Ive always wanted a sheet metal brake, but never really had the room to store such a big piece of equipment. Well, now that i have a decent workshop, and a pretty big project to work on (the bronco rebuild) i decided it was time to get one. But, didnt want a big press taking up space, so i decided to try and build a smaller compact press. So this is what i came up with: One piece of 3" angle iron bolted to bench top, with a 2" piece of angle iron attached to that via 2 4" hinges. Both are 36" wide, which gives me 28" between the hinges. Thats got to be plenty big. The 2 ½" bolts secure it to the bench. So this is the basic motion. Those 2 3/8" studs sticking up with springs on them, will hold another piece of 2x¼" angle iron, which serves as the jaw that clamps the sheet metal in place Some slight trimming of the jaw to clear the hinges. Wing nuts to clamp it down w/o needing any special tools, and the springs will lift it back up when loosened to remove the piece or put another in. On the underside of the hinged piece of angle iron, is 2 pieces of pipe welded in place, for a pair of handles made out of ¾" bar stock test bend! Removed from bench for 'storage' (actually i was cleaning). The handles fit under the clamping jaw for storage. Set back up, and im now ready to resume work on the bronco! Looks like its gonna work just fine! Comments are closed.
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