bending brakes....

[Possum]

I need to bend some 16 guage steel sheet crisply to a 90 degree angle. Anyone use a bending brake or have any tips on how to do this quickly and perfectly?

[Bruce Johnson]

I have a small sheet metal brake in my shop. It's very handy and easy to use.

The big question is how wide is the metal that you need to bend?

For occasional pieces of 16 ga less than 6" wide, you don't even need a brake. Find a used milling machine vise with smooth jaws. Clamp the piece with the bend line right at the edge of the jaw line, and bend it over with a block of aluminum and a hammer.

If you're talking about small production runs of parts for pickups or instruments, it's not hard to make up a custom bending block fixture. I built a double ended bending block fixture just for making up bridge covers for my Scroll Basses.

If you want to buy a brake, there are lots of options. For light metal (16 ga and under) and up to 24" wide, there are small tabletop finger brakes available for a few hundred bucks. There are even some little 8" and 12" ones around. I occasionally see used small sheet metal brakes for $100 on ebay and Craigslist.

There are also the small combination sheet metal machines. These are sold by all of the import companies from Harbor Freight on up. They cost $400 to $700 new.

Here's the Harbor Freight version: - Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

These combine a press-style finger brake with a shear and a slip roll, all in one machine. I have one of these, the Dayton brand (as sold by Graingers), similar to the HF. A friend gave it to me for free a few years ago...the slip roll part is broken, and their company bought another one.

It's quite useful. Although it's rated at 20 ga, that's for the full width, which is 30". I've had no problem bending 18" wide 16 ga steel, and I've bent 6" wide 1/8" aluminum.

It's all about the width and thickness of the metal you're trying to bend. As you go wider and thicker, the size, weight, and cost of the machine go way up.

[Possum]

...

thanks for the info. the piece is just about 2.5" wide. I bent it using a drill press vise and a block of wood. Maybe metal block would be better, I'll give that a try. These are just for oddball pickups that probably won't sell many. I ended up bending it too far from the line I wanted it bent from so sawed it off and shortened the piece and soldered it together, pain in the butt. Micromark has vise insert for bending stuff but I'd have to buy a big ass heavy vise to use it in but might be a cheaper way to go:
DELUXE BENDING DIE SET, 4 "

[Joe Gwinn]

thanks for the info. the piece is just about 2.5" wide. I bent it using a drill press vise and a block of wood. Maybe metal block would be better, I'll give that a try. These are just for oddball pickups that probably won't sell many. I ended up bending it too far from the line I wanted it bent from so sawed it off and shortened the piece and soldered it together, pain in the butt. Micromark has vise insert for bending stuff but I'd have to buy a big ass heavy vise to use it in but might be a cheaper way to go:
DELUXE BENDING DIE SET, 4 "

The classic approach for one-off projects is two pieces of hardwood with the sheet between, all held in a big vice. With a third piece of hardwood and a big hammer, make the 90 degree bend.

If you don't already have a big vice, you need one anyway.

[Spence]

I have a brake and I've used it for everything including making box section chassis section for my Land Rover. Indispensable unless you're only going to use it once.

[David King]

My vice is gin, my vise is a Kurt D-675. I couldn't get by without either.

I have trouble believing that the micromark break will last very long doing 16 gauge steel but maybe it's a lot tougher than it looks.

[Possum]

....

I gave up most of my vises, body doesn't like that stuff anymore, but yeah I probably need a big mechanical one, just have small ones around...

[Bruce Johnson]

In my case, my vice is excessive ownership of used machinery. As a result, I have many vises. Which causes me to drink inexpensive beer. Which makes me think that I really need more vises.

The first picture is my favorite vise for small metal bending and shaping. It's what's commonly called a "Yankee" vise, which are available in many sizes. This one is a 4" model, probably 50 years old. By the way, 4" refers to the width of the jaws, and most vises will also open up to that same dimension.

The Yankee vises are nice for metal bending work because of the smooth flat jaws that go all the way down. The jaws are removeable so you can also make up new ones if you want. They were the standard design for holding work in drill presses and light milling machines for most of the 20th century. A 4" one like this will typically sell on ebay for $25 or less. It weighs about 25 lbs.

Notice how I have mine mounted on the bench backwards, with the handle at the back, and raised up on maple blocks. This makes it much easier for metalworking. Because this particular vise had a plain flat bottom, I drilled and tapped four 3/8"-16 holes in the bottom. Four long bolts go up through the benchtop and the maple blocks. Possum, a setup like this would work fine for bending your steel parts.

The second picture is a more modern 6" milling machine vise. This is about 75 lbs, and the jaws are 2" deep. Many companies make these in this general form. This particular one is a older Japanese HyLo vise, which is quite cool. I paid about $50 for it, and I have several other 6" and 8" mill vises that I bought locally for under $25. When new, mill vises are expensive, but once they get some wear and dings, they're no good for precision work, and get sold off for scrap prices. But they still work fine for most purposes.

The really cool cheap metalworking rig is find a section of a log (as in a slice of a tree) about 16" dia x 30" long. Cut the ends off square and mount it upright on a square base of 3/4" plywood. Then attach a used 6" mill vise on the top with some long lag screws.

I should mention that the reason that a vise like this is so handy is because of the tight grip that you can get on the metal. This becomes very important when you try to bend a small flange on a small part. When you try to bend a 1/4" wide flange in a little hobby vise, the metal will slip in the vise jaws as you apply bending force to it. That's why the bend ends up out of position. The hardwood blocks technique works fine for the larger work, but a heavy vise with smooth steel jaws is much better for small stuff.