Swag Finger Brake, 12 ton vs 20 ton

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So I have the HF 20T press and recently ordered the 12T finger brake kit…ooops! No big deal, it will work for what I need it for, then I will upgrade to a true press brake in the future…thats my thought. Assembled/installed, it works great. Question regarding the capacity of using 12 ton tooling/fixtures on a 20 ton unit; I am sure that I will be beyond the listed capacities of the 12 ton, but just seeing if anyone has experience with estimated versus actual in this situation?

i.e. 6" width max for 1/4" on the 12 ton, 15" width max for 1/4" on the 20 ton.

Thanks!

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You can use a chart like this to estimate your capacity.

Press_Brake_Tonnage_Chart_2048x2048 (1)
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The F value running horizontally show your tons per linear foot.

measure up your variables like Vee-Die Opening and compare to the chart.

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Press_Brake_Tonnage_Chart_2048x2048 example (1)
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here is 1/4" on the chart with a 2.5 or 2 " vee-dee open. ( i am not sure what swag width is )

looks like +/- a foot is about max at 12 tons.

the chart shows a range of 15.5-11.4 ton to bend 1 foot of 1/4 "

For a 6" length you can divide these tonnages in half

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4

I’m not positive, but I don’t think the max width has anything to do with the die set design for the SWAG Offroad dies with straight punches (besides the part actually fitting the width of the die set) it’s the difference between using a 12 ton press vs a 20 ton press.

You could email SWAG Offroad if you wanted to be sure. They’d be the experts on how they’ve designed the 12 ton press set.

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Their specs call out max width on thickness.

I can confirm that 1/4 inch and 6 inch width is pushing it on the 20 ton

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" Press brake kit includes an adjustable back stop for accurate and repeatable bends.

  • Max Bending Radius (deg.) 110
  • Max Bending Capacity 3/8" plate
  • Max Bending Width 13.85"
  • Total width of the brake is 16.375" wide

It is capable of bending mild steel in the following length and thickness:

  • 13.85" = Full bending width of the bottom die on anything 1/8" or thinner.
  • 8" in 3/16"
  • 6" in 1/4"
  • 2.5" in 3/8"

I’ll measure the Vee-die opening on the 20 ton when I go over to the shop

" The bottom formed channel on the HD press brake kit is cut out of high strength 3/8" thick steel and the bottom “V” die of has a total width of 3.75" wide x 1/4" thick to allow for easier bending of thicker material.

  • Max Bending Radius (deg.) 110
  • Max Bending Capacity 5/8" plate
  • Max Bending Width 19.25"
  • Total width of the brake is 22.125" wide

Tools required for assembly, welder, grinder, level, small square.
It is capable of bending mild steel in the following length and thickness.

  • 19" = Full bending width of the bottom die on anything 3/16" or thinner.
  • 15" in 1/4"
  • 13" in 5/16"
  • 11" in 3/8"
  • 6" in 1/2"
  • 3" in 5/8""

bottom vee for of 3.75 on the 20 ton

Numbers do seem low compared to a bending table

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My SD 20 ton bent my base and C channel doing 1.5 inches if 3/8".

Get a one-piece 1 inch thick bottom plate, and a 5/16 x 1 or 1 1/4 angle.

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Just measured our Vee Die opening on the swag 20 ton and it’s 1.75

Now with that information it looks way closer to the Bend table, capacity wise.

Edit. Yeah I don’t think the airbending table is going to work.

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I am going to dig into the charts and potentially email Swag as well…but nothing like real life experience with materials, so thank you for that info.

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10

Really?

I easily bent 1/4" at twice that width without issue

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Looks like you were able to do that with mild steel??? That’s an impressive capacity. Thank you!

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Not really impressive, more like expected.

The capacity is listed on their site.

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@Kwikfab - is yours the standard duty, or the heavy duty?

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The HD version.

It’s in the shed, I just don’t like their kit.

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I kept looking at their different models and forgot what I had ordered but then saw the difference in the base:
HD models
image

Standard models
image

Mine is the “Standard”

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Even the standard kit has a capacity of 12" wide for 1/4" steel.

So the struggle at 6" is rather odd to me.

Although I just noticed on their site that they now offer a “Pro” version. Something I have been bagging Swag Off Road for not doing years ago.

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American tooling to be used as mentioned so, your 1/2" tang for your punches.

But, the bottom not only accepts your 1/2" tang for your dies, it also opens up to as much as 5" to accept most blocks whether it’s a 4-way or just one with a large V opening.

Screenshot 2024-10-07 103730
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Man, I may have to watch this to see if they’ll make a 30" wide version.

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I could see that happening if a small one or 2 inch die was used in the middle and the finger brake was not supported in the middle. I have mine supported the full length with sections of 4x4 posts.

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I agree. Not one of my better purchases.

it’s getting the job done better than I was doing before though.

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20

Oh for sure.

It opened up a ton of possibilities for DIY’ers. I’m one of those DIY’ers.

But once you start using better tooling, you realize just how limited the setup really is. Which again, is not a bad thing, it’s just easy to outgrow like a CBR F4I or something.

But that Pro brake that just released looks pretty nice however, you’ll start seeing the limitations from a safety aspect when it comes to bending thicker material. V opening needs to be 8 times larger than the thickness being bent, and a lot of tonnage to do it at the smallest (safest) opening with bottom bending.

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