Anyone know what stock to make a big bending brake?

I'm out of space in the shipping container I have going over to my non-profit fab school in west Africa, but one of the big items on my wish list was a bending brake. I do have space for plate though, and a brake doesn't look that complicated to make.

I'm sorry for so many questions lately, but now is my time to get supplies for the next two years over, so I've gotta get it all in while I can. I really appreciate all of the wisdom on PM.

Does anyone have an 8' bending brake, say 14 ga, sitting on their floor that would be willing to take a few quick measurements? Basically, I just need to know how much of how much plate I'd need to send.

The movable head is principally made of an angled and a flat piece of plate. How big a rectangle would those be cut from, and how thick? Is the part of the head that actually touches the workpiece hardened, or just a piece of heavy bar bolted to the plate?

The apron is another piece of plate, how big and how thick? It looks like it has a piece of heavy angle iron bolted or welded to the front of it - what size is that?

The "bed" of the machine is another piece of plate (I assume D&K are using a casting, but I can't). I assume that flat plate could be thinner, maybe 1/4"? But then would need some reinforcing bar welded to the bottom of it to resist the downforce of the bend.

Then I see that all three pieces that are principally resisting the deflection of the bend have those triangular reinforcements that can be tightened to stretch, that makes sense.

Anyone willing to make a quick and dirty BOM for such an animal?

I've got a 6' 12 gauge D&K box and pan brake.

with the exception of certain movable parts, it's all plate, including the bed. Mines made in Mexico, so it's post US but pre Taiwan. Not sure if D&K used the same designs when they moved production overseas, or if changes were made.

Virtually everything that runs side to side is 1/2" plate. The bed is an upside down L - horizontal plate bed with a vertical plate just behind the apron.

Apron is 1/2" plate.

Upper leaf is 2 pieces of 1/2" plate welded together - one front to back, one coming down at an angle.

All 5 of those pieces of 1/2" plate are +/- 18" wide, by a little longer than your bending length. Looks like a pair of 5x10s of 1/2" plate should do you there.


The bed caps are cut from 1 1/4" plate. 2x4' piece should do you there. Upper leaf end plates are 1 3/4" plate. 2x4' plate should do you there. If you've got a decent mill, you can probably make most of the cast pieces from more of the 1 3/4" plate, although 2 1/2" wouldn't hurt for that stuff.

Add in a couple sticks of 3/4 x 2" flatbar for the trusses. Back of the leaf has a section of 4 x 1/2" angle stiffening it. Bits and bobs of round bar for truss rods, handles, pins, etc.

Fish On said:

I've got a 6' 12 gauge D&K box and pan brake.

with the exception of certain movable parts, it's all plate, including the bed. Mines made in Mexico, so it's post US but pre Taiwan. Not sure if D&K used the same designs when they moved production overseas, or if changes were made.

Virtually everything that runs side to side is 1/2" plate. The bed is an upside down L - horizontal plate bed with a vertical plate just behind the apron.

Apron is 1/2" plate.

Upper leaf is 2 pieces of 1/2" plate welded together - one front to back, one coming down at an angle.

All 5 of those pieces of 1/2" plate are +/- 18" wide, by a little longer than your bending length. Looks like a pair of 5x10s of 1/2" plate should do you there.


The bed caps are cut from 1 1/4" plate. 2x4' piece should do you there. Upper leaf end plates are 1 3/4" plate. 2x4' plate should do you there. If you've got a decent mill, you can probably make most of the cast pieces from more of the 1 3/4" plate, although 2 1/2" wouldn't hurt for that stuff.

Add in a couple sticks of 3/4 x 2" flatbar for the trusses. Back of the leaf has a section of 4 x 1/2" angle stiffening it. Bits and bobs of round bar for truss rods, handles, pins, etc.

Click to expand...

Perfect, thank you so much - that's exactly what I was hoping for.