Seeking Guidance on Bending Project

[auto.pilot]

Brino--- thanks for the link. That's some incredible work he's doing. A dream for me really.

 

[dennys502]

You could make a little die like this - it would put the radius on and cut to length at the same time.
About 6.25 tons to punch. You could also add one hole at the same time.

 

[auto.pilot]

Thank you! your replies have been very helpful.

Jim

 

[Kiwi]

well plenty of options there to try the only change would be to make them out of stainless steel and polish them rather than chrome plate I know it will it harder to bend but you also could reduce the thickness to counter the bending moments and still retain the strength

 

[auto.pilot]

I found a place locally that will harden the A2 bending die and roll form tool at a cost of $40. That's good news because I have no way to do it myself!

Thanks

Jim

 

[Cheeseking]

Nice job on the prototypes so far. Just my .02 on material choice - drilling and deburring the holes in ss wont be fun. Talk about smoking drill bits. Polishing the ss is possible but labor intensive. I would rather fabricate from crs then send a whole batch to the platers and be done.
For bending clips like that in relatively small volume you might consider picking up a used 1a DiAcro bender?

 

[auto.pilot]

My progress was delayed by some time out of town. I considered the project and my abilities and decided to make this dedicated bending tool. So far I have one small die that bends the sharp angle and curve. I've got some fine-tuning to do but I am happy with progress so far. Actually this is the first tool I have ever made in my life so I am beyond happy! The bends shown here are just samples to see if it would even work. The last picture is s plywood prototype which I cut on a laser cutter. It actually bent one piece of eighth inch thick aluminum before the die disintegrated.

 

[Cheeseking]

Nice job making a little bender.
If you plan to do much other custom bending and want something universal, find a nice one of these...
Wonderful little tools for that kind of work. I believe it a 1A diacro


I

 

[auto.pilot]

Now that I understand the capabilities, I would love to own a Diacro bender. I just can't justify the cost. My cost to make this one was less than $50.

 

[jamby]

Great thread. I've learned more here then in the last 5 years.

Jim