTLE-JACK-HIGH-LIFT-CAR-TRUCK-/130434321592?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=item1e5e7dccb8#ht_1371wt_905 40 Ton

Thanks for sharing stafford, very very good

Nige

[stafford]

Have a look at this link. 24" wide 6mm thick steel plate on a 1.5" die opening would require 60 tons, 2" die opening 44 tons.

http://www.accurpress.com/qry/ht_loadcalc.taf

Simon.

[Russell Offroad]

That looks really well

We use something not a million miles away in the shop.

Looks like some nice work on the chassis to keep it up

Si

[longlandy]

With a 2" vee about 15t a foot for 6mm in m/s about 25t per foot for stainless and 8t per foot for ally.

Figures are based on the chart of my brake for m/s

[simonr]

Nigel, why don't you make your own ram(s)?

I've made a few in the past just using CDS tube plus O rings for seals which have worked surprisingly well - even up to 6000psi!

I have a sketch in my mind for a press brake like this with the two support columns made from CDS tube with a slot cut in the lower half of the sides. The piston lives in the top half of the sides, pushing via a rod, the blade. The top end caps can be welded in place as the piston seals can be replaced via the bottom. Then run the whole thing from an electric PAS pump (I have several which spit out about 1400psi)

For 25 Ton, you would need 2.5" bore at 1400psi. CDS if you look at the spec is pressure rated - so it's easy to choose the right tube.

For the O ring seals, the groove wants to be 10% wider than the O ring diameter and the ring wants to be compressed in the bore by 10% - that seems to achieve a pretty good seal regardless of the pressure with decent quality nitrile seals.

Si

[forkrentfitter]

si,you never fail to amaze me,at 46 years of age i really do now wish i had paid more attention at school,any chance you could sketch out your idea above please.

[longlandy]

Nigel, why don't you make your own ram(s)?

I've made a few in the past just using CDS tube plus O rings for seals which have worked surprisingly well - even up to 6000psi!

I have a sketch in my mind for a press brake like this with the two support columns made from CDS tube with a slot cut in the lower half of the sides. The piston lives in the top half of the sides, pushing via a rod, the blade. The top end caps can be welded in place as the piston seals can be replaced via the bottom. Then run the whole thing from an electric PAS pump (I have several which spit out about 1400psi)

For 25 Ton, you would need 2.5" bore at 1400psi. CDS if you look at the spec is pressure rated - so it's easy to choose the right tube.

For the O ring seals, the groove wants to be 10% wider than the O ring diameter and the ring wants to be compressed in the bore by 10% - that seems to achieve a pretty good seal regardless of the pressure with decent quality nitrile seals.

Si

why use o rings when proper seals are only a couple of pounds and more wear resistant/tolerant

[integerspin]

why use o rings when proper seals are only a couple of pounds and more wear resistant/tolerant

Where do you get seals?

I have 60mm id tube and 50mm rod.

1400psi into a 2.5 cylinder is going to be about 3 tons[roughly 5inches so 7,000lbs].

Jack ratings look quite wild, I had a 12 ton jack that needs

15,000 psi to achieve 18tons and a lot more pressure on the

handle than likely.

[simonr]

1400psi into a 2.5 cylinder is going to be about 3 tons[roughly 5inches so 7,000lbs].

Jack ratings look quite wild, I had a 12 ton jack that needs

15,000 psi to achieve 18tons and a lot more pressure on the

handle than likely.

Ooops! You're right! It was 2.5" radius, not diameter! Back to the drawing board!

Another option for big diameter DIY rams is to cut the bottom off high pressure gas bottles. Again these are pressure rated.

The reason I like O rings is they last plenty long enough in most applications and are cheap and readily available. Ideal for prototyping. I do use lip seals in places, but generally have prototyped whatever it is with O rings first.

Si

[FridgeFreezer]

I like that a lot. Very neat. I also like Si's idea about using one jack per side, although keeping the blade coming down straight could be a challenge unless you keep everything centred.

Nige - I don't understand why you would need 3-phase or even electric for this? Plenty of big presses out there are hand-pumped. A transit tipper ram is only likely to tip 1-2ton of stuff with a long lift, although they do sometimes use a scissor arrangement under the bed I doubt it'll be making many tons. The 12v pump could be handy though, or Si's suggestion of a PAS pump. I'd get on eBay and look for bottle jacks, you can go up to 50ton I think without spending loads (my 20t cost me ~£25 at sodbury). Also look out for used Enerpaks & rams.

We did have a small press that a 20t bottle jack sat in (body was as wide as the jack, so the jack lived in it), very handy for small folding (it would fold 6mm plate) & could press bushes in & out in the field, unfortunately I think it's in finland now.

Here you go - 50ton, hand cranked, bolt-together... don't look at the price though!

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/ahp50-50-ton-workshop-floor-press

[mickeyw]

@iintegerspin

Locally o rings can be found at Apollo bearings in Crawley, Priestly Way I think is the road they are in.

For hydro bits n bobs, try Hydraquip, also in Priestly Way, almost opp Stevens Vau**all

[mickeyw]

@integerspin

Locally o rings can be found at Apollo bearings in Crawley, Priestly Way I think is the road they are in.

For hydro bits n bobs, try Hydraquip, also in Priestly Way, almost opp Stevens Vau**all

[longlandy]

HH I personaly wouldnt want it powered as achieving stroke length accuracy would be a nightmare, with hand pump you could "feel" it down until the correct angle is reached.

Twin rams could turn out a bit of a nuisance unless great care in operation was observed, as on full size machines proportional valves or balance beams are used.