gimme a brake

[Jon Jacobs]

I designed and built this small sheet metal brake for some small jobs I do periodically. Its made primarily from "I" beams and trailer hitch tubes. It works opposite to most brakes as the bottom jaw floats and the top is fixed.

It fixtures to the top of my welding table. I use a compact hydraulic jack to apply load and two small die springs to return it to home position.

The dies are made form pre-hardened 4140. There are two 1" dowels on the inside which keep the jaws in position.

The whole unit knocks down so I can store it easily as space is at a premium around here. Still needs a few finishing touches. The un-painted parts are going for plating.

 

[ilovevocs]

Pretty unique solution and great craftsmanship. Did you make the upper die with a surface grinder?

 

[CNGsaves]

Very talented solution !! What $$$ do you have invested to build ??

What gauge metal does it bend ?? Any examples you can show pics of bends ??

 

[joe49]

very nicely done.

 

[Tinner]

Nice work, Jon. What is it's capacity?

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Hi, yes I had to break the skin on my mill and flash it up on my surface grinder. Here is a couple of pics. Cheers

 

[Brianc613]

got any more info on this like width,height,die thickness and what gauge it can do? i love the design.

 

[Mike.ASC]

That's awesome !

 

[bonneyman]

The ingenuity on this forum is mind-blowing!

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Hi, its good for about .125 alu or .093 sheet metal. I have about $300.00 in materials and fasteners,
The die thickness is 1" and the overall length is 2'.
The swing arm is adjustable which allows different thicknesses to be bent.
Heres a few more pictures of the build process,
Thanks for all the encouragement over the years, keeps the ideas flowing.

 

[bullnerd]

Work of art, like the rest of your stuff.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Hey thanks so much : )