DIY bending brake for enclosures - POST YOUR SETUP

[Mac Walker]

Been meaning to post these pics for a while now....

Feel free to post pictures of bending brakes or jigs used to bend metal for your own enclosures.....

Here's the jig that I use:

This design is ENTIRELY based upon having these materials on hand, the channel steel is from an old fold up cot...

There are probably better ways to do this, but the precision of this jig works really well for me.....

Here is the whole jig:



This is a closeup of the throat, which was made on a miter saw using scrap plywood.  88 degrees ends up giving a perfect 90 deg bend for 1/16" aluminum:



This is a closeup of the bending blade, which was ground with a belt sander.  The sharp edge holds the piece to a scored line on the material being bent, which is typically derived from a template and x-acto knife (paper printed CAD template placed on material, scored with a straight edge through the paper):



Final picture shows material ready to be bent - the alternate side scoring line can be seen - in this case this line was done by a laser when the material was cut.  Pictured is a model JL3 enclosure



Enjoy!!!

[Jdansti]

Very nice setup and instructions. Thanks!

[Perrow]

I really like the look of your enclosures, if only I knew where to get alu laser cut, or had some other way of cutting it. That brake looks really nice, simple but gets the work done.

[Mustachio]

This is awesome Mac! I was thinking of getting a shop press and using angle iron as a break. Or using a small hydro jack/jig.

I don't know why I didn't think that for bending thin aluminum I could build a hand break with wood! that's such a great idea the wood wont mar up the aluminum as well!

Do you just use some heavy duty snips to cut the aluminum? That's what I was planning on using and maybe a grinder or sand paper to fancy up the edges.

Might have to make myself something similar this winter when I have some extra time! great stuff! and also the enclosures in the pic thread look awesome!

[markeebee]

You are a genius. 

[haveyouseenhim]

I'm shooting myself in the foot saying this, but you really should enter the shootout contest. I'm sure the judges will like nice homebrew enclosures.

[Jdansti]

^+1

[Perrow]

I'm shooting myself in the foot saying this, but you really should enter the shootout contest. I'm sure the judges will like nice homebrew enclosures.

No, I wanna have a chance at winning.

[Mac Walker]

I really like the look of your enclosures, if only I knew where to get alu laser cut, or had some other way of cutting it. That brake looks really nice, simple but gets the work done.

Thanks, most machine shops these days have laser cutters.  I live in a town of about 50,000, there half a dozen around here.  Once a design is settled on I will have fifty or sixty pieces cut from a 4 x 8 sheet on the laser, but for prototyping I use electric shears, and true with a belt sander.   You can also use a jig saw or tabletop band saw, just be sure to get a sheet metal blade (it has a wavy profile), and use tape to prevent marring......

[Mac Walker]

This is awesome Mac! I was thinking of getting a shop press and using angle iron as a break. Or using a small hydro jack/jig.

I don't know why I didn't think that for bending thin aluminum I could build a hand break with wood! that's such a great idea the wood wont mar up the aluminum as well!

Do you just use some heavy duty snips to cut the aluminum? That's what I was planning on using and maybe a grinder or sand paper to fancy up the edges.

Might have to make myself something similar this winter when I have some extra time! great stuff! and also the enclosures in the pic thread look awesome!

Specifically, I use electric shears from Harbor Freight for prototyping, mainly because it is quiet and dust free (relative to using a jig saw).  Accuracy is a challenge though, eventually I am going to mount the shears in a jig, add a footswitch, and an adjustable fence.   I should also note the Harbor Freight's  prices have gone way up, I picked mine up for less than $30 a year and a half ago.....

Typically not advised to use a grinder for aluminum, it clogs the wheels and in extreme cases can cause an unbalance condition, which can cause the wheel to shatter!

Also don't waste money on new aluminum, find a recycling place in town, make friends with them, and offer to buy their cutoffs.  I pay about $1 a square foot for 1/16" thick alum, compare this to a new price of about $5/square ft.  in quantities of 1 square ft., to $3/square ft.  for 40 square feet.  Plus the cutoffs are great, because they are already in manageable sizes, ready to go....

[duck_arse]

I have nightmares about designs for folders. my current method is blocks of wood and clamps, followed by an application of mallet. nothing ever comes out square, either.

[Mustachio]

I bought a cheap harbor freight brake a lil bit ago and just got around to bending my first box last night.

I did a design for the template in SketchUp I don't normally use SketchUp but this method turned out better then I had hoped.



I printed it out, cut it out, and outlined it on a sheet of weldable steel.





Then I cut it out with some heavy snips. (Not perfect I cut a lil to deep in a few corners but nothing to bad for a first try)





Then It went into the brake to bend into shape.



I was scrambling around looking for something to use as a custom pinch in certain areas and found a few things that worked but not great ill have to cut some thicker stock later as custom pinches for bending more correctly. I'll have to try scribbing my bend lines as well next time. Overall it was a lot of fun! And that's what matters!

Here's how it sits now I still need to clean up some sharp edges so its not done yet but thought I'd like to share it with you guys









The box is a lil bigger then a 1590a and a lil smaller then a 1590b

Thanks a ton for the inspiration Mac,
Jimbo

[Jdansti]

Nice job!

[deadastronaut]

looking good man...

[Ice-9]

That's a great idea, I am all into homemade tools to do a job and it couldn't get any better than this. 

[tubegeek]

This is great!

I think the too-deep cuts into the corners may be a feature, not a bug. I've noticed that sometimes a corner cut in a "factory" bent box has a small hole drilled at the place where the two cuts meet which makes the corner ends up a little smoother.

Nothing a little filing can't fix, though.

Nice work, I want one of these!

[DougH]

Cool stuff!

[Mac Walker]

YES!   Another convert, ha ha.

I like what you did with the flanges, makes the bottom plate line itself up, really good idea....

[garcho]

I love this y'all, bravo!

[Mustachio]

Thanks guys! I been thinking about picking up a cheap harbor freight wire feed welder to do a few diff projects. Could use it for the boxes now too!

Thanks Mac the flanges really do help and will give a good surface to drill and maybe tap holes for some screws to hold it together.

Tubegeek nice on the drilled holes in the corner! I know I've seen boxes like that but it never crossed my mind when I was cutting it great idea!

My hand still hurts from cutting that metal with the snips haha .