I developed the piece that I wanted and cut it out of poster board, refined it etc…
I then used the Crossfire XL to cut it in 16GA sheet metal
It worked beautifully… then I went to bend it.
I have a 48" 16GA box brake, and bend #1 works well for the full length. But bend #2 would not fit in the brake and clear. So I had to unbend it and then try to bend it partially and finish bending it by hand. It doesn’t look so good.
I can fully complete bend 1 using my box brake. For bend 2, I was looking at a simple press brake to put in my press, but all I find are closed on the ends meaning it still cannot fold bend 2 after bend 1 is completed. Suggestions?
The other small bends create weld points. I figure I can cut more relief to make them easier by hand with pliers.
The box break is not deep enough. I can bend your line 2 without an issue, but when I try to bend 3 I cannot get the piece into the brake. I have to unbend it back to about 45 degrees before it will slide in.
If you’re going to do a lot of this kind of work, grab a finger press brake from SWAG Off-road for your press brake (or get a 20T press from Harbor Freight).
That’s the one. You can save $20 by getting the standard duty one but the heavy duty version can bend some serious stuff.
I bend fuel tanks with it so I don’t think you’d have clearance issues in getting the fingers where you need them. I also have their gooseneck dies (fingers) for really complicated bends.
I use a magnetic digital angle gauge to make sure the bends hit the angles I want. I also put in a piece of 1 1/2"(?) angle iron in the stock base angle track to help get tight bends on thinner material.
I also have HFs air powered 20T jack for it. That makes it way quicker than pumping the standard bottle jack by hand.
I see the Eastwood version of the magnetic brake is on sale for $2000 right now, $1000 less than the Baileigh.
After some thought, I ordered the SWAG, 1) it doesn’t break the budget right now to finish this project. 2) I already have a 48" finger brake that does up to 16GA, I will work toward replacing it with a magnetic brake (one day) and 3) the SWAG will bend 12 GA (which I currently can’t do) but I do weld together 12 GA brackets that with the SWAG I may find a more efficient method without as much welding.
Thanks for the help, I had no idea the SWAG finger brake was out there!
The green line is 7 7/8" and the orange line is 3 1/2"
The part is fully 15 3/4" x 8" when flat.
If I do not have enough throat on the SWAG press, I’m figuring it will still get me much closer than the brake I have and if I can’t finish the bend manually, I can design a single longer 4" wide finger and make it work for the last bend. This is 16GA, pretty easy to bend so I don’t suspect a longer finger would have too much trouble with it.
I see you are new here, welcome! I’m not much newer myself. I bought a Crossfire XL so I wouldn’t have to farm out my bracket parts any longer, it has worked well and opened new doors with new challenges. I’m looking at the mag brakes, I will be replacing mine with one eventually, but not today.
The Eastwood and the Baileigh Are the same, different color great price.
I have had mine for 4 years very handy, expensive but worth it.
Wanted a Plasma table for along time and this one was priced right and fit into my overstuffed shop.
I made a press with the SWAG 50" finger brake earlier this year. It works great but it’s not a miracle worker. These double folds with large overhangs are still problematic. I’m pretty new to metalwork so I’m experiencing similar challenges to the one you presented.
