Sheet metal brake

[deere2210]

Any recommendations on a brake, pan brake, shear combo for a small home shop? Been looking around and there are a bunch of different options.. The biggest I would probably bend/shear would be 20 or 16 ga. I saw this one, but not sure.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5907

[aczeller]

if it were me, i'd go for one that has the following features:

1.) bench-mounted... you can make your own stand much better than HF eer could.

2.) get at least 16 ga capacity. after about 16 or 14 ga, the brakes tend to get pricey pretty fast. 16 ga is about all that a HOME shop woudl ever need, but i find that the thicker capacity will help bend the heavier stuff easier. i.e. if the brake says it will bend 16 ga at most, it will probably bend 14 ga too... it'll just put a little more stress on everything and will harder to bend the metal.

3.) get one at least 30" wide... 48" would be ideal due to the fact that sheets are comonly found in 4'x8' sizes. jsut becasue it says 48" max, doesn;t meanthat it can't bend your required 1" bracket.

4.) as far as a small hobby shop at home, brand won't really matter. take care of your tools and they will take care of you.

that's about all i got.

Later,
Andy

[Ries]

All those cheapo chinese 3 in 1 machines are basically the same, and none of em are made very well.
Any tool that does a lot of different things usually does em all poorly.
Harbor Freight, Grizzly, Jet- it doesnt matter much, they arent very good.
I think the Jet is the best, but its still a very compromised design. It was designed for 22 ga, then the company just lies about the thickness it will handle.
None of em will actually shear 16 ga, or roll it. They will bend shorter widths of 16 ga, but not full width.

Of course, real tools cost real money.
You get what you pay for.

Depending on where you live, you might be able to find better american made stuff used.
Di-acro made great sheet metal equipment- but its never cheap, even used.
Tennsmith is decent american made stuff.
Chicago D&K is quite good- especially their bigger finger brakes.

Decent tools for sale here-
http://www.diacro.com/index.html
http://www.americanmachinetools.com/hand_brake.htm
http://www.mittlerbros.com/
http://www.lowbucktools.com/prod.html
http://www.vansantent.com/sheet_meta...l_machines.htm
http://www.southern-tool.com/store/m...ing_tools.html

[weldgault]

#2 Today, 03:01 PM
aczeller
WeldingWeb Tradesman Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 473


Re: Sheet metal brake

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

if it were me, i'd go for one that has the following features:

1.) bench-mounted... you can make your own stand much better than HF eer could.

2.) get at least 16 ga capacity. after about 16 or 14 ga, the brakes tend to get pricey pretty fast. 16 ga is about all that a HOME shop woudl ever need, but i find that the thicker capacity will help bend the heavier stuff easier. i.e. if the brake says it will bend 16 ga at most, it will probably bend 14 ga too... it'll just put a little more stress on everything and will harder to bend the metal.

3.) get one at least 30" wide... 48" would be ideal due to the fact that sheets are comonly found in 4'x8' sizes. jsut becasue it says 48" max, doesn;t meanthat it can't bend your required 1" bracket.

4.) as far as a small hobby shop at home, brand won't really matter. take care of your tools and they will take care of you.

that's about all i got.

Later,
Andy
__________________

AT your young age, where did you get your information, To young for ecperience. John G.

[aczeller]

Originally Posted by weldgault

AT your young age, where did you get your information, To young for ecperience. John G.

i never ment to imply that i knew from my own personal expereince, however i have worked around them for most of my working career in machine tool & die settings, as well as friends owning them (different kinds, letting me try different set-ups and what-not). i also have talked with the metalworkers at all tehshops i ahve worked at about this exact topic. i cannot afford one at this point, but i was talking to people abotu what i shoudl look at getting. i don't want to save for a couple months, go out and buy a POS piece of equipment, then find out that if i saved for another month or so, that i could have gotten a better machine. i don't intend to sell myself as a know-it-all about this subject, but i HAVE done my homework.

as far as taking care of your tools so they will take care of you... name a tool that this isn't applicable towards? i don;t care what tool or piece of equipment you own... it won't last if you don't maintain it as needed.

as far as being able to bend 14 ga with a 16 ga brake... it CAN be done, but it's not reccomended... put a cheater pipe that is long enough onto the lever and you can bend jsut about anything that you want... the brake may bust apart, but in theory, you can bend it.

when you talk about making a stand for it... i see it done alot on this site alone... people get their HF tools home, set them up, then after the first use, they take the tool off the stand, build a GOOD stand out of some heavier stock, make it mobile, and now they can do whatever they want to the equipment and not worry about it tipping over.

lastly, when i stated the larger capacity (the 48" being better than the 30"), i was merely refering to the golden rule of "Bigger is always better". as long as you have a place to store it, there is no problem with haveing a bit more potential working ability in your tools.

Later,
Andy

[weldgault]

Just wondering, since you have so much to say and being a good typest. Keep it up, but ask advice also. John

[SundownIII]

Weldgault,

At 67 years old, and after 45 years in the welding field, I see you still put out a lot of bad info.. Not sure if it's due to lack of knowledge or obsolescence on your part. At least the kid has youth as an excuse. About 25% of your posts are wrong and are usually extremely critical of other posters.

As far as being a typing expert, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Just my .02

[weldgault]

Not knowing your experience or anything about you, I will consided the source. Think as you will and see where your .02 will get you. John

[aczeller]

SundownIII, thanks for siding with me. i appreciate it when someone sides with me for once.

Weldgault, I have a lot of respect for you as a welder and professional in the industry for the 45 years you were in it. the industry, as well as many others, thanks you for your service.

as far as this thread is concerend, can we get back to it? i hate it when a thread is hi-jacked with personal attacks (even tho someone will say these are not personal attacks, they are... no matter how subtle or vague they may be). let's get back to the original question about combination brake, roll, and shear machines. this is a legitimate question that requires none of this other babble.

Later,
Andy

[hotrodder]

Ries pretty much covered it. the ratings of cheap kit are dubious to begin with and bending material thicker than the kit is rated for is very likely to bend something ruining any accuracy that the kit had.

searching out decent second hand kit is a far better idea. yes it will still likely cost more but you'll never lose money- they don't make 'em like they used to

if you find something make sure you test it before buying. particually box/pan brakes- bend something to make sure that the top bow isn't bent and the fingers stay aligned when under load

[MicroZone]

I have the Clarke version of the 3-in-1 shear, roll, break. They are all very similar to each other as RIES pointed out. However, I feel they can handle 18 ga. and the occassional 16 ga. material. I work with a ton of 16 ga. aluminum and steel and it will work. I don't even attempt 16ga. stainless on it because it just won't handle it, SS is NOT easy to bend, roll or cut. Hope that helps...

[littlefuzz]

If you're just doing body work it should be fine but for a welding shop, I'd just keep searching craigslist.

[deere2210]

Hey, thanks for all the info! Got a lot to consider, and the information is very useful for me. I don't have a lot of experience and the different points of view are all valuable as I am learning. Thanks again

[Tinbasher]

Capacity of Hand Brakes:

The capacity of all hand bending brakes is rated at bending a 1 "flange or wider on mild steel for the full length of the brake. Narrower flanges can be bent on lighter metal or shorter lengths.
Mild steel that is 4 gages heavier than the capacity can be bent, but for only half the length of the brake and in the center.
Stainless steel can be bent, but with 50 % less capacity...that is either 4 gages lighter, or for only half the length.

We have an old Brown/Boggs 1410. It is rated for 14 gage over 10 feet, this is a standard manner to designate capacity. According to these rules, it will do 10 gage mild steel 5 ft long and 14 gage stainless 5 ft long or 18 gage stainless 10 ft long.

[383bigblock]

I've purchased various tools from Harbor over the years and they were all mediocre at best. The only reason for the purchases was because I needed it now and it was cheap. I usually watch auctions and used machinery dealer sites. Occasionally a nice Pexto, Diacro or other Industrial grade machines come available at really good prices. High School Auctions are another good source as they upgrade their shop class equipment. You can find 48" and less commercial grade brakes and presses out there if you know where to look and that goes with just about any piece of equipment you want for the home shop. The nice thing about used commericial equipment is that if you buy it right (don't over pay) it won't lessen in value no matter how long you own it provided you don't destroy it. You really can't say that about the Harbor freight stuff. I look at it as an investment and I've been buying tools for over 26 years and I still have many of the first ones.

The key is to be patient and find local used equipment dealers or ones that are not too far that you don't mind an afternoon drive to get to.

Michael...........03 cents worth.

[deere2210]

I took the advice and have been looking at Diacro and Roper-Whitney finger brakes. However, I noticed Diacro's are in the ~$1,500 range for a used 24 inch, and then I saw this ad for a new Roper-Whitney for about the same money (http://www.irvansmith.com/scart/brak...e-p-928.html?=)

Is the Diacro that much better of a machine to command the same price used as a new 4 foot Roper? I must be missing something... Before I buy, I want to make sure I am getting the best bang for my buck... As always, thanks for any feedback..