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20 ton press - diy press break?

Discussion in 'Garage / Workshop' started by Andy01DblCabTacoma, Sep 14, 2021.

  1. Sep 14, 2021 at 9:16 PM
    #1
    Andy01DblCabTacoma

    Andy01DblCabTacoma [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Andy
    San Diego, CA
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    F: Kings SPC, R: 5100s+J59s. Custom armor.
    I've seen some YouTube videos regarding building a DIY press break for a 20 HF press... And I'm finding myself needing to bend some steel... I want to build something for myself, but have run into the grey zone, and hoping that someone with more press break experience can shed some light.

    Also a little background info on myself- I've worked as a professional welder and fabricator when I was (much) younger.. I've mig welded more miles than I count... I've also used a LARGE press break a handful of times, but outside of basic operation can't recall the specifics of the tooling. So I am hoping to seek some clarification on a few aspects before I make some tooling.

    The homemade breaks I've seen on YouTube, tend to put to a flat plate on the bottom, with two angle pieces next to each other in a ^^ (cross section) orientation to form the V-die. The issue I have with this is, the lower dies I remember on the large press breaks have the peaks (bearing surface) MUCH closer together. If the two angle sections are 1-1/2" angle, the distance between the two peaks (bending points) are 2" apart.

    I'm thinking that I want to place my breaks (angle section) on their side so that the vertical sides are closer to each other. But I don't know what that distance is... rough guess for bending 1/4" plate is 1".

    I'm not trying to bend "perfect" 90s every time.

    I'd love to hear some other folks who have experience making their own press breaks.

    Edit:
    Where is a quick mock up:

    upload_2021-9-15_9-13-14.jpg

    I've also seen that a few companies sell "shop press bending boxes", and the die is more like the left of the models above:
    upload_2021-9-15_9-17-3.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2021

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