Hairy job

[Marco Bernardini]

The main project is to bend a piece of copper sheet 50 mm long.
But to make this of course I need a sheet metal bender :biggrin:
So, using some scraps of the 50×5 mm iron I used to repair my deck, I began to assemble the bender.
Since it seems I have the gift of divination, the bender has a 62 cm net width, enough for the carcass of a standard 60 cm fridge (I'm sure soon or later I'll use one!).
Here I'm milling the seat for one of the hinges:



As you can see it is a hairy job!
Do you think I must use some after shave lotion as lubricant?
Anyway the surface finish seems almost decent, considering mine is a Cheapex drill press with hand movements and not a mill:



Well, my "vise on steroids" and the screw pushing down the drill handle just 1 mm every turn (1 mm is the movement of the handle, the chuck moves a lot less!) made their best.
Tomorrow I'll mill the other parts, if nobody annoys me: stay tuned!

 

[Marco Bernardini]

A new episode of my hairy job!
I got a couple of hinges, but they stopped at 90° which, for a sheet metal bender, is not optimal.
So, using a 3-flute 3 mm endmill, I milled a bit the hinges to allow them to "cool" to 80°





Here is the sheet metal bender ready to be assembled (after a healthy nap…):

 

[Ray C]

That's what I call: "Nano-swarf" -the kind that gives the most annoying slivers...


Ray

 

[Marco Bernardini]

Re: Hairy job - DONE!

The sheet metal bender is done:



I suggest to use a more rigid profile to clamp the sheet, because a flat bar, even if 5 mm thick, is too elastic on a 60 cm length, even to bend a 0.6 mm copper sheet.
Anyway I made another couple of holes near the center, leaving some 10 cm between them, and the astounding result is this one:




A cover for the watertight outlet I've on the deck. The sun "cooked" the plastic of the old one, so I had to replace it.
Now I've to think to a different design for the light switch on the other side!