Vise press brake

[andyvh1959]

Got a small metal fab project, 16ga sheet metal. I'm making a fairing mount for my Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 (looks like a Harley Road King) to support the fairing from the frame headstock area. After cutting the flat layout on the band saw I needed to bend flanges for stiffness. I was planning to buy the $175 press brake attachment for my vertical press, but for now I bought a 6" brake/die set on Amazon for $55, the type to install on vise jaws and use the vise for armstrong power:

6 Inches Vise Brake Die Set, Magnetic Vise Mount, side Mount Metal Brake Bender Attachment Bending - Amazon.com

6 Inches Vise Brake Die Set, Magnetic Vise Mount, side Mount Metal Brake Bender Attachment Bending - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

Did the job, but a 6" heavy duty vise helps. I was able to bend 1/2" to 3/4" 16ga flanges, and the bends came out sharp and square. Had to use a section of pipe to crank the vise handle for the 6" long flange. Challenge with the device is making sure the brake aligns into the die set. Making little setup adjustments are needed to insure the bend comes out as intended. 16ga metal is certainly stretching the range, so it certainly can easily handle anything lighter gauge wise.

 

[KwikFab]

Show off those parts!

I've got one but never used it, not sure why I have it lol.

 

[andyvh1959]

Here's a pic after some clean up, bit of grinding. If you zoom in you can see some detail. One thing for sure, you'll need a decent quality vise, like a Wilton or equivalent to transmit your Armstrong power into the bending process.
Also, I use a 36" length of tubing to get enough easier leverage onto the vie handle to finish the 6" long flange. The other ones were a bit easier. But it made decent, straight, 90 degree bends.

Still have a bit of fab to do. That tab sticking up is where I'll weld a hex nut to each, so when on the headstock I can put a 3" spacer between the tabs and a threaded rod through the spacer to clamp it there, and two holes lower on each bracket to bolt each bracket to the side of the frame neck area. A top plate to box it in, and a wider front plate with flanges onto which the fairing inner face will bolt on. One simple crossframe bracket under the fuel tank will stabilize the rear end of the fairing, so nothing is visible unless you get close in to look.

 

[andyvh1959]

Here's the fabbed brackets clamped to the headstock area. I added three small red circles approx where the bolts will be. Between the brackets will be a curved welded in brace to rest against the headstock, one at the top and one at the bottom. The top will be boxed in with a welded on plate. The front face will be covered with a flanged plate onto which the inside of the fairing will bolt onto, after determining the swing of the fork legs and clearance at full steer angle. The brakets are pretty stiff already, and with the internal braces the area forward of the braces will be boxed.

Another thing I'm doing is installing a Harley FLHTC triple clamp set into the Vulcan frame as it also derakes the forks four degrees (to 28 degrees) to more Harley like chassis geometry, and still have lots of trail. The Vulcan has ok handling, just kind slow because of the stock 32 degree fork angle. Current Harleys and Indians fork angle is 28 and 26 degrees. Because of the triple clamp offset the wheelbase only shortens about 1" at most. I installed the fork legs fully compressed to confirm the fender will never contact the radiator at full bump stop.

 

[andyvh1959]

Today I'll finish the fairing mount on my cycle project. I used the vise die set to bend the 16ga flanges on the fairing mount plate that I'll weld to the headstock brackets:

 

[Gutman]

That fab project would've been a good excuse to buy a set of dimple dies.

 

[racecougar]

That fab project would've been a good excuse to buy a lathe to make your own set of dimple dies.

FIFY.

 

[andyvh1959]

Hmmm,.....I'll have to think about that. Got another bigger project coming up and dimple dies would be a good shop addition.

Was in the shop today and did a bit of clean up on the old cheapo Cummins Tool vise (Wilton knock-off look alike). I may have to update the vise before I get into another project. Did some shopping for a Yost, or Doyle, maybe Forward, all similar features wise to my Cummins Tool vise, just better built.

 

[whateg01]

...

Did the job, but a 6" heavy duty vise helps. I was able to bend 1/2" to 3/4" 16ga flanges, and the bends came out sharp and square. Had to use a section of pipe to crank the vise handle for the 6" long flange. Challenge with the device is making sure the brake aligns into the die set. Making little setup adjustments are needed to insure the bend comes out as intended. 16ga metal is certainly stretching the range, so it certainly can easily handle anything lighter gauge wise.

Sure sounds like a good way to ruin a vise. Glad it worked out for you.

 

[andyvh1959]

Ohh,...I agree. I got plenty of use from this cheape Cummins Tools vise since 1996, and it has survived. Im sure I paid less than $100 for the vise new in 96. This project pushed it, and I got by. The handle on this vise is 8" long, and even with the 36" pipe on it the handle didn't bend, but at least I kept one end of the pipe down at the pivot end of the handle. Now that project is done I'll buy a die brake set for my hydraulic press, because my next project will bend heavier than 10ga. My hydraulic press has a 20ton ram.

 

[Shiftless]

Did some shopping for a Yost, or Doyle, maybe Forward, all similar features wise to my Cummins Tool vise, just better built

Even better, find an old Reed or Rock Island or Morgan or Athol.

 

[Squankum]

Likewise! I bought a vise brake from Eastwood a few years ago, and finally had a reason to use it recently. Was quite tickled by the results.