Yesterday I got busy and made a brake, something I've put off for years. Bolts to the bench top, two 4 foot sticks of 2x2 5/16" angle and a 6' piece of 1 1/2 X 2" I had in the corner for the clamp. The hinges are 1/2" black pipe nipples from the hardware store with 5/8" bolts as pins, a piece of tubing and some round bar for handles. It works great, beats clamping angle to the bench and smacking sheet metal with a rubber mallet, which I did until now. Maybe I'll go out this morning and clean off the bench and sweep. Or maybe not...
That's great, but it can't work very good. It's not shiny with a fancy name on it! It looks great, you did a good job. I've been meaning to get out and make one myself. I might just have a weekend project now....
The guy at ALRO steel, where I buy stuff, asked what I was making. When I said, "A brake", he pointed to one on the floor and said, "Well, we SELL those.". Not for $65 they don't.
I've use a similar contraption for years. I'm in the process of building a 6'-0 brake with the ability to accept radius dies as my old one did not. A good bit of work in this one already. It should fold 16ga. mild steel with ease and will be air over hydraulic.
I built Morrisman's version (see home made tools and equipment here on the H.A.M.B.), ground down the edge on the hold-down to ensure a sharper bend, and found that I needed to put a bolt adjustment to tighten down the bending angle iron to also bolster that sharper bend. I also made it 49+ inches to make it wide enough to make the front and tailgate of an express bed. Heavy sucker, for sure, but it works just fine. Used cold-rolled steel for the base and 1-inch hinge pins. It cost me less than half of the HF version, and doesn't have any cast-iron parts that could break.
I haven't had that much room on my bench for years. Is that an open can of NoKorode solder flux in the first pic, for tinning a soldering iron?
Years ago I built a free standing brake. Mine is 50" wide, so I can bend a full width piece of sheet metal. I had to replace the clamp fixtures after several years, and the angle has taken a lot of abuse as well. I now use 2 C Clamps and 2 vice grips to hold the steel in place. It still does OK, not a very crisp edge anymore, but it does bend sheet metal. Now I have to add a pry bar if I'm bending a 48" wide 18 gauge though, I'm not as tough as I used to be. Gene
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