Shop Press Tooling

Hey Guys and Gals, Anyboby have any good pictures of home made shop
press tooling.I know that everbody uses sockets and pipes but I've searched the "Garage Journal" and our very own "Home made Tools and Equipment" and found very little home made stuff.This old man would love to see what you have made. Thanks so much for your time and talent.

 

Here is a press brake I made for a 20 ton press. The upper and lower dies are made from 4140 bar stock. The upper die is 1"x 3" and the lower is 1 1/2"x 1 1/2". It bends 1/4" flatstock for brackets with ease. I also made a die set to bend sheet metal with.

 

how did you cut the v notch and male die?

 

Bcap,Very nice work.

 

I made both pieces on my milling machine.



Here is a test bend I made with 1/4" x 2" flatstock

 

I made this male and female die set to form a beaded detail in a piece of aluminum.


Which eventually became this.

 

GREAT start to this thread!

 

i agree let's keep it going

later jim

 

nice work, i need something along these lines

 

More

 

thanks . very nice workmanship. i've looked for the bottom/top press brake die on ebay and such but they are very costly for a hobby shop.i'll ask at the machine shop.

 

You may want to check out this press brake kit from Swag Off-Road. It gets great reviews from the 4x4 crowd, and at $150 it seems to be reasonably priced. I plan on ordering one soon.

http://www.swagoffroad.com/20_Ton_Press_Brake.html

 

As a cheap alternative, you can easily fabricate something along those lines using round bar, box section, or angle iron. It may not last as long, or give as nicely defined or repeatable bends, but for the occasional bracket it can work (that's not to take anything away from Bcap55's tooling).

 

Btt

 

I watched a video on building that kit on http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/ but I'll be danged if I can find that or a search function there now

 

Hopefully ElPolacko will jump in on this. The guy has got to be some sort of press tooling king! Next to his press is a six foot tall shelf full of dies to do damn near anything you can think of, and even several things you or I never thought of with a shop press!

 

Found this on the net.May be crude,but I think it might work.

 

Sorry I think this is the picture

 

I made this die to bevel the exhaust openings in my x member for my model a.

It works well either self centering or with guide studs.

 

You might check in at practical machinist

 

I have a 250 ton press at the shop. A lot of pipe sockets wired stuff you have to make to o the job i will take some pics. like the thread.

 

Although this thread seems to be specific to press tools, you may or may not be aware of another thread on this board -- "Home Made Tools & Equipment"

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235784&page=59

Also has a lot of very well done pieces!

 

I'm subscribed to both, all good ideas.

 

When making the male and female dies, how critical is taking in the thickness of the material to be worked. I know alot of the stuff would be short runs( 1 or 2 pieces), but always wonder'd about that. Also does it have any affect on the overall dimentions of the piece being worked???

 

More please!

 

love this thread........more please

 

Cool stuff

 

I think you're asking about punch-type dies, as in hole punches, etc. In that case, the ID of the hole should match very closely the OD of the punch, in order to get the required shearing action. If the male end is too small, it'll simply press the material down into the hole, get stuck, and not cut it cleanly, if at all.

 

I like that. Seems like it does a nice job. I made a set of round dimple dies, never thought about making ones for oval holes. Nice job.

 

Btt