My Press Brake Build For My 16T Press Build

Shootymacshootface

Shootymacshootface

I make little metal out of big metal.
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Mar 17, 2018
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So, my winter bla's set in early this year and haven't done much in the shop. Then right after Christmas my appendix went on me. Because I am a heavy equipment mechanic they wanted me out of work for 6-8 weeks. I felt fine after about 4 days so I made this.
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I am very limited on space so it can be used as is, or it can swing out from the wall 90*. Its made out of a commercial weight lifting rack that the cops wanted me to scrap. They are a great source of materials by the way. I have gotten a treadmill with a 3.2hp dc motor, and a bunch of other metal goodies.
I decided that I needed a press brake so I found a design on line that I based my brake off of. None of the stuff I make comes from a drawing or blueprint, I usually design on the fly. Sometimes it turns into a fail, but I get more done this way.
This is a piece of worn out plow blade 5/8" thick. My band saw barely scratched it, so everything had to be done with carbide on the mill. This stuff is wear resistant, brittle, but drills surprisingly easy. As I mentioned elsewhere, don't ever use this for any welding projects. It will fail spectacularly.
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Good looking build! Could have done with something similar today instead of bashing away at a rod in my vise with a mallet.

Quick Q - would it be better to make the angle a little bit smaller (say 42deg or so) so you can overpress a little to account for spring back and hit your 90deg angle?
 
mattthemuppet2 said:
Good looking build! Could have done with something similar today instead of bashing away at a rod in my vise with a mallet.

Quick Q - would it be better to make the angle a little bit smaller (say 42deg or so) so you can overpress a little to account for spring back and hit your 90deg angle?
Click to expand...
That is something that I have been wondering since I started thinking about making this. I have poked around online and is seems to be a closely guarded secret. I can usually figure things out in my head, but the bottom die being set at 90* is why I can't decide if decreasing the angle of the top die will do anything. I am actually expecting to take more off of the top die. I will make sure that I post my findings here.
 
Thanks, while I was building it, I was thinking, where the f am I going to put this thing. Its nice when a good idea pops into your head.
 
all I have are vague memories from reading other builds on the net, but I do remember reading that the blade part should have an included angle less than the desired angle of the work, so you can over press slightly to account for spring back. I've certainly had to press steel parts further than I would have expected so I get the right shape.

What's the other side going to look like, that will hold the work? Making it somewhat adjustable would be pretty useful, so you can accomodate different angles and thicknesses.
 
Here is the bottom die, it's pretty much done.
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All welded up.
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After it cooled, I took it over to my cast iron surface plate. It did rock a little so I found the high spots with a sharpie and removed them with an angle grinder. I fully expected to have to fly cut the bottom after all that welding. I didn't have to, so the last part to weld on was the guide pins. I welded them on the inside only so that the springs would have a nice place to live.
 
OAL is 24" and the working length is 20 1/2".
I just need to finish the top die. My son decided that he needed the mill today to work on his 280 Merc, so I have to take a number.
 
That is looking sweet. Why the extra piece of flat bar under the angle?
Robert
 
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