DIY press brake dies?

[DocsMachine]

I'm going to be building a press brake to go in my 40 ton press, the usual style with a wide top blade, with a guide rod at either end.

What I'm looking for is the base die.

I've seen people make them out of two round bars, welded to a baseplate, and in fact I used that when I made a quickie little brake earlier this summer:

Anybody have any better ideas? Or is that easy and simple enough to go with? I have machine tools, of course, so I could mill a V-block die if I wanted to, but I'm not sure that'd gain me anything.

What's the preferred method?

Doc.

 

[Kevin54]

It depends on what you are bending. IF you are going to be bending the metal at 90 degrees and go with a Vee type of die, you want to have your die cut at 90 degrees, and you want to make sure your punch is cut at 85 degrees. By cutting your punch at 85 degrees, it allows for springback on your metal and your piece will come out to 90 degrees after being bent. I've cut literally thousands of punches and dies over the years I have worked as a toolmaker, and have always cut the punches at 85 degrees unless it was some sort of special punch.

As far as your die, they make a very nice "X" shaped die out of hard aluminum and has a hardcoat anodize on it. Each Vee is a different size and will handle a vast variety of thicknesses. I'll try to remember who makes it and see if I can find a drawing of it. IIRC I believe the company is Accurite.

Do a search for "4 way press brake dies" in Google images, and it brings up all sorts of dies like I'm talking about

 

[MWMWMW]

It depends on what you are bending. IF you are going to be bending the metal at 90 degrees and go with a Vee type of die, you want to have your die cut at 90 degrees, and you want to make sure your punch is cut at 85 degrees. By cutting your punch at 85 degrees, it allows for springback on your metal and your piece will come out to 90 degrees after being bent. I've cut literally thousands of punches and dies over the years I have worked as a toolmaker, and have always cut the punches at 85 degrees unless it was some sort of special punch.

As far as your die, they make a very nice "X" shaped die out of hard aluminum and has a hardcoat anodize on it. Each Vee is a different size and will handle a vast variety of thicknesses. I'll try to remember who makes it and see if I can find a drawing of it. IIRC I believe the company is Accurite.

Do a search for "4 way press brake dies" in Google images, and it brings up all sorts of dies like I'm talking about

I know this is pretty old, but do you have any more general information you can share about making dies? Specifically making them without machine tools. I’m interested in making more complex shapes beyond 90s just with a welder, grinder, sander and other basic hand tools.

Thanks!