Hand brake and/or shear

[Sapper]

Is there a unit out there for the average guy or does anyone have a decent plan on how to make thier own? I have seen some really cheap ones lately but they all had a very small opening on them and I think they would break too fast.

[PTSchram]

You really only have a few ways to go with this. HF has varying levels of size and capacity. Industrial stuff is frightfully expensive. Auctions tend to have huge pieces of such machinery that would require constructing a building to house the machine:-).

I use a HF cheapie for light stuff and am fairly pleased with its capabilities, but also recognize that it is not appropriate for multiple part production, nor is it at all capable of easy reproduction of the same part as the setup is so poor. But, it bends sheetmetal once you get it positioned in the brake. I also have a friend at the sheetmetal shop down the street:flipoff2:

[Sapper]

Yeah I have seen some nicer unit in the auctions that I would need alot more room to use one. I have also seen some really horrible units lately that I wouldn't trust to do anything other then screw up a good piece of sheet metal. Just hoping to find something with about 48" mouth on them and I might be able to afford.

[DMS1]

I have been thinking about getting one of these but I can't find any reviews on the quality or usefullness, plus it only cut and bends 20 ga. and I was hoping to get something that will bend at least 18 gauge.



Northern Industrial Tools 3-In-1 Shear, Brake and Roll for Sheet Metal Work
You get one female and 7 male dies. Two-position handle. Shear cuts to full 40 inch width (1000mm). Sectional fingers allow box and pan work up to 40 inch wide steel by increments. Slip roll capacity, 0.04 inch or 1mm. Slip roll may be used to form straight cylindrical pieces and cones of limited size and wire loops by using the 5/32 & 7/32 inch wire-forming grooves. Model has a slip roll and shear capacity of .04 inch (1mm). Shear back and front gauge range, 1/2 inch to 16 inch (12.7mm thru 406mm). Handles 2 inch (46mm) rolls. 1 inch, 2 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch, 7 inch, 8 inch and 12 inch die set sizes.

http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/143343_lg.jpg

[ironpig70]

check out www.grizzly.com never used them but the price looks good and i have used them for other products and am happy with them

[AthlonAJ]

I have been thinking about getting one of these but I can't find any reviews on the quality or usefullness, plus it only cut and bends 20 ga. and I was hoping to get something that will bend at least 18 gauge.



Northern Industrial Tools 3-In-1 Shear, Brake and Roll for Sheet Metal Work
You get one female and 7 male dies. Two-position handle. Shear cuts to full 40 inch width (1000mm). Sectional fingers allow box and pan work up to 40 inch wide steel by increments. Slip roll capacity, 0.04 inch or 1mm. Slip roll may be used to form straight cylindrical pieces and cones of limited size and wire loops by using the 5/32 & 7/32 inch wire-forming grooves. Model has a slip roll and shear capacity of .04 inch (1mm). Shear back and front gauge range, 1/2 inch to 16 inch (12.7mm thru 406mm). Handles 2 inch (46mm) rolls. 1 inch, 2 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch, 7 inch, 8 inch and 12 inch die set sizes.

http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/143343_lg.jpg
I've used one of those, it's not really bad at all for the money. But you have to expect to be getting what you pay for so don't expect it to be quite as nice as the high dollar separate units. It does get the job done and it's on my list of toys to add to the shop. Space is a premium for me, fits nicely.

[cj7jeep81]

A guy on the Hobart welding board posted a ton of information on building your own. Here's a link to a search page with all the threads.
Link (http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=123443&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=ascending)

[PTSchram]

A guy on the Hobart welding board posted a ton of information on building your own. Here's a link to a search page with all the threads.
Link (http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=123443&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=ascending)

While it is obvious he put a lot of thought and design time into that device, I wonder if similar results couldn't be obtained from reinforcing a $20 HF brake.

My complaints with the HF brake (keep in mind I'm the original Cheap Bastard and bought the Cheap HF version) are mainly the lack of clamping devices on the brake. With suitable De-Staco over-center clamps and reinforced leaves and bigger levers, better results could assuredly be obtained.

[cj7jeep81]

While it is obvious he put a lot of thought and design time into that device, I wonder if similar results couldn't be obtained from reinforcing a $20 HF brake.

My complaints with the HF brake (keep in mind I'm the original Cheap Bastard and bought the Cheap HF version) are mainly the lack of clamping devices on the brake. With suitable De-Staco over-center clamps and reinforced leaves and bigger levers, better results could assuredly be obtained.

You probably could, but if I recall correctly, he was able to build that out of scrap pieces he had laying around, so it didn't cost him any extra.