My Next Project - A Metal Brake

Mark
You go man, I love to see what you are inspiring others to do and what I see you are a popular man in this site. A lot of nice projects have come out of your inspiration. Some that might have not been made with out your input.
Like I said, You The Man!
Continue my friend
Nelson Collar
 
Mark,

I've said if before, I'll say it again. You sir are a fine machinist!

Thanks for a great thread, its always a learning experience when you post up your projects.
 
The bending brake is winding down. all that is left is the fingers and I am working on them. BUT ......as soon as the brake is completed , I already have my next project scheduled and it is a good one. It is another Tool and cutter grinder..... BUT it is easier to build than a Quorn or Bonelle and it will put both of those machines to shame for ease of use and versatility. It is my design comprised of features from three different manufacturers. It will have accessories that I will make also. I don't have a drawing of the grinder but it will be a cross between a Cutter Master Professional and a Cutter Master HDT 610 With a few features of a Darex. The attached photos here are two of the accessories I will be making, plus a work head similar to the Bonelle work head and of course I have the air bearing. The price tag on materials hopefully will be around $250. I have about half of what I need and am scrounging for the rest. This build will be long as it will not be my usual jump in and Get R done routine. Once finished, I will be getting rid of the Bonelle as it won't be needed. This one will out perform it greatly. So .... get your pop corn and keep watching.
7123970-11.jpg a 001.JPG I plan similar items as these as accessories.
Mark Frazier

I will still be doing smaller projects during this build. As I said, this will be a slow build as I get materials and I intend to only work a couple days a week on it because i have a big list of details to do and fix on my machines and some of my tooling.
 
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Popcorn popping...

I will watch this with great interest. I 'almost' pulled the trigger on a Cutter Master a few weeks back. I do like that design better than the Quorn or Bonelle.
 
I finally got the jig to drill the holes in the clamp bar on my brake . now I can get it finished up. A friend who has a Bridgeport with DRO on it made me a jig to drill the holes accurately. Since my mill does not have DRO ... and I wanted to do them on the drill press to make the job faster. I set upp a fence on my drill press table to hold the bar that gets 21 tapped holes. the fence will keep the edge constant so All I need is to keep the spacing accurate.
IMG_0629.JPG Here you can see the fence and the jig has three 5/16" holes ( the size for 3/8-16 tap drill) spaced exactly 1" apart and the proper distance from the edge. There are 21 holes in the finger bar. I layout the first hole in the center of the bar and center drill, then drill it. I put the jig on the bar and insert a 5/16" dowel pin in the first hole and into the bar. Holding it against the fence, I use the holes in the jig to center drill the next two holes, remove the jig and drill them. then repeat this process until all holes are done. this worked great and precisely located all the holes accurately using my drill press.
IMG_0630.JPG Here I used the jig to line up the center drill.
IMG_0631.JPG After drilling all the holes, the bar was turned over and all the holes were back drilled 7/16" to a depth of .375". this is because the bar was beefed up from 5/8" thick to 1" thick. All these holes get tapped and do not need 1 inch of threads. 5/8" of threads is more than enough for a 3/816 bolt and this will make the tapping much easier.
IMG_0632.JPG The finger clamp bar is completed and installed on the brake. this heavier bar will hopefully eliminate any flexing when clamping. The metal lying on the brake is for the fingers. Now that the bar is done, it is time to finish up the fingers and finish this project. I will try to get them next weekend hopefully.
 
:bawling: I made a big BOO-BOO. I spent three hours drilling and tapping the 21 holes in the finger clamp bar in their precise location. AND THEN IT HAPPENED! I looked at the print and there is supposed to be 22 holes! :bawling:
:headache: I have been working for the last 2 hours trying to figure a way to make this work without much success. The only thing I have come up with so far is to make a couple special fingers for the ends and maybe it could work. I ain't happy doing that but as long as I have fingers all the way across it is OK. when doing a box bend there will be gaps in the fingers.

The only other solution is to buy another $30 bar of steel and make the part over again. :burned up:
 
Mark
It is something that happens to all of us at one time or the other. Put it behind you and buy a new bar and double check all of your numbers.
Keep the good work up
Nelson Collar
 
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Mark we've all been there. That just sucks.
 
Mark
I know the feeling, but sometimes things will workout for the best out in the end. Who knows Those odd fingers may come in handy, I suggest you sleep on it :black eye: The build is looking great either way .:encourage::encourage::encourage:
 
OK ..... I have one solution.........

Finger Layout.jpg
I make two 1 1/2 " fingers and use them on the ends. I have a full bar. If doing a box, I still have the ability to go to 1/2" increments, and doing a box I wouldn't have a full bar anyway. Even though the 1 1/2" fingers are special, they still can be added too the end of any setup. Oh..... this setup requires two more holes which is no problem ( i think)

Or just buy a new bar :(
 
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