Garage Shop: Tools

Question; you seem to have something specific you want to bend, what is it?

I ask because you can ask for a recommendation for what size tang, and how much room below the die, etc. based on what you're wanting to create. This way you create a "saddle" for use with multiple die sets.

Whereas with the SWAG kit, you have only a few top dies available (before making your own or buying custom made), you still have the bottom die that's just angle iron.

 

I want to bend up to 1/4” steel… down to 20 ga. A sheet metal guru told me I could do 95% of everything I could want with a gooseneck die. I don’t do any production. It’s all one offs and prototypes.

 

The chart of wisdom and truth.

 

This way you can make it easier and invest in a single 4 way bottom die block for the openings you need, and a good gooseneck and you're golden

Going 40T will do all you need too

 

I also want to be able to bottom lighter gages and aluminum… I need to (re) find that chart.

 

3xxx and 5xxx for aluminum, going with the tempered stuff you'll find it will crack/break

 

There was a great shop in Seattle that did tons of 5xxx aluminum for the coastguard. Learned a ton from them. That’s where I first saw a press brake

 

I should add that I'm still on board with making my own press brake, as I need more width.

It's just not in the works right now as I need to upgrade my shop's compressor and add refrigerated air.

With that said, I don't mind toying with the 'planning part' of it.

 

Yeah! Well - if this turns out I think it could easily be adapted to be longer.

I think if you're bending one long bend, you can make a press with one central jack, but I want to be able to bend off the edge so I'll need two jacks that are somehow synchronized. Not sure how the big boys do it. They all seem to have two huge hydraulic pistons somehow synched together. I'm sure it's not rocket science - I just haven't ever noodled with this stuff.

 

bending off the edge is sort of a weird fringe case.

almost all hydraulic systems i've dealt with so far are as previously explained-- where 1 pump feeds into 2 cylinders, and the non-compressive nature of the fluid is what creates the force. but the disadvantage here is that you're creating a compressive force on only 1 cylinder, meaning that all the fluid is going to free-float into the other cylinder, and cock the bending edge sideways.

you'd almost need to run dual pressure pumps to dual cylinders, with a single acting dual control, but synchronizing all that is more like 1-million monkeys on 1-million typwriters, especially if you're only going to be loading 1 cylinder often...

 

Ok - found my answer and my head now hurts:
https://www.powermotiontech.com/tec...-2-chapter-22-synchronizing-cylinder-movement

 

Found an amazing cnc press home build on cnc zone and am convinced syncing two cylinders is both over my pay grade and budget!

 

DO IT

It'll pay for itself in work you do

 

Gonna work on a one piston design!

 

Document it

So I can build one too

 

should be pretty easy actually-- just watch facebook marketplace for an old log splitter. that would at least get you all the hydraulic hard-components needed, get a rebuild kit for the valve body, and convert it to shop use with a simple electric motor...

 

This is the plan!