1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

Press

I'll never buy into HVAC, that's above me

But I'll clue you in

I have a SWAG press brake kit, used to have the whole shebang with 20 ton press but I got rid of the press itself (kept the jack and arbor plates too though lol)

Plan to use the SWAG kit I have on a larger press brake that I'll DIY

Pro's with the SWAG - with the right tonnage behind it, it bends even 1/2" steel, so that leaves stuff I've done like 1/4" and 3/16" a breeze to do

Con's with the SWAG - with its larger angle iron bottom die, and angle used on the top die, even incorporating a DIY bottom piece, the bend radius is too large to do anything where precision matters on smaller pieces

Solution for now - purchased a smaller press brake that'll be dedicated to thinner gauges but still handles thicker stuff too at a smaller scale, ordered it the other night and it arrives Saturday

Future - DIY setup that utilizes the SWAG kit but for a wider bend width, but incorporating european dies to add to capability unless I come across a used 50 ton for cheap in the future

Currently not looking for one as they do come up for sale from time to time, but a large setup is not needed at the moment

 

What’s the max thickness going to be on the small setup?

 

@time623 feel like when it comes to HVACR especially on remodel/retrofit projects most mechanical engineers suck.

Probably not so bad in new construction

 

The full width (only 10") will do 3/16" thick on the die

10" will do 1/4" thick without the die

And it'll do 3/8" at 8" wide without the die

1/2" thick if going 4" wide without the die

I'll never need to do thicker than 1/4" though and that'll go to the DIY setup once I build one

I'd also like to get custom dies too, but those are expensive as fuck

Here's just toying around with gooseneck sizes and clearance

 

Sad to hear that as an ME.
I’ve deliberately avoided and hopefully will never work in or around HVAC though. Don’t want to deal with all that.

I don’t know how accurate this is, but the ‘everything not HVAC’ jobs do feel more competitive, maybe those that can’t get into a different field of ME end up falling back into HVAC so it’s all the shitty ones.

Mechanical part design and simulation only for me

Those HVAC gigs pay pretty damn well though, hard to resist making the jump sometimes

 

If you could get away with a thin die like 1” for real small parts could you cut that on your table

 

I've already gone that route and used them before (old pic)



But I'd need to do a final touching up to ensure everything is perfectly aligned with each other; I'd make multiple and weld them as needed to make different length dies

If I go say, 24" to 36" wide, it'd be less trouble just buying a used die that fits my needs

Can save quite a bit of money going that route

 

@time623 Trust me, I use my tools and try to make the most out of them

It teaches me a lot, all this shit is self-taught for me

But it also aids with my ADHD

I swear I get a lot of shit done because of it, but often times sidetrack way too much getting into something else before I finish doing what I was initially doing

 

Reminds me of a machinist YouTuber I’ll watch. Every time he’ll have a goal of making one final item, but to get there there’s three or four tools/manufacturing aids that need to be built along the way. Everything always spirals

 

YEP!

Lately I'm bending very little and have been doing so with relief cuts I incorporate on my plasma table

Whether it's thick or thin, but I do it often that I have a rule for how much to leave on each edge before the cut to prevent any deformation - for instance I keep 1" from the edge on 16 gauge



But I know I'll have to do some small 1/4" brackets in the next month for a shop I supply parts for, not to mention I got the press to aid in these internal stiffeners I'll be making so it'll get put to use for the rest of the year

The low rider bike guy needs more done as well

Invest to make

 

This old Tony is like that... I miss machining sometimes as a day job but the shop I worked for was so mis-managed I was at the point of holding back my rage when talking to either of the morons that owned it.

 

Worst part? I couldn't even get the standard bed stiffeners bent on my SWAG kit

That's where I began to learn about flange to feature



Gotta take the wins and the losses

 

Machining looks so therapeutic

Maybe I'm just weird like that, but I love watching people work at it

 

It's like most blue collar BS, can be nice as a hobby but sucks for a paycheck

 

That makes sense

 

What the fuck

https://ktla.com/news/california/re...o-left-zip-tied-dog-in-malibu-wilderness/amp/

 

That is so fucking sad

 

They just did haha, like July 1s

 

We put t-stats similar to these in almost every panel we build. One setting for the heater, one for the fan. Mounts on the din rail. Be sure to fuse the heater properly if you go that route.

https://www.automationdirect.com/ad...-_lights/thermostats_-a-_hygrostats/011720-01

If you haven't figured it out yet, this stuff isn't cheap. You're gonna need a Nema 4 enclosure and then rain hoods for the fans. Probably looking at $800-$1k right there.

 

it really depends on the shop and your temperament lol, I have 2 friends who both love being a machinist but they're also notably ADHD or autistic