Garage Press Brake

[KwikFab]

Happy to join this forum and learn from the many experienced members here.

Short intro, I'm a disabled veteran, and retired (not from service), just having started my own shop some 3 years ago. Also just got into welding and fabrication 3 years ago so I consider myself new to the hobby still.

Pictures for attention.

My small shop -



Pictures of previous work I've done when I first started welding -



















With that said, I've found myself enjoying making a lot of one-off stuff and find that I often have to do bends with precision.

I used to own a Harbor Freight 20 ton press, with Swag OR finger brake kit. Made my own "bottom dies" I rigged up along with having made my own gooseneck dies -



The problem is that the tool set the kit comes with, will not suffice for providing clean bends with a tight radius on smaller parts. Especially if those parts are made from thinner material.

If you look above in my current pic, you'll see a 20 ton Bend Press I got from Trick Tools. That thing got me hooked as it uses a 30 degree punch and uses a 4-way bottom die to use for different thickness materials. Only problem is that the punch is a single, non-replaceable piece and I can't use a different bottom die paired with the fact that it's only 10" wide.

Here it is in action -

Has anyone used the Cyclops Designs press brake attachment found on Ebay?

Press Brake attachment for hydraulic presses, euro/promecam tooled 610mm width | eBay

All material must be central to the press ram. Option 2- Single piece tooling. Option 1- No tooling.

www.ebay.com

I'm especially interested in it because it uses EURO tooling and comes with a 24" 4-way bottom die (if purchased with tooling).

Unless there's an alternative I should be looking at?

I'm on a fixed income and short on space so just trying to spend my money wisely.

 

[Gutman]

Nice shop, and clean too. Watching.

What brand plasma table?

 

[KwikFab]

Nice shop, and clean too. Watching.

What brand plasma table?

Appreciate it!

It's a Langmuir table. Been running it for going on 2 years now but hoping in time to come I'll get a larger, STV Pro model.

Correction, been running CNC for going on 2 years but I've only had the Pro for a year now. I started with the smaller version and ran that for 1 year before that.

I've pushed this thing to it's limits in terms of accuracy - here's some small scribe work I made for fun, followed by cutting it out on plasma.











Scribing on a CNC plasma table will highlight any and all movement discrepancies and will showcase just how out of square it is.

I try to make the most out of what I have

 

[cvairwerks]

Just be aware that used Armada and Euro tooling is more difficult to find than American. It's also way pricier too. You are looking at anywhere from $11 to $20 bucks an inch, plus shipping. A quick scan of fleabay had less than a dozen pieces listed, while there were over 1500 listings for American style dies.

 

[KwikFab]

Just be aware that used Armada and Euro tooling is more difficult to find than American. It's also way pricier too. You are looking at anywhere from $11 to $20 bucks an inch, plus shipping. A quick scan of fleabay had less than a dozen pieces listed, while there were over 1500 listings for American style dies.

The two main points for looking at this setup are -

Although not as common as American dies, I do find Euro dies that would fit many of my needs as I sometimes require a 6" wide gooseneck and various other styles.

Having a 24" width gives me a lot of flexibility and I would not buy a 24" die in every style. This means the cost difference between dies themselves is not an important factor.

But if I went with American style, what press brake attachment is out in the market that you can suggest? Around $1.7k with some tooling included?

 

[W-Cummins]

Most of the Euro tooling is sold in metric sizes. So your 24" length would require 2 dies in the stuff I'm using LVD/Wila. Most of it is segmented which is nice but not really needed for your type of machine, and requires a unique punch holder ( but if you don't need the quick change feature, you could make some thing that would just clamp it in). Also your machine really would be a waste of the precision these tools are made to, ie. 0.0005" ground and hardened, another reason they are $$$$$

If I were you, I would look for a 2' section of 4 way die and say about 26" of some goose neck die and cut it up into 4 pieces (2", 4", 8",& 10"), so you could bend a few sizes of pan/box's.

William...

 

[cvairwerks]

Kwik: I'd look at fabricating a new bottom section for the SWAG kit. If I remember correctly, it takes American tooling already, You've got the skills to create a new bottom that take American stuff.

Depending on where you are located, there is literally thousands of tons of American die sections for sale at any one time for cheap. Even HGR Surplus has it for less than $4 a pound, for any profile or length.

 

[KwikFab]

Most of the Euro tooling is sold in metric sizes. So your 24" length would require 2 dies in the stuff I'm using LVD/Wila. Most of it is segmented which is nice but not really needed for your type of machine, and requires a unique punch holder ( but if you don't need the quick change feature, you could make some thing that would just clamp it in). Also your machine really would be a waste of the precision these tools are made to, ie. 0.0005" ground and hardened, another reason they are $$$$$

If I were you, I would look for a 2' section of 4 way die and say about 26" of some goose neck die and cut it up into 4 pieces (2", 4", 8",& 10"), so you could bend a few sizes of pan/box's.

William...

New American tooling does seem really cheap (26" punch for $200-300) and bottom 4-way dies for only $400-500. Never actually looked up new tooling as I figured I'd go used.

I guess the most alluring part was that I would buy it with tooling, and anything else I'd need would be small, segmented pieces and not a full width die.

Think the real reason now that I think about it is that I've got other projects (sold paid items) and not in the mood to build something for myself.

 

[KwikFab]

Kwik: I'd look at fabricating a new bottom section for the SWAG kit. If I remember correctly, it takes American tooling already, You've got the skills to create a new bottom that take American stuff.

Depending on where you are located, there is literally thousands of tons of American die sections for sale at any one time for cheap. Even HGR Surplus has it for less than $4 a pound, for any profile or length.

@W-Cummins already made a good point about tooling costs and I looked them up; significantly cheaper (when talking new).

But no, the Swag wasn't an option as you'll see above I got rid of that press. That and it's only 19" width and ideally I want 24" - 30" total.

If multiple people are suggesting American tooling, then can someone suggest a brake attachment to utilize such tooling?

I'll have to decide between building my own (much later project), or buying something like the Grizzly 50 ton or so.

 

[cvairwerks]

Something else to factor in on that ebay unit, is that he states up to a 20 business day delay before shipping, depending on payment methods, and a $500 shipping estimate. The last item I bought from the UK, weighed under 5 pounds, and took almost 18 days to get here. Previously, the same size and weight package from the same vendor was taking less than 5 days, so there has been a big change in shipping from the UK to the US within the last 6 months or so.

 

[KwikFab]

Pulled up my old file when I made myself some Gooseneck dies over a year and a half ago; used a 0.75" tang.

 

[cvairwerks]

BTW...you do know that SWAG makes the brake units in 30, 40 and 50" sizes as well?

 

[KwikFab]

Something else to factor in on that ebay unit, is that he states up to a 20 business day delay before shipping, depending on payment methods, and a $500 shipping estimate. The last item I bought from the UK, weighed under 5 pounds, and took almost 18 days to get here. Previously, the same size and weight package from the same vendor was taking less than 5 days, so there has been a big change in shipping from the UK to the US within the last 6 months or so.

Yeah the $514 shipping charge is applicable whether it's the bare unit, or unit with tooling.

My justification was "might as well get the solid tooling with 4 way" which puts me at $1,700.

The wait time is totally fine with me, but I genuinely came here to listen to others with more experience in helping me get my money's worth.

What I'm getting is more than just a suggestion to switch to American Tooling, but also it seems like I should just "make my own" attachment by the sound of it?

 

[KwikFab]

BTW...you do know that SWAG makes the brake units in 30, 40 and 50" sizes as well?

Yep! Fully aware.

I would have to buy the finger kit, just like the 19" model I had, to utilize different punch sets.

I guess where I wrote off the Swag kit was that their die holder is meant for their own mild steel stuff.

So let me ask - are you thinking I should just buy their 30" kit, and instead of fully welding their bottom "angle iron" block to just make my own and put in either a 4 way die, or die holder for American tooling? Cause that's kind of where my head is at IF I CAN USE American tooling up top.

 

[cvairwerks]

What I'm getting is more than just a suggestion to switch to American Tooling, but also it seems like I should just "make my own" attachment by the sound of it?

Either make you own, or bump your budget up a little and find a used 4' or smaller press brake.
Here's 6 footer with a bunch of tooling..

6' 25 Ton Press Brake & Tooling 0-830 | eBay

6' 25 Ton Press Brake & Tooling. approx wt: 4500 lbs.

www.ebay.com

or:

WTN-CHICAGO 131 PRESS BRAKE 11 TONS 02241480006 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for WTN-CHICAGO 131 PRESS BRAKE 11 TONS 02241480006 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[KwikFab]

Either make you own, or bump your budget up a little and find a used 4' or smaller press brake.
Here's 6 footer with a bunch of tooling..

6' 25 Ton Press Brake & Tooling 0-830 | eBay

6' 25 Ton Press Brake & Tooling. approx wt: 4500 lbs.

www.ebay.com

or:

WTN-CHICAGO 131 PRESS BRAKE 11 TONS 02241480006 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for WTN-CHICAGO 131 PRESS BRAKE 11 TONS 02241480006 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Fixed income

 

[KwikFab]

Man, this makes me reconsider the Swag kit even.

At $750 before shipping, I would only be utilizing the top die holder (if it accepts American).

Or the top die holder and punch temporarily, and still invest in a bottom die.

Choices, but definitely something to think about.

 

[KwikFab]

Ok well thank you all for the suggestions!

I think I'll go ahead and try my hand at first making a top die holder.

My only question now is, the inside "spacer" that is welded to one side of the clamping holder - how thick should it be in relation to the tang itself? Or is it the same exact width?

Seems 1/2" is the width of the tang on American punches, but unsure what the height of it is as far as "standards" go.

Different websites give me different results.

 

[rjpowell]

Have you checked out Swag's newest "Pro Finger Brake"? Here's the link: SWAG Pro Finger Brake. I’ve been seriously considering it myself.

As for the Cyclops design, I looked into that as well—especially after watching Ratha's video series on it (link to video). It’s a solid option, but I ultimately decided I wanted something that allows me to use the inexpensive American tooling others have recommended in this thread.

I’ve also thought about building my own bottom holder and die. However, using larger tooling would mean upgrading to bigger springs and longer rods to fit them. It feels like I’d be spending days modifying my current Swag press brake. Instead, I’m leaning toward selling it for $300 and putting that money toward the $1300 Pro Finger Brake (no tooling). Then, I could gradually pick up some tooling on eBay as needed.