Hoping for some advice on bending

[metalworkerneo]

Hello everyone!
I’m wanting to get this part cut with either laser cutting or water jet cutting in 2mm stainless steel, and then I want to bend the two parts around to create the two archs in the picture. Once its all bend the piece'll measure 12mm by about 15mm
Being new to metalworking and bending I’d appreciate any advice you have.
I’m wondering what would be a good way for me to bend these in my shed. I’m looking at getting a bench brake or a vice brake. It there a kind of brake or attachment I can get or make that’ll allow me to bend the radius?
I’m also wondering how I could bend the archs around like in the picture so that the ends of them can meet the other metal part without bumping into part of the brake.
Any other advice you’ve got in how I could make these would be very much appreciated

[djreiswig]

Make a pair of matching dies & use a shop press to form them.
Guess this would only work if your loops were cut separately.

[adbuch]

How many of these do you intend to make? I can think of several ways to do this in your shed with great results, which don't necessarily require the purchase of a bending brake. What it the inside dimension of overall inside height of the "loop" once it is formed? It would be helpful if you could post your actual dxf file and/or solid model. Also - what is the part to be used for?

David

Perhaps provide at least one of the actual dimensions and I can scale to size.

need dimensions.jpg

[SegoMan DeSigns]

These will do a 180 bend:

https://www.harborfreight.com/automotiv ... 38470.html

[metalworkerneo]

Hello David, djreiswig and SegoMan DeSigns and thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it! David, you're right I should've included the dimensions. I'm wanting to make multiples of the part, I'm not sure exactly how many but probably at least 50 - 100 or so. It's for a kind of device I'm planning on making multiples of, which is gonna have some wooden parts as well.

pmetallart 2.jpg

[adbuch]

When you say you want to do this in your "shed", I'm not exactly sure what capabilities or skill level you possess. One way to do this would be to do the 90 degree bends first, then clamp this bend fixture shown below to your part and use a dead blow hammer (plastic coated) to form the tabs around the fixture "by hand".

fixture 1.jpg

If I had to do hundreds of these myself, and depending on how much I value my time, I would consider farming out the complete job (laser cutting and cnc bending) to a qualified shop. I imagine you may be located overseas and don't know what local industrial resources you have on hand in your area.

Here in Tucson, Arizona, USA I would most likely farm this job out to the shop shown below which I use quite often for many of my cnc laser cut parts.

David

https://themetalman.com/

metal man 1.jpg

metal man 2.jpg

metal man 3.jpg

[metalworkerneo]

Thanks for your response, and taking the time to help out. Yes cnc bending looks like the perfect solution. I actually hadn't heard of cnc bending before. I really appreciate all your help. You're awesome

[adbuch]

Thanks for your response, and taking the time to help out. Yes cnc bending looks like the perfect solution. I actually hadn't heard of cnc bending before. I really appreciate all your help. You're awesome

Where are you located?

[SegoMan DeSigns]

No thicker than that material is you could 3D print the punch and die for that operation..


https://youtu.be/Ph84YSHwmHc

[adbuch]

Nice video! I wonder what filament he used to print the dies.
David

[metalworkerneo]

I‘m in Melbourne Australia.

And very interesting, the idea of 3d printing. Amazing that it can bend metal like that. Very useful to know.
Thanks for your help!

[adbuch]

Depending on the particular alloy, I think 2mm thick stainless steel may possibly be a bit stiffer to bend than the aluminum in the video. But maybe it's possible for you using a small press brake or some sort of diy setup. I constructed a small press brake from one of the Swag Offroad kits several years ago. It is based on a cheap Harbor Freight hydraulic press, with some modifications.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ksT6FCMKhbP6RnzPA

press brake.jpg

If you are the adventurous type and don't mind spending a little bit of time and money, then perhaps invest in a 3D printer, press brake, and a few other tools - design some tooling, and do the job yourself. If this is a one-time project, then I expect it will cost much less if you simply have your run of 100 parts commercially cut and bent.

David

[metalworkerneo]

That‘s an impressive setup! It‘s really nice to have an idea of all the different options. I‘m leaning towards getting them commercially cnc bent but I‘ll investigate both, I‘d love to have a setup like that maybe one day in the future.
Thanks again for all your help

[adbuch]

You are quite welcome! Let us know how your project turns out. And by the way, exactly what are these parts used for. Perhaps share a few photos or drawings showing the part being used for its intended purpose.
Thanks,
David

[metalworkerneo]

When I get everything all sorted and made I'll send you some pictures of the final product. I'm not sure when it'll be, hopefully sometime soon but it might be a while before I figure everything out. Thanks again, you really helped me out

[adbuch]

When I get everything all sorted and made I'll send you some pictures of the final product. I'm not sure when it'll be, hopefully sometime soon but it might be a while before I figure everything out. Thanks again, you really helped me out