Reorganization, it's like a renovation.

[Jack Olsen]

This is one of my favorite threads.

One thought: a 7-1/4" Freud Diablo metal-cutting blade will run you about $32 and would cut all of this stuff without heat and with an edge so clean you'll be able to see your reflection in it. It'll go on your circular saw and will not choke you with dust and melted adhesive.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I've been a sheet metal worker for 30 years and I'm impressed with your creativity and determination. I've always had good equipment at my disposal, from simple hand brakes to CNC monsters. I'm spoiled I guess. I never would have thought to do it like you have.

Thank you.

nice work

Appreciate it!

This is one of my favorite threads.

One thought: a 7-1/4" Freud Diablo metal-cutting blade will run you about $32 and would cut all of this stuff without heat and with an edge so clean you'll be able to see your reflection in it. It'll go on your circular saw and will not choke you with dust and melted adhesive.

Thanks Jack. I went back and forth about the Diablo blade. I remember your video and was really impressed. The only thing I wondered about was how the saw would handle with that blade on the 1/4" stuff. I wondered if I'd be able to drive it, or if the saw would tear out of the material, run over my foot then chop my fingers off as I attempted to grab it skittering across the garage floor. I pictured a massacre. Tell me, am I dramatizing this?? I handled the abrasive blade just fine and handle that recip saw. (BTW, the I feel bad for the follically challenged - sparks hurt my head since I didn't wear a cap today) Of course, I get tired after an hour or two doing that but I'll stop when I can't safely handle the tool. I ended grabbing a new batch of Lenox blades ($18) for the recip (they'll get used anyway). But I'm thinking you know what it takes to handle what I've been using. Can you compare that to the Diablo blade in the circ saw?






Well folks, finished cutting the drawers. I started sweeping up then ending up shutting down. I'm in a good place. It's a beautiful Friday. I'm going to finish this beer, shower up, drink more beer, get steaks ready to grill so I can get a good dinner on the table, drink more beer and maybe indulge in a cigar with DH. It's been a great Friday. Even scored cash by throwing in all those accumulated tools into my neighbor's garage sale. Woo! Made all my money back = free vintage Cman toolbox

Oh, before I show 'n tell my work today I do have to say a big THANK YOU to my husband. He knows when I get into projects that dinner is usually late and he'll have to fix a dinner or two during the week ("Pizza and chinese, count, right sweetie?"). He lets me indulge and he doesn't seem to mind me going a little overboard. Thank you Tim, I love you.


Anyway, enough mushy ****, here's my stuff.

Here's my 10 drawers cut, ready to mark up, groove and bend. This little stack is deceivingly heavy. It's cool.


Leftover 16ga. Since my strategy on the cutting the sheets changed I cut both 24s out of one instead of two. It was nice that the 48" sheet was actually 48.5" so I could get two full 24s and not lose material.



Got a new spool loaded up and ready to rock


My little workhorse. Hope the wheels don't fall off. BTW, casters are the best mod ever to this thing...well, ignoring the press brake on top right now.


My little space gonna come together eventually

 

[rickairmedic]

Awesome looks like somebody is going to have drawers under their workbench next week .


Rick

 

[Outlawmws]

Awesome looks like somebody is going to have drawers under their workbench next week .


Rick

Why does that sound so rude, when it isn't?

 

[GirlnAgarage]

So long as they're the right kind of drawers

 

[rickairmedic]

Why does that sound so rude, when it isn't?

I was speaking of metal drawers . What kind were you thinking ?



Rick

 

[Outlawmws]

It's not what you said, it's the way you said it!

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Checked the mail today and got my new toy..err, tool stuff. I ordered the Dremel right angle attachment, more cutting discs and wanted to try the grinding discs. You can see that the RAA fits my Craftsman rotary tool. It is a single speed but the discs are all rated for what the Cman turns so within specs there.



The cutting discs work really well for cutting and I've been using them for spot cleanup/weld prep/edge bevel. Just did these spots with that worn down disc for a test drive.

Why the right angle attachment? Well I was tired of the abrasive bits, dust and sparks being throw into my face. This turns that stuff away from me now. The right angle also puts my wrist in a more comfortable position for work. This essentially gives me an electric right angle die grinder.




I'm looking forward to the grinding discs. I plan to use these to smooth out/grind out welds where an angle grinder would normally be used. You can see they are considerably thicker than the cutting discs.



The first thing I have planned for this new stuff is grind down the welds on my press brake handle. Also I'm considering this to groove my fold line on the drawers and also to cut out the drawer corners. The cutting discs are considerably thinner than the abrasive blade in the circular saw. That's why I'm debating which one. The abrasive blade is 1/8" thick.

 

[Red Leader]

I'm excited to see these shelves

I also don't mind plenty of 'in process' shots of them being bent to shape in the press brake...ya know...for the slower minds on the forum

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I'm excited to see these shelves

I also don't mind plenty of 'in process' shots of them being bent to shape in the press brake...ya know...for the slower minds on the forum

I will get shots in process. If I'm feeling chipper I might get a vid posted

 

[rickairmedic]

Cool new toys . I need to get a pic in my thread of the freeby I got yesterday .


I wouldnt worry to much about grinding down the welds on the handle other than baybe at the corner joints where your hands go grinding welds makes them weaker since you are removing material .


Rick

 

[Outlawmws]

Have you tried the bending in "stages" without grooving yet? as I mentioned, attempting to bend heavy gauge sheet in one shot is not easy, because the friction of the bending increases. so Bend and ease up several times.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Cool new toys . I need to get a pic in my thread of the freeby I got yesterday .


I wouldnt worry to much about grinding down the welds on the handle other than baybe at the corner joints where your hands go grinding welds makes them weaker since you are removing material .


Rick

Yup, exactly the ones I wanna make pretty I need to sand all the black coating off the handle and paint it. It makes my hands all dirty like it is. Eww.

Have you tried the bending in "stages" without grooving yet? as I mentioned, attempting to bend heavy gauge sheet in one shot is not easy, because the friction of the bending increases. so Bend and ease up several times.

Well that's how I tried that test strip I photoed up there. I gave it several bends/releases. The ends creased a little bit but the center area looked like it wasn't going to go. I'm going to give another test on another strip to run test bends for my specific measurements. I'll try that one more dedicated without grooving and see if I can get it go. Maybe after adding the reinforcing strap it can. When I really have it some muscle that top plate was visibly blowing before I got table liftoff. Of course a factor is that test strip was only sandwiched by the front lip area of the top plate - since the strip was only a couple inches wide. It wasn't being held down by the strongest part of the angle iron.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Aw, look at the email I just got:

[email protected][/email] to me ]

Attention ....

You have exceeded the 10 GB monthly bandwidth limit on your free
Photobucket account. As such, your image and video links have been
temporarily disabled. Your images and videos have not been deleted but
will be reactivated on the 13th of the month, when your bandwidth
usage resets to zero.

If you'd like to re-activate your links right away, you can upgrade to a
Photobucket Pro account.

 

[shopnut]

So when are you going to sell me one of those homemade brakes?

My grandfather had a monster similar to the ones shown in reply #163 and it was fun making stuff on it when we were kids. But my cousin ended up with it and I live no where near him, so I must fend for myself now

You probably know you have quite an audience watching now - are you feeling the pressure? No need to worry though - it seems like it is going to work great.

Good luck with the entire garage project.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

So when are you going to sell me one of those homemade brakes?

My grandfather had a monster similar to the ones shown in reply #163 and it was fun making stuff on it when we were kids. But my cousin ended up with it and I live no where near him, so I must fend for myself now

You probably know you have quite an audience watching now - are you feeling the pressure? No need to worry though - it seems like it is going to work great.

Good luck with the entire garage project.

Think I could ship it to you in a flat rate box??


I would love to have a press brake set up on my hydraulic press. I might fab up something for mine. But it's only a 12T unit. We'll see though, maybe when I have the garage more complete. No pressure

Appreciate the kind words!

 

[rickairmedic]

Aw, look at the email I just got:

Thus why I pretty much attatch all my images anymore . I have a photobucket account with lots of pics on it but I'll be danged if I am going to pay to show pictures of my stuff .


Rick

 

[Outlawmws]

It's always been my dream to have a shop with a full 8' brake, and a finger/box and pan brake, and of course the stomp shear. Do I need them? nope, and before one of my best friends moved out of town, any time I needed to use anything like that I could truck on over to his place because he did have it all. Of course he was in the sheet metal trades his entire life, so not all that surprising.

 

[shopnut]

Think I could ship it to you in a flat rate box??

No weight limit on those flat rate boxes right? Just need to "stretch" the ends a little to make the brake fix in there, that's all

 

[DZL JIM]

So, this is what I get for not checking the site on Sunday.
Now I don't get to see pics...

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Thus why I pretty much attatch all my images anymore . I have a photobucket account with lots of pics on it but I'll be danged if I am going to pay to show pictures of my stuff .


Rick

Hmm yeah I'm gonna have to do that. There's no way I could all the way until the 13th without pictures.

It's always been my dream to have a shop with a full 8' brake, and a finger/box and pan brake, and of course the stomp shear. Do I need them? nope, and before one of my best friends moved out of town, any time I needed to use anything like that I could truck on over to his place because he did have it all. Of course he was in the sheet metal trades his entire life, so not all that surprising.

My dream is kinda similar. It would be anytime I need a certain tool I could walk out to the garage and there it was, all setup and ready to go. It's kind of similar to my other dream where I always have the amount of money I need when I reach into my pocket to pay for something

No weight limit on those flat rate boxes right? Just need to "stretch" the ends a little to make the brake fix in there, that's all

lol I'll wrap a little tape around the emd. Should keep it together for the ride.

So, this is what I get for not checking the site on Sunday.
Now I don't get to see pics...

you snooze you lose! I might go back and upload to attachments and delete my links. This thing from Photobucket irritates me the more I think about it.

 

[shopnut]

I might go back and upload to attachments and delete my links. This thing from Photobucket irritates me the more I think about it.

I have been using attached images for the last 5 years here and have yet to encounter a problem with it.

The down side is there is a limit of 7 images with each reply and this forces me to split up my updates into multiple posts all the time. And allowable file size is really quite small (146.5kb for .jpg), smaller than my camera will take so I must downsize them before upload.

Just a couple things to keep in mind. It works for me, however.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Ok, uploading some of the pics now. Photobucket I'm going on withOUT you.

 

[rickairmedic]

You know I was just thinking after you get done with all those pics . We need to figure out how to hook an air over hydraulic ram up to your brake so all you have to do is put your foot on the foot pedal to work the brake .


Oh yeah I prety much take all my pics with my crackberry anymore so theres no issue with needing to resize them .



Rick

 

[Jack Olsen]

http://imageshack.us/ is free and has no limits.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Got a soccer game this evening so no work in the garage today. I have to conserve my energy on game days. Tomorrow will be back at it.

You know I was just thinking after you get done with all those pics . We need to figure out how to hook an air over hydraulic ram up to your brake so all you have to do is put your foot on the foot pedal to work the brake .


Oh yeah I prety much take all my pics with my crackberry anymore so theres no issue with needing to resize them .



Rick

Oh boy, DH is out of town this week and me and the dog are left to our own devices. Rick, you're an enabler. No wait, you're an instigator

http://imageshack.us/ is free and has no limits.

I think I'll be switching to them. Just left a note with Photobucket, downloaded what I need and shut down my account. So long Photobucket. It was good while it lasted.

 

[Outlawmws]

SNIP

My dream is kinda similar. It would be anytime I need a certain tool I could walk out to the garage and there it was, all setup and ready to go. It's kind of similar to my other dream where I always have the amount of money I need when I reach into my pocket to pay for something
SNIP

Here at my house SWMBO and I call those the "A.L." dreams, where there is nothing enough $$ can't solve.

(AL = After Lottery...)

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Ok fellers, got a little done so far today.

Welded up the strap to the top piece. I got slowed down by my welder. I'm running this right up to the duty cycle limit. It is slowing me down! Odd but nice to see progress. Also when the machine starts getting to the limit the amps drop off and my welds are harder to keep running nice and hot. I'm just realizing this but I'm learning and now I'll really watch out for it. Neat to see this but I think I'm gonna need a bigger welder.

Put a strap in to test and it bend like cardboard. Nice.

Red Leader, here's a video
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/5679/o9wm.mp4

Then I ran a 30" wide strip. Not as buttery smooth but I got it bent. I have a video of that too, but don't know if I feel like showing myself on the internet. When I first tried the bend I had the workbench by itself in the middle of the garage. I got the strap about halfway bent. Then I got lift off when I tried to apply more muscle. So I did as Outlaw suggested and moved the bench over against the other bench. Doing that allowed me to bend the strip the rest of the way. Also used the technique of "bend, release" to walk it up and not fight friction. It worked

The bend is not a hard sharp bend on such a long piece but it'll do.

I'm really liking this thing. Now I' going over my measurements and figuring my plan of action. And eating lunch.

 

[Outlawmws]

Great Progress!

 

[shopnut]

Hey, I didn't hear a drum roll! So I went to the video - heard some music, but STILL no drum roll! What's up with that?

Looks like success to me. Question for you though. With that large bend radius, it seems like there would be a lot of sliding between the raw stock and the moving leaf of your brake. Do they normally put some oil there to cut down on the friction and make it a bit easier to bend?

Edit: Maybe some lube in the hinge pivots too? With that wide of a workpiece, there has to be a tremendous amount of force on the hinges and they like lube. (Sorry if you already mentioned that)

 

[Outlawmws]

SNIP Question for you though. With that large bend radius, it seems like there would be a lot of sliding between the raw stock and the moving leaf of your brake. Do they normally put some oil there to cut down on the friction and make it a bit easier to bend?

Edit: Maybe some lube in the hinge pivots too? With that wide of a workpiece, there has to be a tremendous amount of force on the hinges and they like lube. (Sorry if you already mentioned that)

Getting it to slide certainly helps; one thing that would probably improve the benders performance/ease of use is getting a belt sander on the moving jaw face, and smoothing out the scale.

A light coating of oil on that jaw wouldn't hurt. I would not do the metal itself as it might make it easier to slip in the clamp.


The bend radius is a product of the clamping jaw mostly, the jaw edge is rounded not square, so the metal wraps around it as it is bent. any resolution to that requires a new clamping jaw, and a square edge. You can in fact have several of those jaws and produce almost any bend radius you want.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Hey, I didn't hear a drum roll! So I went to the video - heard some music, but STILL no drum roll! What's up with that?

Looks like success to me. Question for you though. With that large bend radius, it seems like there would be a lot of sliding between the raw stock and the moving leaf of your brake. Do they normally put some oil there to cut down on the friction and make it a bit easier to bend?

Edit: Maybe some lube in the hinge pivots too? With that wide of a workpiece, there has to be a tremendous amount of force on the hinges and they like lube. (Sorry if you already mentioned that)

lol yeah kind of anticlimactic. Sister Hazel was up on Pandora, does that count?


Good question about the bend. First, there is likely some sliding on that particular strip I used. It was only a couple inches wide. Which means only the front inch or so was being held down by the top piece. On the full sheets there will be a lot more material being physically pressed (and frictioned) under the top plate. I'm going to have to trial and error that and learn how the brake behaves.

I can't say for sure until I do it, but I think the larger sheets will bend better simply because the will be held better. In the pic you can see what I mean. The full sheet is sandwiched by all of the top plate. The strap would only be sandwiched by a part of it, the area forward of the bolts. So really the top plate doesn't even sit completely flat when it is secured down. So yeah, its very likely the strap will move as the plate lifts upon the bend. I can even see it.


For the hinges, I have some white lube in the pin and pipe that I've cleaned out and reapplied a couple times already from disassembly/reassembly. That'll be a point of maintenance. I'm thinking the pin and pipe will wear in and smooth out with use. I can tell it has already smoothed out from when I first got it together.

Getting it to slide certainly helps; one thing that would probably improve the benders performance/ease of use is getting a belt sander on the moving jaw face, and smoothing out the scale.

A light coating of oil on that jaw wouldn't hurt. I would not do the metal itself as it might make it easier to slip in the clamp.


The bend radius is a product of the clamping jaw mostly, the jaw edge is rounded not square, so the metal wraps around it as it is bent. any resolution to that requires a new clamping jaw, and a square edge. You can in fact have several of those jaws and produce almost any bend radius you want.

Good thinking on smoothing the bender face. I was looking at it today and figured to plan on doing that. I'm wondering what kind of finish I should put on it. I'm debating paint. I primed and painted out the steel plates I have on another machine and it smoothed out the mill scale really nice. But I'm wondering how long a painted face would last on that sliding part.

I will eventually detail and pimp this press break I think. Mods what I need here and there that will make its use smooth and easy. It has shown it will function, so I can start putting some form to it

 

[GirlnAgarage]

You know what I haven't thought about? Drawer handles.


BTW, love the right angle attachment. Tried out the grinding wheels on the handle. Works well!

 

[shopnut]

lol yeah kind of anticlimactic. Sister Hazel was up on Pandora, does that count?


Good question about the bend. First, there is likely some sliding on that particular strip I used. It was only a couple inches wide. Which means only the front inch or so was being held down by the top piece. On the full sheets there will be a lot more material being physically pressed (and frictioned) under the top plate. I'm going to have to trial and error that and learn how the brake behaves.

I can't say for sure until I do it, but I think the larger sheets will bend better simply because the will be held better. In the pic you can see what I mean. The full sheet is sandwiched by all of the top plate. The strap would only be sandwiched by a part of it, the area forward of the bolts. So really the top plate doesn't even sit completely flat when it is secured down. So yeah, its very likely the strap will move as the plate lifts upon the bend. I can even see it.


For the hinges, I have some white lube in the pin and pipe that I've cleaned out and reapplied a couple times already from disassembly/reassembly. That'll be a point of maintenance. I'm thinking the pin and pipe will wear in and smooth out with use. I can tell it has already smoothed out from when I first got it together.

/snip - no offense Outlawmws! /

I think you took my statement all wrong - to create something from nothing, and have it work - That truly deserved a drum roll as an intro! I was serious!

More bite on the bigger sheets should definitely help matters. I didn't understand that the original narrow piece was slipping out of the fixed clamp.

If by white grease, you mean lithium-based grease - you might be beyond that. Consider an extreme pressure grease like a moly bearing/chassis grease on the hinges. Every little bit will save you some effort and keep your parts from wearing.

 

[rickairmedic]

Looking good . Are the drawers ready yet . Hmmmmmmm handles what are we thinking for handles I know somebody with a lathe .


Rick

 

[Outlawmws]

lol yeah kind of anticlimactic. Sister Hazel was up on Pandora, does that count?


Good question about the bend. First, there is likely some sliding on that particular strip I used. It was only a couple inches wide. Which means only the front inch or so was being held down by the top piece. On the full sheets there will be a lot more material being physically pressed (and frictioned) under the top plate. I'm going to have to trial and error that and learn how the brake behaves.

I can't say for sure until I do it, but I think the larger sheets will bend better simply because the will be held better. In the pic you can see what I mean. The full sheet is sandwiched by all of the top plate. The strap would only be sandwiched by a part of it, the area forward of the bolts. So really the top plate doesn't even sit completely flat when it is secured down. So yeah, its very likely the strap will move as the plate lifts upon the bend. I can even see it.


For the hinges, I have some white lube in the pin and pipe that I've cleaned out and reapplied a couple times already from disassembly/reassembly. That'll be a point of maintenance. I'm thinking the pin and pipe will wear in and smooth out with use. I can tell it has already smoothed out from when I first got it together.





Good thinking on smoothing the bender face. I was looking at it today and figured to plan on doing that. I'm wondering what kind of finish I should put on it. I'm debating paint. I primed and painted out the steel plates I have on another machine and it smoothed out the mill scale really nice. But I'm wondering how long a painted face would last on that sliding part.

I will eventually detail and pimp this press break I think. Mods what I need here and there that will make its use smooth and easy. It has shown it will function, so I can start putting some form to it

Paint it as you wish almost anywhere except the clap faces, and especially the moving jaw bending face. Those are always bare steel on factory brakes, as paint will simply wear and possibly ball up under the pressure. think about how hard you were pulling on the brake lever, and how much pressure that translates to at the bend area.

Keep it smooth, and light coating of oil on it.

 

[Outlawmws]

You know what I haven't thought about? Drawer handles.


BTW, love the right angle attachment. Tried out the grinding wheels on the handle. Works well!

OK here is an Idea I've been playing with on the same subject:

I probably don't have to explain to much about this. The triumph wrench might be a bit hard to drill for screws and standoffs, The other wrench is an old Ford wrench, and would have to be heated and bent to flatten out the ends, after that, a large washer and a "doughnt" spacer would allow it to be mounted.

Now I'm not recommending doing this to a cool old Ford wrench, but their are plenty of no-name rusted to **** wrenches out there that could be cleaned up for this use.

 

[Outlawmws]

SNIP
If by white grease, you mean lithium-based grease - you might be beyond that. Consider an extreme pressure grease like a moly bearing/chassis grease on the hinges. Every little bit will save you some effort and keep your parts from wearing.

Good suggestion!

 

[Outlawmws]

Good question about the bend. First, there is likely some sliding on that particular strip I used. It was only a couple inches wide. Which means only the front inch or so was being held down by the top piece. On the full sheets there will be a lot more material being physically pressed (and frictioned) under the top plate. I'm going to have to trial and error that and learn how the brake behaves.SNIP

With this type of brake clamp, if you as bending a little section where the clamp is basically holding with "tippy fingers", slide another piece under the back side of the clamping bar, just a little, and it will lift the back side and apply more pressure in the front tip of the clamping bar.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Yup, using Lucas White Lithium grease. I'll swap that out. Next time I run out I'll grab some moly grease. Any particular brand over another?

Rick, I want some giant bullets. 50cals

Outlaw, I was thinking of wrenches, they'd look neat. I just got rid of all the junkers at the garage sale this weekend I'll sand smooth the bender face and keep it oiled. Good tip on adding a piece to the backside for narrow strips. I'll try that next time.