Homemade Sheet Metal Finger Brake

I love working with metal but i ve always struggled to get perfect 90 bends.

Homemade sheet metal finger brake.

Hinge was fabricated by welding the pivot pins to the movable section of the table. Homemade sheet metal finger brake constructed from scrap materials. This is a homemade finger press brake. Brake using the book called designing and building the sheet metal brake by david j gingery book cost 8 00 and worth ever cent i used scrap materal i had makes nice clean bends on 16 ga.

I built my 32in. The axis of rotation center of bender to be inline to bending line. Generally i ll stick the piece to be bent in the vise and smack it around until it s bent. Cut the angle iron and steel plate in sizes listed above making sure edges are square and straight.

Select materials that will be strong enough for your needs. The most important thing on a sheet metal brake is. Blocks were welded to the fixed part of the table. To open the brake first loosen the bolts then insert a large screwdriver between the top and bottom plate at either end.

Since it almost always bends crooked i end up rebending and generally just. I have clamped a square to the fixed table. Its also a fun project and you know the out come is going to work no guessing involved. Next insert your sheet metal lining up the bend line with the edge of the top plate.

Finger brakes are positioned accurately using clamps and shims for perfect bends. To its left is my wide finger which is holding down a strip of sheet metal. Time to try out the finger brake. Homemade sheetmetal brake designed to accommodate finger brakes.

I m sure some bright person out there will probably come up with a more elegant way to do this. Twist a steel wire ø1 2mm around the pivot and place it at the gap on edge of bender. I will be used to make. Fabricated from steel and hardware.

Lay the 7 x42 piece on top of the 14 piece with the front edges. Adjust and do a tack weld at side of pivot and the top corner of angle iron point 1. Two steel blocks were drilled and reamed to receive the pins. It has a bend length of 62 inches.

The finger is back from the pivot line by the thickness of that stainless steel plate that you see all the way to the left. Simple sheet metal brake.