Shop / Tools Today I want this...tool edition

Ashcat

Active Member
Location
Wisco
Was browsing some homemade tools and saw a clever quick and dirty press brake utilizing a 20T bottle jack. That jump started my brain and immediately I thought of how I could replicate their tool with what I have laying around (luckily I haven’t hauled off my scrap yet. Procrastination pays)

Having a small parts press brake would open many gateways of fabrication techniques in the new build however I need capacity >48” for sheet metal work. Searched for inspiration and found a bunch of stolen photos linked on Pinterest with no original credit. Again with (some) material and parts laying around and the rest easily and economically sourced I want to build my own version of something like these

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Linkages, motion ratio, leverage, hydraulics and no safety equipment what’s not to love?
 

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
Looks like about 4:1 mechanical advantage, so about 80T. Not a lot of travel distance though.
 

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
I like that style brake because it automatically keeps the dies parallel as well.
 

Ashcat

Active Member
Location
Wisco
I like that style brake because it automatically keeps the dies parallel as well.
That’s what sold me. I was thinking of how to mitigate/maintain equal pressure across a long span in a home brew machine. This design is the answer and otherwise doesn’t need to be overkill/heavy for light sheet work. Could even be hand/lever operated.

Bonus points for using hardened fingers found on eBay or machine shop leftovers.

You could build these as stout or light as you needed. A fair amount of work involved but it would be possible in my eyes to build something similar for less than the cost of a used commercial machine
 

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
I don’t think travel distance is a concern, care to elaborate?
4x the force but 1/4x the travel distance on the upper die.. that said, that ram probably has 4x the travel of a typical bottle jack so travel is probably about the same.
 

Ashcat

Active Member
Location
Wisco
4x the force but 1/4x the travel distance on the upper die.. that said, that ram probably has 4x the travel of a typical bottle jack so travel is probably about the same.
Right, I understand the motion ratio and yes I’d use a left over long travel ram for a setup as pictured above. Forming dies don’t need to move much more than an inch or two. If only for light gauge sheeting, it could be operated by hand all slot machine or beer tap style especially if you cranked up the motion ratio in design

The mention of the bottle jack is for a small frame, small work piece bench top or vise unit that I didn’t include a picture of.

@frieed just think of the finger lose-ability :rofl:
 
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Ashcat

Active Member
Location
Wisco
Ok that was the name on some Jeep forum or something that was given credit without a link on some diy website I found it on. Thought the handle was familiar. Not sure if I can trust the old pbb. Might catch something I can’t get rid of......
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
Ok that was the name on some Jeep forum or something that was given credit without a link on some diy website I found it on. Thought the handle was familiar. Not sure if I can trust the old pbb. Might catch something I can’t get rid of......

I think he made the tread in the Torchmate forum which disappeared once Lincoln bought them out.
 

Ashcat

Active Member
Location
Wisco
Ahhh, makes sense. The whole m&a liability cleansing......

Was listening to someone’s interview and they went into some detail about how the cool stuff vanished. Maybe it was JT Taylor
 
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