My Brake project via Dan

[Rocky D]

This first shot is how it started this morning. Yesterday I fabbed these parts.

[Rocky D]

....and this one

[Rocky D]

Now bend leaf clamped preparatory to weld

[Rocky D]

Looking down on it

[Rocky D]

Close up of the pivot point...I got carried away with the handle part. :)

[Rocky D]

This is the underside showing the line up of the leaf part to the handle part. Also welded underneath, leaving a gap for the nut to be welded on.

[Rocky D]

This is a little fab trick. When centering two parts together as shown...a quick way to find the center is to measure the length...say 9 and 13/16" for example. Well, you know its close to 10 inches, so divide by 2 = 5". Measure 5" from first one end and put a mark, then the other end put a mark. Then you measure between the two marks and that's your center! No figuring, or fumbling for your calculator. :D

[Rocky D]

This is the first weld. Notice no spatter when first spraying the parts to be welded with Anti-Spatter spray. This brand smells like fish...:mad: ...,but you get used to it

[Rocky D]

A closer look.....the spatter you see here can be wiped off with a rag!

[Rocky D]

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!

[Rocky D]

...another shot...notice the bent pieces made with it

[Rocky D]

This is a shot showing the bending leaf in the up position, so you can see the gussets, (stiffeners), and the "T" bolts.

[Rocky D]

...and at last...a shot showing a close up of the "T" bolts, clamping plate with the stiffener added, and the parts I bent with it!!!!


Thank you Dan for a delightful project ! It was loads of fun building it.

Now, come on, guys, lets see yours!!

[harold]

Rock D Nice job, What welder did you use? Also didn,t know you used anti splatter on your projects -Thought it was to spray the mig nozzel with it. Great project Dan hope to start mine very soon, Dump truck is about done then I'll start this project and post my progress.

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by harold
Rock D Nice job, What welder did you use? Also didn,t know you used anti splatter on your projects -Thought it was to spray the mig nozzel with it. Great project Dan hope to start mine very soon, Dump truck is about done then I'll start this project and post my progress.

Anti-spatter is used on both the nozzle and the parts. It is a must when doing stainless MIG. If there is any spatter, it wipes right off. Saves a lot of time cleaning up. Try it!

My machine is a Miller[ (what else?) CP 300 using .035" ER70S-6 wire, 50 - 50 mix AR - CO2 setup on 480v input power.

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by russell
Very nicely done Rocky D.Especially like the handles.very creative. T-handles were nice touch. I would like to give it a try,but I don`t have a scrap pile to pick from with those sizes of metal. But I am going to print the plans,and maybe later on..........Great photos too.

Thanks for the kind words, Russell

What do use to cut your pieces with plasma?

I didn't think I could be as precise with the plasma, so I used my HILTI 5" grinder with a .040"cutoff wheel.


Also that large welder cart with the eyebolts on top that you made,was that your plan?

Yeah, I designed and built it. The eyes were so I could pick it up with a crane and weld molybdenum heating elements in a vacuum furnace, 25 feet off the ground. That was freaky to do!

It was really sharp too. Looking forward to seeing more of your and Dans work. Thanks.



Russell

[Dan]

Rocky D

EXCELLENT!

You just made all my effort up to this point well worth it. I really like that you gave the project your own little touches. I see you had to modify a peice of channel for the bending leaf, which is excellent it helps everyone see that you don t have to stay with the exact materials that are on the drawings. Like I said before this is a scrap metal project.

One thing I need to mention is, that you do not want to use the bolts for your pivot point pins. I did this on my orginal prototype, and the threads chewed the holes up in a short period of time. What I m going to be using for the pivot point pin are a couple 5" long bolts that I cut down. This way I have a smooth surface riding in the hole on the pivot point bracket. To hold these pivot pins in place I just tack weld the head of the bolt to the handle. Before I cut them down though I chuck the threaded end in my drill press , turn the machine on and use a peice of 180 grit emery cloth on the solid round area of the bolt. I just take a little material off so that I will have a smooth operating pivot point.

Im including a picture of the bolts with this post. I don t have them cut down yet so I just covered up the area that I m going to cut off and discard.

In closing I d like to thank you for building this project. Im hoping others will take the time to build one too, and then show us there version.

Note: it is a good practice to make sure that the pivot points get a few drops of oil on them every once in a while.

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by Dan
Rocky D


One thing I need to mention is, that you do not want to use the bolts for your pivot point pins. I did this on my orginal prototype, and the threads chewed the holes up in a short period of time. What I m going to be using for the pivot point pin are a couple 5" long bolts that I cut down. This way I have a smooth surface riding in the hole on the pivot point bracket. To hold these pivot pins in place I just tack weld the head of the bolt to the handle. Before I cut them down though I chuck the threaded end in my drill press , turn the machine on and use a peice of 180 grit emery cloth on the solid round area of the bolt. I just take a little material off so that I will have a smooth operating pivot point.

Note: it is a good practice to make sure that the pivot points get a few drops of oil on them every once in a while.

I see your point on the pivot bolts. I have stripper bolts, (or shoulder bolts) I can use.

I may also run some Stellite across the leading edge of the clamp plate and grind it sharper.

Now, today I'm going to sandblast it, and paint the surfaces that don't come into the bending area. I'm so close to the ocean, everything rusts up quickly.

Another idea was to scribe witness lines on the bending area to aid in putting parts in the brake perpendicular to the braking action. I'v had a lot of folks looking at it, and these are some of their suggestions.

Now, Dan if you could come up with a mini Hossfeld bender, or scroll bender, that would be real handy for the shop. :)

[Bob]

Rocky D,

can you explain how you did the round ends of the box tubes. Was it just cut round and a bent bit of strap welded on top?

Bob

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by Bob
Rocky D,

can you explain how you did the round ends of the box tubes. Was it just cut round and a bent bit of strap welded on top?

Bob

You have a sharp eye, Bob..that's just what I did.

[Rocky D]

Here is the clamping plate prepared to be hard surfaced with Haynes Stellite. I ground the edge to accept the weld metal.

[Rocky D]

Here it the part during welding. Notice the angle of the rod and direction of travel. Stellite can also be applied with Oxy Acetylene too. However this is GTAW (TIG)

[Rocky D]

A closer look...this is actually what I see when welding.

[Rocky D]

Even closer....here you see on the very left edge of the weld the original surface, so I can later grind it to the exact depth I want. I wouldn't want to take it down too far.

[Rocky D]

Here it is after grinding...notice I left it about .025" above the base surface. This is the bottom.

[Rocky D]

Here is the top after grinding. You can see I didn't take it all the way down, either.

[Rocky D]

Here is the top side showing the Stellite on top of the original surface. By not grinding flush, there is a little more strength to the hard material. I have had it chip off when it is ground too flush.

[Dan]

Originally posted by Rocky D




Now, Dan if you could come up with a mini Hossfeld bender, or scroll bender, that would be real handy for the shop. :)

A scroll bender would be pretty easy. You can get the scroll bending attachment for my Harbor freight compact bender for $20. After this all you need to do is come up with a frame work to use it on. I don t have this attachment, but for only $20 Im might order it before the day is over. If I do buy it my plan would be to make a frame work for it instead of using it on my compact bender. Reason being It would be more convenient to have it as a bench mount machine. Besides the fact that I would have to disassemble my compact bender some every time that I would want to use the scroll attachment on the bender framework.

It would be quite difficult to make all the different dies for a complete Hossfeld type bender. What Im thinking about doing is scaling up the design of my harbor freight compact bender and making a machine that will hopefully bend 1/2"X 2" flat bar. By the way my compact bender is a poor mans version of a Hossfeld bender. No were near the machine that a Hossefeld bender is though. With this post Im attaching a sample bend done on my compact bender the material is 1/2" solid round stock.

Also, I ve been studying designs of compact flat bar rollers and I think I can come up with a somewhat simple design. Only problem with this one is that Im going to have to use my lathe to bore the rollers. I might just look into getting a V block though and use my drill press instead. The price of a v block as compared to a lathe should keep it within a hobbyist priced and skill level project.

[Rocky D]

Here are all the parts I built after sand blasting. This is the last shot.

Here's another fab trick. Notice the nuts welded on 3 sides...set up the nuts with a countersunk flathead screw...this centers the nut perfectly over the hole...weld only 3 sides, no more cuz you'll never get the screw out, it will freeze in the nut. You won't have to chase the threads after, either.

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by Dan


A scroll bender would be pretty easy. You can get the scroll bending attachment for my Harbor freight compact bender for $20.

I have one of those compact benders from H/F. I have a place for it on my weld table for when I need it. I'll check out that attachment.

[Rocky D]

Dan, what do you think of this one?

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals/34000-34999/34791.PDF

It looks more versatile than the compact bender.

[Rocky D]

I had to make an adjustment to the brake so I could get my brakes closer together. I cut the bending leaf down to 1/2" .
in the picture you can see what I cut off, and a test piece I was playing with. It still has plenty of strength, since it was a 5" channel to begin with.

(Bob, notice the visual control?) :D

[Dan]

Originally posted by Rocky D
I had to make an adjustment to the brake so I could get my brakes closer together. I cut the bending leaf down to 1/2" .
in the picture you can see what I cut off, and a test piece I was playing with. It still has plenty of strength, since it was a 5" channel to begin with.

(Bob, notice the visual control?) :D

Rocky

I d did the exact same thing to the first one of these machines that I built. On that one the bending leaf was a peice of channel too. The machine worked fine for 1/8" material, but when I started using it to bend 3/16" x 1 1/2" and 3/16" x 2" the 1/2" width wasn t enough of a lever. After a while the front edge of the 1/2" flange rolled over. This made it so that it wouldn t even bend 1/8" material. So the plans I gave you guys was attempt # 2 which hasn t had any problem with the 3/16" material. I guess I got a little greedy on the first one?:D So keep it as a 1/8" max machine and you should be fine.

Also, Why Im thinking about it I work with a lot of 16ga. stainless sheet metal , so I made myself a clamp leaf for bending this material too. When I have to bend up a small guard for something it is sure alot easier to drag this little machine out over the larger sheetmetal bending brake that I made for the larger jobs that I have to tackle.

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by Dan


Rocky

I d did the exact same thing to the first one of these machines that I built. On that one the bending leaf was a peice of channel too. The machine worked fine for 1/8" material, but when I started using it to bend 3/16" x 1 1/2" and 3/16" x 2" the 1/2" width wasn t enough of a lever. After a while the front edge of the 1/2" flange rolled over. This made it so that it wouldn t even bend 1/8" material. So the plans I gave you guys was attemt # 2 which hasn t had any problem with the 3/16" material. I guess I got a little greedy on the first one?:D So keep it as a 1/8" max machine and you should be fine.

Also, Why Im thinking about it I work with a lot of 16ga. stainless sheet metal , so I made myself a clamp leaf for bending this material too. When I have to bend up a small guard for something it is sure alot easier to drag this little machine out over the larger sheetmetal bending brake that I made for the larger jobs that I have to tackle.

I gotta confess I talked with the sheet metal pro's we have here and they have their brakes with the short leaf except the 12' brake has a wide bending leaf, still for what I will do, it needs to be short. Actually, I had more fun building than I would ever using it. You did a marvelous job in relating the entire project...I know it was a lot of work. Thanks again!

You were right about the pivot holes wearing. I only used it a few times and I could see there is a concern there, so I ordered a couple of shoulder bolts for it.

BTW, one of the sheet metal guys wants me to build him a 3 footer for home. I guess I started something...:)

[Bob]

Rocky,
got the visual controls on the brake, but are those C-Clamps, D-Clamps, or U-Clamps holding it to the table. ;)

[wlbrown]

it appears to me, you did not make any
adjustment for the thickness of the
material.
i thought you had to adjust for this,
the material had to be flush with the
front of die.
comments please.
wlbrown

[Dan]

Originally posted by wlbrown
it appears to me, you did not make any
adjustment for the thickness of the
material.
i thought you had to adjust for this,
the material had to be flush with the
front of die.
comments please.
wlbrown

I guess I should address your question since I am the original designer and builder of this brake.

The reason you do not see any adjustments for material thickness is because the brakes current design that you are seeing is for bending 1/8" flat bar. To keep the design simple for bending different thicknesses of material I just made different clamping leafs with the 1/2" holes located at different distances from the front edge of the clamping leaf. Which adjusts the distance from the front edge of the clamping leaf and the front edge of the bed leaf. This probably isn t making any sense to you because you are probably not aware that I did a step by step procedure on how to build this brake right here on this website. If you search back 20 or 30 days (maybe even more) you should find all the information that I posted. Sorry, but my time is limited so there will be quite a few postings to go through to get all the info.

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by Bob
Rocky,
got the visual controls on the brake, but are those C-Clamps, D-Clamps, or U-Clamps holding it to the table. ;)

Those are 8" sliding bar Bessey clamps. I have 10's and 12's also

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by wlbrown
it appears to me, you did not make any
adjustment for the thickness of the
material.
i thought you had to adjust for this,
the material had to be flush with the
front of die.
comments please.
wlbrown

You have a sharp eye, sir. The brake is non-adjustable, and made for 11 gauge only...however, you can fudge thinner material in it with shims.

[waxer]

So could another bending leaf (much stronger) be made along with the appropriate sized clamp to allow for bending up to 1/4" plate?

[Rocky D]

Originally posted by waxer
So could another bending leaf (much stronger) be made along with the appropriate sized clamp to allow for bending up to 1/4" plate?

This one would do it if you relocate the top clamping leaf. Keep in mind the top leaf cannot move while bending. You would be limited to the width also by the distance between the clamping bolts.

BTW, welcome to the forum!:)

[Bob]

Waxer,

Here is my version of the same basic bender concept. The blue clamp leaf can be adjusted. The clamp bolts go thru elongated holes in the bed to a floating nut plate underneath. The two red angles at the back of the clamp help keep it from moving.

While I could adjust for 1/4" plate I am not sure the clamp or bed are rigid enough for a sharp bend ... maybe in 1/4" sqare bar stock or 1/4" aluminum.

In another bender design angle iron stiffeners were added to the bed and bending leaf as well as the clamp leaf. If you look real close you can see the end of an angle stiffener on my bending leaf just past the right handle

Thanks again to Dan for this great project. If you do build a variant we would all (especially Dan) like to see pictures if possible.

Bob