Bend 10 ga without a press brake?

[Buty]

I am making a back shield for a tiller and have a piece of 14" x 60" piece of 10 gauge hot roll material that I need to put a bend in lengthwise. Any thoughts on how to do this without a brake?

Should I just weld some flat bar to the edge to make it stronger?

 

[Clipse3GT]

I would just take it to a nearby fabrication shop and have them give you a nice clean bend. Should only be a few bucks or some beers if it's a local place.

 

[SimS]

If you can't find a big brake to use, I like your idea. Just weld a piece of flat stock or angle to the trailing edge.

SimS

 

[newbury]

Also look for a roofing contractor.

When I worked roofing in a previous life we would routinely bend metal like that in our brake.

BUT if we were out on a job a ways from the shop and had to bend a piece NOW the installer would just bend it over an anvil and beat it into submission rather than drive back to the shop. Time was money and money was beer.

 

[DFB]

How exact do you want it? There is actually another very narrow bend back to 90 degree after the fold (and that's looks maybe a 25 degree angle) and it's done the same way both top and bottom.

Here's another pic



And against the top edge fold is where the continuous bar stock for the hinge is welded.


Dang they sure are purty looking when they are new

If it was me I wouldn't be overly concerned about getting too fancy with it. The rocks found in my soil will pound it out of shape after a while anyhow.

But of course that's up to you...your skill set and/or local shop connections.

 

[CCWKen]

You're not going to bend 60" of 10ga. in a standard shop brake. That will require some industrial sized equipment or at least a shop press with your own dies. When I made the bucket on the Kenbota, I used two different sized C-channels--One facing up and one facing down to put the bends in the rear of the bucket. I bent a little at a time while moving down the sheet. You could do similar by fabricating a V-die using angle iron and pressing with a rod. I've done that too when making brackets with 1/4-3/8" flats that needed a certain radius in the bend.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Either tack weld or C-clamp a piece of angle at the bend radius and add a little heat to make it bend easier.

 

[CCWKen]

Here's a crude drawing of the way I make my V-dies and press with a rod. The angle iron is welded together then welded to a base.

 

[Buty]

Thanks for all the help guys. Very good ideas here. I found a local shop that will make the bends for a reasonable fee so that's what I'll do.

 

[Sodo]

I'd skip-weld a 1/8"x1" flatbar on it with the MIG. 1 inch weld, 2 or 3 inches skipped. 10ga is easy for a MIG. But that's my shop. I understand that a bend is the look you want.

Just curious how much is a reasonable fee?

 

[Clipse3GT]

Thanks for all the help guys. Very good ideas here. I found a local shop that will make the bends for a reasonable fee so that's what I'll do.

Do it once, do it right... call it day... drink beer. Personally, if I would have half-assed it I would have never been happy with it when I saw it.

 

[Buty]

I'd skip-weld... Just curious how much is a reasonable fee?

$25-$45

 

[CCWKen]

That's a good deal. :thumbsup:

You couldn't buy the metal stock for that price. It's worth it for me to make forms, punches and dies since I use them more than once in fabrication and sheet metal work. I also keep a lot of metal drops from the salvage yard on hand so I can typically put something together quickly at low cost.

 

[Buty]

That's a good deal. :thumbsup:

You couldn't buy the metal stock for that price. It's worth it for me to make forms, punches and dies since I use them more than once in fabrication and sheet metal work. I also keep a lot of metal drops from the salvage yard on hand so I can typically put something together quickly at low cost.

That's just the cost to bend it. Material will be around $50.00??? Humm, now you got me thinking just bring him a drawing and have him quote material and labor. Duh! You guys are awesome.

 

[Renze]

I have bent 3mm sheetmetal shields by hammering it around the edge of my metal workbench, whilst holding it down with a 100x50mm (2 by 4 inch) bar for weight. Its hard to keep it straight, as you stretch the lip over the length by hammering it progressively, so you get a curve in the base plate as well.

In the future im going to make a makeshift press brake kit for my workshop press.... But only for flatbar, not long pieces of sheetmetal because its too hard to keep the die absolutely level over its length. For sheetmetal, a press brake allways wins hands down.

 

[crazyal]

If I'm not too worried about looks I'll just use the arbor plates and my press to clamp the steel. With the lower arbor plate lined up on the edge I want bent I just use a heavy hammer and bent it slightly. Then it's just a case of moving over and repeating until you get the the other end. Once you do just repeat the process slowly bending the steel further and further until you get the angle you want. It's slow but it's also free. I suppose I could cherry the steel so it would bend easier but usually I'm not in a hurry.

 

[ray66v]

What I do with metal like that is, mark the line I want to bend it at, and score it along that line, with a cut off wheel.

Once I cut about half way through, it will easily bend by hand, to the angle I desire.

Then, just weld it up, using a skip weld technique.

I have also used my fel bucket, as a press brake.

 

[dragoneggs]

What I do with metal like that is, mark the line I want to bend it at, and score it along that line, with a cut off wheel.

Once I cut about half way through, it will easily bend by hand, to the angle I desire.

Then, just weld it up, using a skip weld technique.

I have also used my fel bucket, as a press brake.

Hey ray... thanks for a a great bending tip! Will have to remember that. :thumbsup:

 

[Sodo]

Great method. Thanks!!!

 

[sandman2234]

This isn't 60 inches, but it is 3/16 that I bent four times to build a replacement pond scoop bucket. Simply cut out part of the bend leaving enough to keep the metal intact, bend it with a (in my case a come-a-long) something strong enough to bend the little bit of metal left and then weld it back up. In my case the welds didn't need to be ground down for looks, but that is an option.
David from jax