I need to bend some into a 3.5 x 4" hat channel. I don't have a brake. Can this be done in a hammer form, or a homemade brake, or is it too thick?
Hat channel would be difficult to form with a press. I have done 1/8" with a hammer and torch. Depending on the aplication, you may not want to change the metal with the heat.
How long is the section you need to bend? If fairly short, I bend small 11ga items all the time with a 24" adjustable wrench in the vice.
If it's very long, I've scored it with a thin cutoff wheel and stitch welded after it was bent. As I did for my floor pans that I accidently ordered 16ga. instead of 18.
I need to bend up 2 sections that are about 14" long, 4" tall, and 3.5 wide. I'm replacing a section of unibody frame. It was a little thinner from the factory, but I have a sheet of 1/8 (maybe 11 or 12ga?) already. A little thicker is better in this case since the springs attach to it. I could just get some box tubing, but like I said, I already have a sheet in the gauge I need...
1/8" is thick enough to mig. very easly. Cut strips and weld and grind. or use 4" square tubing and weld a flat stock onto it.
A friend who works in a local welding fabricating shop with a big brake always comes in handy at times like this. Otherwise I'd take JIm Stabe's idea and run with it.
Clamp it to a steel bench, heat it up and bend it with a hammer. if you heat the flat stock, you don't have to hit it very hard to bend it to a 90 degree bend. Won't look pretty but will do the job. If you have some heavy angle a a good vice, you can clamp the flat stock between two pieces of angle in the vice, heat and bend, finish with tapping the bend flat against the angle. Makes a prettier bend but takes a little longer. Don't forget to bend the flanges to weld to the floor pan as well. Gene
what is the thickness of metal your replacing? if you go thicker then its a good chance it will crack along the joint, the thinner metal will have more flex then the thicker, also if i follow you a brake would require a goose neck punch, not something everyone has.
You may be better off buying a small length of light wall tubing: http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/hrsteel2.phtml?page=rttube&LimAcc=$LimAcc .
Use box tubing, cut it and weld it back to the shape you need. I know you have the plate but it may be better to use box tubing or cut the plate in strips and weld it together. Just my way of thinking ???
You can also make a "Window Punch". A punch that can disassemble to get the part out. In fact you can form up square tubing in a window punch. Keep in mind that you may have to over bend about 4 to 12 degrees so that you part relaxes to 90 degrees.(springback). Bear with me, I had to draw these driving down the road when I read the thread.
You are replacing a factory piece, if you bend it in a brake or press the bends will be rounded and not sharp like the origonal being thicker steel. I would do like another poster suggested and score it with a cut-off wheel, bend and weld. The inner weld will be hidden and the outer is easily ground and detailed. Doing it this way will keep the bends crisp. Clamp a piece of tubing inside as you weld to help keep it's shape.
Thank You. You can re-score it as you go if it doesn't bend far enough to widen the gap again. Because the gap will pinch as you fold it together. It leaves a nice crisp edge on the outside. I've even folded on a curved score.
Yes you can do it that way, but i usually score it and open it up not pinch it, and then weld back in what you ground out.
A real sharp radius will dictate how the part is formed. A press brake or leaf brake is out of the question if the radius needs to measure smaller than the material thickness. A typical industry standard is V x .155 = IR , (Vee Die Size times .155 equals the Inside Radius. example. 11GA (.120) times 8 gives me the VEE DIE Opening (V=8t) which is .960 so rounded that of to 1" VEE DIE Opening. Now take 1.000 and multiply it by .155 (5/32) and then you get the ball park inside radius needed to form the part. By the way, that equals .155 and the official chart says .156 (ballpark). Just for kicks. I install and repair Accurpress Press Brakes and here is a back yard size 30" model. Uses standard american style tooling and is considered a 11GA press. (10 Ton Capacity=4 tons per ft). Just thought Id show it off since the subject was 11GA.(.120) Also here is a Bend Allowance Chart you can print out. Helps you cut the unbent blank the right size so it bends correctly.
In case you do brake it, the sequence I found that works is like this. Plus I had a undeveloped blank length of 12.010 which made a 3.5" tall OD x 4" hat center OD with 1" OD outer legs. STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4
is that really what the part looks like or is it 4" tall and 3.5" wide? that little accupress brake is pretty sweet, i have spent many hours running and working on 60 ton 8" accupress brakes, i have a 4ft 15 ton mecanical dreis and krump, , i has designed plans to build a hydraulic brake modeled on my dreis and krump hydraulic version, i installed an old satellite dish positioner to power my backgage now i can preset 8 different backgage settings..
Score your 11ga approx. 50% of the thickness . Use a brake and make your bends. The score lines should be opposite of your bend. Then weld the score lines and a few stich welded on the opposite side . Finished product
Not trying to hijack this thread. But if you havent looked go back to post #2.Click on the link to jim's MG build. Way O.T. but still an awsome build.
i got the guys at a machine shop to do a whole 11g sheet in 4' x4" x1.25" hat ...it worked out to $3/FOOT....i think i got 15 pce. total....i asked for a few with a wider flange on one edge so i could trim to curves....
A good sheet metal shop is really the way to go here. They"re cheaper than you'd think . You"d prolly sped a whole day coming up with a poor imitation. Good luck with it. Keep us posted.