You can make simple bends in iron and steel using nothing more than a torch to heat and soften the metal.
Bending 1 8 steel flat bar.
Heating the metal with a soapstone pencil mark a line across the stock to indicate the center of the bend.
Then i got three different sized jaws that i could mix together for.
I think dimensions wise your bending brake will work but i don t know if it will be able to put a clean sharp bend in 3 16 bar you think.
If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius.
And everything in between.
Dan i don t know the exact dimensions yet but it ll probably be a 2 x5 flat bar 1 8 or 3 16 thickness i edited the pic.
It is used to make shear blades punch plates dies and more.
I need to make it from 1 8 x 1 1 2 stock but i had some 1 wide on hand.
I have some 3 x 125 extruded flat bar 6061 t6.
In other words if you re bending 1 8 sheet use a tool with a 1 8 radius to form the inside of the bend.
I needed to bend 2 foot pieces the long way to 30 degrees for my telescope and i couldn t budge it in my very small brake.
Steel flat bar.
Light the torch and adjust it to a neutral flame.
It is sold in annealed state to be heat treated.
If it was steel i would bend it hot but i have to use aluminum here.
After that i cut front jaw to three equal pieces and back jaw to two pieces one is 1 3 and second 2 3.
Clamp the stock in a vise.
We are bending flat bars from 1 8 x to 36 x 12 bar the easy way y y axis like a belt or bending 24 x 10 flat bars the hard way x x axis like a metal washer.
The first attempt cracked so i figured i would anneal it.
I just bent 2 bends each in 96 parts 1 4 x 1 304 flat bar took a couple of hours but only took that long due to the wacky forged ends which required making a special stop.
The inside diameter is 1 and there is a small radius on the die to soften the bend where it goes flat.
Measured the location of the jaw mounting holes from the vise and copied them to the jaws.
Weld flat bar to the edge of 10mm plate and then rounded and smoothed the edge.
Shop for steel flat bar online.
Bar segments and rings can be bent into tight radii and large sweeps.
For most applications with stainless steel or aluminum you can get away with a zero radius bend on anything under 0 050 thick.
A2 flat ground a chromium alloy die steel is known for its good machinability deep hardening high compressive strength and good non deforming property.