Do any of you guys have a link to a good homemade brake? I am needing to make a computer case to hard mount to the back of the inside of my cab. I have looked around and found nothing that works or is affordable. I just need to make a simple box. Do any of you guys got any hints? I really would like to make a simple brake. I think it might be fun but I can not find any online docs on making a small one.

looking for one myself, hope the freaks come thru.. :evil: need to make some body panels

i bought these magnetic vise inserts at harbor freight. They are about 6" long definitly not for anything more than small sheet metal stuff. Kinda works like
|> metal >|

It has some finger that can be removed. Definitly NOT the same as a real finger brake but its usable. I think i paid like $25 for them...

$20 @ Harbor Freight, hardly worth making. Not much, but it bends metal.

Are you guys talking about this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39103

Does anyone have a good faq on or write up for working with sheet metal to make boxes and such?

Are you guys talking about this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39103

I was. As you might be able to see from the pic, there is no means of securing the workpiece provided with the tool, they leave that up to you.


I've seen several variations, but I use a pair of C-clamps.

For $20, I figured I couldn't lose and it has successfully bent a new floor for Shopboy's Rangie.

how big of box you need, 6 sided square ?
sounds like alot of trouble for one piece
if you needed a few of them, i could see it
how thick material

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=91012
Is more what I'm looking for.

I need to make a gray water tank for my Camper. What it would cost me to buy the tank I could buy this brake. It's the first time I have seem that style there for that price. Must be new. Only brake that big I have noticed before is the finger brake they get $450 for.

I have been contemplating building a light guage sheetmetal brake out of collected old angle bedframes and mounting it on the side of my welding table.

Be able to bend 3' sections past 90*.

Still in my head and that is a dangerous place to be, plus I have not needed it yet so it is destined to remain there for the time being.

[QUOTE=lsloth]Do any of you guys have a link to a good homemade brake? I am needing to make a computer case to hard mount to the back of the inside of my cab. just need to make a simple box.QUOTE]


What size?
Project boxes are cheap as hell, and come in poly,stainless or mild steel and aluminum.
Many sizes form 2x2x2 to 36x36x12.
http://www.aces.edu/~gparmer/efi/temp/wb/projbox.jpg

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/products/full/3818.jpg

http://www.newtreatments.org/pic/zapper/doosje.jpg

I like the idea of a plastic container but I just have this urge to make it myself. I think it might be fun once I find a brake.

To build boxes, what you really need is a pan brake. The moveable individual dies allow you to get those tight corner bends against another side.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=45877

To build boxes, what you really need is a pan brake. The moveable individual dies allow you to get those tight corner bends against another side.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=45877

Ya don't have to, but it is nice. We bent up my floor with a 48" box and pan, and still ran into times where we could only start the bend. Johnson built a 30" break that we used on Sat to fab up my battery box. I'll send him a link to this thread...

I built this a few years ago. 30" all out of 1/4" steel. Works great. I sold my 48" brake, because i never used it. This will do almost anything you need.

http://www.rock-heads.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=383

I built this a few years ago. 30" all out of 1/4" steel. Works great. I sold my 48" brake, because i never used it. This will do almost anything you need.

http://www.rock-heads.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=383

It would be nice if you can post it here since I don't want to log into another site with another username and password.

I'll see if Lame can do it.

http://www.rock-heads.com/forum/uploads/post-4-1093443006.jpg

Nice, do you have any more pics, like front top and side. And if you have to take some can you use a tape so I can get basic dimensions? LOL! :D

I built this a few years ago. 30" all out of 1/4" steel. Works great. I sold my 48" brake, because i never used it. This will do almost anything you need.

http://www.rock-heads.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=383

How does the clamping system work? Got any more pics?

just flip the handles up & it pushes the clamping leaf down. It's set up to bend 30". Not much to it really, just some angle & some flat stock & start building.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/MOOSEKNUCKLE57/pb1.jpg

Plans to build a 8' brake for $35. Money is REFUNDED if you build it and send him a picture! :smokin:

With frustration, from November to mid-December, 1999, I researched the numbers and designed a minimum-size, all steel, "compact" 8 ft. sheet brake that would bend .040 aluminum 6061-T6 at full-width. I found supporting the beams inboard of the ends reduced span deflection. Stresses get well beyond the short 4-foot and 6-foot types in a hurry. Limiting stresses to what must be bent reduced the problem more. Heavier materials to .060, of considerably shorter length (12") are easily bent but nothing heavier than that would be wise here.

http://www.macsmachine.com/

On the left hand column... go to "Bend Brake" (last item) for the details.

Tom :usa:

So did anybody actually make one yet?

I am back to needing one for a few projects. Not hard to build a simple brake but I want a finger brake that can handle 36 -48 inches. I figure a 3 (for a 48 inch 2 for a 36) 1ft fingers and then and assort ment of 1, 2, 3 inch fingers to give me some flexibility.

After putting some though to it I think some 4 inch brick mold with the edge machined would work for the fingers. piece of 2x2 for the bridge at a 45 degree angle. The 4x4 fingers would lay on the 2x2 and be clamped with a second piece of 2x2 angle. I figure that will let me deal with up to a 1 inch flange when building a box.

The only part that I will need to have machined will be the tips of the fingers to get a clean edge. I cant figure out a way to do that accurately with the tools I have.

I figure 16gage at 36 inches should be no problem. Might push it on the 48 inch Just depends on how much defection I get on the fingers and the retainer I build.

Check out the bottom of this page:
http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/series/index.html

Build your own sheet metal brake.

I ended up making one based off this design:

http://www.majorleagueduning.com/tech/Brake/Brake.htm

So did anybody actually make one yet?

I am back to needing one for a few projects. Not hard to build a simple brake but I want a finger brake that can handle 36 -48 inches. I figure a 3 (for a 48 inch 2 for a 36) 1ft fingers and then and assort ment of 1, 2, 3 inch fingers to give me some flexibility.

After putting some though to it I think some 4 inch brick mold with the edge machined would work for the fingers. piece of 2x2 for the bridge at a 45 degree angle. The 4x4 fingers would lay on the 2x2 and be clamped with a second piece of 2x2 angle. I figure that will let me deal with up to a 1 inch flange when building a box.

The only part that I will need to have machined will be the tips of the fingers to get a clean edge. I cant figure out a way to do that accurately with the tools I have.

I figure 16gage at 36 inches should be no problem. Might push it on the 48 inch Just depends on how much defection I get on the fingers and the retainer I build.

Box and pan brakes work better if you keep a keep a piece of heavy stock in them that's pre-bent and adjust for the thickness of the pre-bent piece when you're using them as a straight brake. Otherwise the bends tend to come out uneven. It's hard to get 10 or 12 fingers lined up perfectly, even on a factory-built box and pan brake. Nothin fancy - just a piece of 6" wide 18 ga steel works fine. I just tape it over the fingers to keep it in place while I'm working. If you need to use one or two of the fingers for a short inside bend, just take out the pre-bent piece and adjust the brake as necessary.

You cant really make full intersecting 90deg bends over about 6" tall, even with large commercial box and pan brake so I wouldn't bother trying to make one that large. You can "start" bends on low tolerance parts just as easily on a straight brake. If you want some good references on aircraft sheet metal bending and "bend allowance charts" for close tolerance parts I have them, and I live pretty close to you. I'll loan/copy them to you if you want, just drop me a PM.

Here's a pic of a 10 foot box and pan brake I found for reference.
When you start getting that big it's for "pans" more than "boxes"

I ended up making one based off this design:

http://www.majorleagueduning.com/tech/Brake/Brake.htm

Thats pretty damn close to what I had come up with except I am using brick mold (4 inch angle Iron) the table and working surface. I have some HD hinges that I will be using instead of making a hinge.

The "clamp" is where I am going to get fancy and for the exact complaint that guy had with it flexing. I am going to ,ale the clamp in pieces or "fingers" with a piece of 2x2 box to mount them too and to resist flex.