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Homemade Mini Bend Brake

by Improbable Construct on March 1, 2012 Table of Contents Homemade Mini Bend Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Homemade Mini Bend Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Gather the Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 5: Drill and Assemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 6: Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 7: Time to start bending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 3 3 4 6 6 7

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Author:Improbable Construct

Improbable Construct My Name is Brandon Fischer. I am a Theatrical Rigger and Carpenter. I like to build, make, and void warranties. Please visit my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ImprobableConstruct

Intro: Homemade Mini Bend Brake

In this Instructable I will show you how I made a Mini Press Brake to bend some 1/16" aluminum. I needed to make clean straight bends in strips of aluminum for my Hidden Bookshelf Light Switch . I had pretty good luck bending the aluminum in my bench vise, but it was hard to keep the bends square and even. So, this is what i came up with.

Step 1: Gather the Parts

To build this press brake you will need: Parts: 20" of 1" angle iron 10" of 5/16" steel rod 2 - 2.5" narrow hinges 2 - 1/4"x2" bolts w/ nuts 4 - screws 1 - chunk of 2x4 Tools: drill drill bits 1/4" and 3/16" something to cut the angle iron (band saw, hacksaw, cut off blade, cold saw) a small square a welder a vice of some type (drinking and smoking won't work here) 2 vice grips or clamps

Image Notes 1. 5/16" steel rod 2. 1" angle iron 3. 2.5" narrow hinges

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4. 1/4"x2" bolts and nuts 5. 1.25" screws 6. Hunk of wood. I switched this out for a 2x4.

Step 2: Cutting
First thing you need to do is cut the steel. I used my 4x6 band saw to do this. Cut 3 - 5" pieces and 2 - 2.5" pieces of angle iron. Cut 10" of the 5/16" rod for the handle.

Image Notes 1. 5" cut 3 of this length

Image Notes 1. 2.5" cut 2 at this length

Image Notes 1. 10" - 5/16" steel rod

Step 3: Setup
Grab 2 of the 5" pieces of angle iron and clamp them into a vice as shown in the first picture. It is very important they are aligned perfectly. Next, take the last 5" piece and clamp it with vice grips as shown in the second picture. Again, make sure this lines up perfectly with the first two pieces. Then, get your hinges and set them on the angle iron as shown in the third picture. The hinges should sit tightly in the corner formed by the three pieces of angle iron.

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Image Notes 1. Make sure these are aligned perfectly

Image Notes 1. Again, this all needs to line up perfectly on both ends!

Image Notes 1. Set the hinges in position. They should sit nice and tight into the corner.

Step 4: Welding
Get your welder setup and tack the hinges onto the vertical and horizontal angle iron faces. Unclamp the vice grips and check that the hinges move freely. If all is well, clamp it back down and fill all the screw holes with welds. If it is binding, break the tack welds, check your alignment and try again. Next, unclamp the vice grips and flip the hinged piece so the hinges are closed. Careful it may be HOT from welding! Take the10" piece of steel rod and weld it to the angle iron as shown in the fourth picture. Center it and make sure it is square. You'll notice that you didn't weld the third piece of angle iron onto the break. You can set it aside for now. We will come back to it later. Note: The pictures show some modifications I made to the angle iron to allow some very close step bends. I needed to bend 0.5" step bends and, obviously, 1" angle iron would not allow this. You can skip to the end to see why I cut the angle the way I did. If you don't need opposite bends any closer together than 1" you will not have to do this.

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Image Notes 1. All holes welded.

Image Notes 1. Look at those nice plug welds!

Image Notes 1. I already welded the handle on in this picture. Pretend it isn't there.

Image Notes 1. Hinge closed. Weld the 5/16" rod onto the angle iron. 2. This piece will not be attached when you remove the steel from the vice. Set it aside we will use it again later.

Image Notes 1. It should look like this when the handle is welded on.

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Step 5: Drill and Assemble

Now you have the welding taken care of, its time to drill some holes and mount the brake. Drill 2 - 1/4" holes---one near each end of the piece of angle iron that does not have the handle welded to it. I centered each hole about 0.5" in from the end. Next place the brake on a piece of 2x4 as shown in the second picture. Use the steel as a guide to drill 1/4" holes through the wood. Here is the tricky bit: Drill 1/4" holes near each end in the third, unattached piece of angle iron. This piece of angle is going to attach to the break with its corner facing away from the hinges as shown in the third picture. The location of these holes will be determined by the thickness of material you are going to bend. I made my brake to bend 1/16" aluminum, so I offset the third piece of angle iron by 1/16". You can make multiple pieces for different thicknesses.

Image Notes 1. 1/4" hole 2. 1/4" hole.

Image Notes 1. Drill 1/4" through the wood. 2. Drill 1/4" through the wood.

Image Notes 1. 1/16" offset. This distance should be the thickness of your material. You can make multiple pieces for different thicknesses.

Image Notes 1. Push the bolts up through the bottom and put the nuts on top.

Step 6: Guides
I added a final pair of angle iron pieces to my brake to speed up the alignment process. Grab the two shorter pieces you cut earlier. Drill two 1/8" holes in each one as shown in the first picture. Positioning is not critical here. Next place the pieces on the back edge of the brake as shown in the second picture. Be sure to position each piece inside of the bolt at the end of the main brake section. Use a square to square each piece to the break, and screw each piece to the wood.

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Image Notes 1. Drill some 1/8" holes in the shorter angle iron pieces.

Image Notes 1. It dosent look like it in this shot but the guide is inside the nut and bolt. 2. Square the guide to the brake and screw it down.

Image Notes 1. Screw the guides to the 2x4.

Step 7: Time to start bending

Putting it to use: Loosen the nuts and slide your material into the break between the pieces of angle iron as shown in the second picture. Align the metal to the guide and tighten the nuts down. Don't over tighten the empty side. The angle should sit flat on the piece you are going to bend. Next, lift the handle and bend the metal as shown in the third picture. Loosen the bolts and remove or re-position as needed. There you have it! One bent piece of aluminum! Check the rest of the pictures for more bending action. Some of them provide info on my mods for close bends. Thanks for looking! Please check out my use of the brake in my Hidden Bookshelf Light Switch !

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Image Notes 1. Bend a square! 2. Here is the finished product! I don't know what you would need this for but here it is. 3. Being able to bend a square can be useful! This one is not! I didn't do any measuring. 4. Thanks for looking! Please check out my Hidden Bookshelf Light Switch! http://www.instructables.com/id/Hidden-Bookshelf-Light-Switch/

Image Notes 1. Make sure the angle iron sits level on the material you are bending. 2. I used a nut driver to tighten and loosen the nuts. You don't need a lot of torque here.

Image Notes 1. Bend here! 2. Lift here!

Image Notes 1. Success!

Image Notes 1. Loosen, slide, and tighten.

Image Notes 1. Bend #2

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Image Notes 1. Loosen, slide, and tighten

Image Notes 1. Bend #3

Image Notes 1. Remove the nuts and angle iron to remove the bent piece.

Image Notes 1. Make sure the angle iron sits level on the material you are bending. 2. I used a nut driver to tighten and loosen the nuts. You don't need a lot of torque here.

Image Notes 1. Success!

Image Notes 1. This is where cutting off this side of the angle comes into play. to get the bend 1/2" from the other bend i need to remove some steel.

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Image Notes 1. Because there is not a lot of metal left I only got a partial bend here.

Image Notes 1. Just slide the piece to the other side and finish the bend. 2. From the edge of the hinge to the edge of the angle iron is 1/2" 3. From the clamp edge across the hinge and to my cut is 1/2"

Image Notes 1. Bend compete.

Image Notes 1. Lets do another!

Image Notes 1. Half way.

Image Notes 1. Slide over the the other side.

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Image Notes 1. Three bends in 1"

Image Notes 1. One more time!

Image Notes 1. Slid over and ready to bend.

Image Notes 1. Another bend! These are 1/2" apart.

Image Notes 1. Bend a square! 2. Here is the finished product! I don't know what you would need this for but here it is. 3. Being able to bend a square can be useful! This one is not! I didn't do any measuring. 4. Thanks for looking! Please check out my Hidden Bookshelf Light Switch! http://www.instructables.com/id/Hidden-Bookshelf-Light-Switch/

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