A variety of plate bending operations are an important part of the overall construction or renovation of your own home. Without the use of special equipment, it is impossible to perform them qualitatively. For one-time bending of sheet blanks, it is permissible to rent a suitable fixture from a neighbor or acquaintance. But with frequent performance of such procedures, it is more expedient to have a manual sheet bending machine of your own manufacture at hand. If you have certain skills, tools and premises, making a homemade bending machine is not so false.

Preparation of terms of reference

Thanks to the capabilities of the Internet, you can quickly find the necessary set of drawings, and on the YouTube channel you can even watch promotional and informational videos about the device and the principle of operation of the required unit. However, all these materials are strictly individual, and therefore were intended by their authors for specific sheet-bending operations. Therefore, before building a sheet bender with your own hands, you need to make the right choice of its future technical characteristics. The main ones should be:

1. maximum width of bent metal, mm;
2. the greatest thickness of the workpiece, mm;
3. desired range of bending angles;
4. overall dimensions of the mechanism (length, width, height);
5. required bending accuracy.

The direct choice of the limit values ​​of the listed parameters depends on the conditions of use of the machine, which will bend sheet metal products. In particular, when constructing a roof, you will most likely have to deal with galvanized sheet or steel with a thickness of no more than 1 mm. When processing copper, an even thinner sheet or strip is more often used, and when making fences and railings with your own hands, on the contrary, the thickness of the metal can be 2-3 mm.

When choosing the optimal width of a workpiece - sheet or strip - one should proceed from the fact that the width of the part rarely exceeds 1000 mm (in extreme cases, adjacent workpieces can then be joined into a fold using the same machine).

The most difficult point of the technical task is the choice of the optimal range of metal bending angles. If everything is clear with the upper limit - 180 °, then the lower value should be chosen very competently. A natural consequence of bending most sheet metals in a cold state is springback - a spontaneous decrease in the actual bending angle due to the elastic properties of the deformed metal. Springing depends on:

How to choose the kinematic scheme of the bending machine

The most accessible for do-it-yourself machines are machines in which sheet metal will be bent as a result of turning a movable traverse. The principle of operation of such a machine is as follows.

The workpiece to be bent is installed on the guide plane of the lower table of the machine and fixed on the stop, which is fixed on the support frame of the device (it is desirable to provide for the stop to be adjusted).

In the frame guides of the sheet bender, the upper traverse reciprocates, which, when moving downward, clamps the bent product with its ruler.

In front of the lower table is a swivel beam that can rotate around its axis. Turning can be done with a lever-operated handle, but a foot-operated version can be made. In the latter case, the operator's hands remain free, which facilitates the manipulation of the workpiece when it is pressed against the ruler of the upper traverse. In addition, with foot control of the bender, hands get tired less.

The set of bending tools on the upper and rotary beams can be changed. The easiest way for this purpose is to order a set of punches and dies with the required bending radii and standard seats. You will have to send all the details to the order - a ruler, clamp, etc. - which will require qualified milling work for their manufacture.

The bevel of the top beam will determine the largest value of the bend angle that the sheet metal can change its axis to.

In order to make such a unit with your own hands, you will need the following materials:

1. steel channel number from 6 and above;
2. a set of steel corners intended for the manufacture of the support frame of the machine with your own hands;
3. thick-plate broadband steel, from which the rotary, upper and lower beams will be made;
4. fasteners in assortment;
5. a bar for the manufacture of a manual lever drive for turning the beam.

To facilitate the work, you can also use a bench vise, guides from a decommissioned lathe, as well as massive hinges from steel entrance doors.

By a similar principle, you can make a homemade sheet bender using wooden parts. True, he will be able to bend only aluminum and sheet steel (up to 1 mm thick), but in many cases these possibilities are quite enough, and the laboriousness of building a sheet bender with his own hands will noticeably decrease. In particular, there is no need for welding operations. It should be noted that the working parts of such a machine should only be made of hardwood (pine, spruce are not suitable).

Having decided on the principle of operation of the sheet bender, you can also search for suitable drawings. However, a person with an engineering education will be able to make a set of drawings on their own. The advantage of this option is that a number of working drawings are quickly modified and processed for specific capabilities and source materials.

The drawings of the sheet bender must take into account the way it is installed. For small units, for example, the bending machine can be mobile or even portable. Otherwise, you will have to make a stable base using welding, otherwise the excessive mobility of the machine will reduce the accuracy of work on it.

When the machine is ready, it is necessary to check its performance and accuracy. To do this, bend a test strip of thick cardboard of the required thickness. If the bend is made correctly, then the height of the strip shelves will be the same, and there will be no traces of the deforming tool on its surface.

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Sheet metal bending machine can be made at home. Not every home master needs such equipment, but for those who, for example, are engaged in roofing, it will help to significantly increase their own earnings. And for some, it may even become the first machine of the future plant.

Reasons why you should assemble a sheet bender yourself

Why do you even need to take on the manufacture of such difficult equipment with your own hands? To answer this question, let's go from the opposite and consider alternative methods for obtaining valleys, ridges, gutters, cornice strips and other fragments of structures.

Although, I want to note right away that this is far from the only industry where products created by bending iron are required. Just now, for clarity, we will touch on it.

Get by without a machine

There are two options here:

1. Buying pre-made samples that far outweigh the cost of sheet metal and even the labor required to process it. That is, it is simply the rejection of a tangible part of the earnings in favor of industrial plants;

1. In the old fashioned way, use a punch to get the desired shape. But this will lead to the immediate loss of many customers who prefer products without the condo look. The modern market is very cruel in this regard: everyone wants both high quality and beautiful.

Buy a finished machine

Let's look at a hypothetical situation in numbers. On average, a manual sheet bender can cost you $1,500-2,000. In theory, it will be possible to turn on it in a couple of days a ton of galvanized iron 0.55 mm and costing $1,000 into 250 square meters of corrugated board, which are already estimated at 1,400 of the same monetary units.

It seems that everything turns out beautifully, but in the mind it is already calculated not only the payback of the purchase, but the colossal profits received in the future.

But, unfortunately, everything is not so rosy in practice, where the following difficulties will stand in your way:

1. The corners during the rolling of corrugated board very often come out overtightened, as a result of which a repetition of the operation is required. This already leads to an increase in the theoretical terms of work;
2. Violations of intercrystalline bonds of the metal are possible. After a while, a crack begins to creep in such places. You will have to redo such a marriage at your own expense.

A line that does not have these problems is already worth around $20,000, which will be even more difficult to recoup. Plus, this all applies to the case when you have a sale of manufactured products. And if you only need certain products from time to time to fulfill a roofing order, then even the cheapest purchased equipment is out of the question.

For clarity and the opportunity to reflect on this issue on my own, I will give you examples of some specific models of machine tools that you can buy ready-made:

• Model "Tapco Max 20-08":

• Model "Van Mark Metal Master Commercial MM 1051":

Assembly process step by step

The instruction for the manufacture of a sheet bender begins with the solution of some theoretical questions:

Step number 1: determine the type of drive

In order to bend sheet metal, one of the following drives can be designed and used:

1. Mechanical. It can be presented in the form of a flywheel with a friction clutch and a crank or in the form of a falling weight with a system of cables, blocks and levers. It has a high efficiency, but for our case it is not suitable at all. The fact is that at the beginning of its working stroke, a sharp blow is observed, which then weakens, and just the opposite effect is required to bend metal sheets;
2. Electric. Here there is a problem of a different nature: a significant drop in efficiency and an increase in energy consumption when working with small fragments. This is due to the fact that with the resistance of the bent steel, the slip of the engine increases, and the moment decreases;

1. Hydraulic. In these devices, the hydraulic cylinder independently adjusts its force to the resistance of the metal part. They would be ideal if they were not too expensive for a homemade machine;

1. Manual. Despite the fact that in this case your hands will be the driving force, such a drive is ideal for a homemade machine. It is the easiest to manufacture, does not require the consumption of electrical energy and is inexpensive.

In this case, you get the right and uniform force. We will choose the handbrake for the construction of a home-made bending machine.

The main thing is to design the unit correctly so that the strongest muscle groups work during its operation, and the recoil presses the operator's feet to the floor. In this case, the process will not be too exhausting.

Step number 2: choose a working scheme for the machine

Now you need to decide how your homemade sheet metal bending machine will work.

You can choose from the following schemes:

1. With the help of a traverse. This method allows you to bend steel sheets with your hands up to 0.5 mm thick. You can see it on the diagram:

I recommend that during the operation of the described method, lean on the traverse in its lower part and move forward a little, as if smoothing the steel. In this case, the bend will turn out to be as correct and accurate as possible.

1. With the help of a press. This option is actively used in industry. For a private workshop, it is too traumatic, since if there is the slightest malfunction in the device or an error in filling the material, the sheet can slip out and cause serious damage to the operator;

1. With shaft system. These are just those broaching sheet benders that can be bought in the region of 1500-2500 US dollars. Can be manual or electric. Very easy to use, but difficult to implement with your own hands.

The easiest way is to create a do-it-yourself bending machine that bends metal using a traverse, which means that we will consider this option further.

Step number 3: we determine the main parameters of the future machine

A homemade sheet bender must have the following qualities in order to be effective in home use:

• Do not overstress the operator. Since we have settled on a manual drive, then let the work behind the machine do not become hard labor for you;

• be simple from a technical point of view and inexpensive;
• Easily be transported. Very often you may need to bend parts directly at the roofing site.

Based on the above, I propose to focus on the following technical characteristics of the manufactured device:

Step number 4: draw up a drawing that meets all of the above conditions

Handbrake, traverse, ease of use, compactness and a few other important parameters. Now let's transfer all this to the drawing:

The material of all components - structural steel. Separately, I want to dwell on the traverse.

In many descriptions, you can find that it is proposed to use a corner as it. I strongly advise you to install a channel that can withstand 6 times more work cycles. As for the size, for our case it will be optimal 8-10 cm.

Step number 5: we proceed to familiarize ourselves with the detailing and manufacture of the main elements

There are not many drawings. The more detailed everything is written on paper, the less likely it is to make a mistake in the process of performing assembly work. Therefore, I bring to your attention the details of the manufactured equipment:

We assemble the pressure beam in accordance with the above diagram, after which we will definitely give the resulting assembly for milling. As the basis of the clamp, we take a steel strip measuring 1.6 by 8 cm. We also mill its front edge at an angle of 45 degrees.

To prevent deflection of the clamp, in the upper part we reinforce it with a corner of the sixty by welding.

Step number 6: implement the mounting system

You can fix the device with clamps. But then, if at least one of them breaks, then the work will immediately begin, since the machine will not begin to bend the part, but lift itself.

Therefore, I propose an alternative and more practical solution:

1. We extend the support beam beyond the edges of the table;
2. Create U-shaped eyes on its edges;
3. We fasten it to the table with M10 bolts.

Step 7: Putting It All Together

And now I present to your attention a drawing of the final assembly:

Conclusion

You have learned how you can make a sheet metal bending machine at home, and why you need it at all. The video in this article contains additional materials, and in the comments you can ask any questions on the topic.

home » Home overhaul » How to bend rebar, sheet metal, etc. without a special tool

How to bend rebar, sheet metal, etc. without a special tool

If you have already started a major overhaul with your own hands, regardless of where it is carried out: at home or in an apartment, then you need to be prepared for many tests.

In particular, a number of issues may arise that are very difficult to solve without proper experience and special equipment. For example, not everyone knows how to bend a sheet of metal, rebar, profile, corner, etc. while getting good results. In this article, we will try to answer the "inflexible" questions, while getting by with a minimum amount of tools.

Very often, when mounting metal structures, it is necessary not only to cut steel sheets, but also to give them a curved shape.

You can do this at home without spending money on third-party services. For example, how to bend a sheet of metal? To do this, we need a wooden or rubber hammer, tongs, a table. If a 90 degree curvature is expected, then this set of tools should be enough.

The sheet simply hangs from the edge of the table, after which the desired curvature is achieved by uniform tapping in the bend area.

DIY bending machine: Drawings

If the workpiece is relatively small, then you can use a vice, in which, with the help of two wrapping bars, you can firmly fix a sheet of metal, and only then bend it with a hammer. If necessary, the bending point can be heated with a gas burner, but this method is not applicable to galvanized products!

bending a sheet of metal

If we are talking about a thin metal sheet, then the bending procedure can be significantly simplified.

To do this, the metal is “scratched” at the bend (we use a rule or a metal ruler, as a cutter - a pointed piece of a hacksaw blade for metal). The metal cut to half the thickness subsequently easily bends along the outlined line. We can say that we almost figured out how to bend a sheet of metal.

We bend galvanized

How to bend galvanized?

It can be either a galvanized metal sheet or a finished product, for example, a profile. The sheet is bent in the same way as when bending any other metal sheet.

How to bend a profile? You will have to deal with him. To obtain a large radius of curvature of a square or rectangular profile, you can use the following method: we tightly fill the profile with fine sand, clog both holes with wooden stakes, and only after that, gently tapping with a mallet, bend it. To bend a U-shaped profile (this, in principle, also applies to obtaining sheets of a curved shape), it is necessary to additionally use an object-shape, the curvature of which corresponds to the finished part.

To facilitate the bending process, triangular elements can be cut out in the profile.

Then the product to be bent is “wrapped” around the object by uniform tapping with a hammer.

Important! In order for the fold to be as even and correct as possible, the hammer blows should be light and lie as close to each other as possible. How to bend galvanized easier? Using a grinder, we make one or two cuts in the bend area (thus the structure is temporarily weakened), bend the product, and then weld the bend. This approach is important to use when bending profiled pipes and products of complex metal shape.

Remember that it is impossible to heat galvanized steel to simplify the curvature!

Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks facing people who are thinking about how to bend the corner. To get a solid product, you will have to sweat, evenly and slowly tapping the surface of the corner, gradually arching it. It is recommended to use a gas burner, which can heat up the bend.

You can do it easier - use a grinder as in the case described above with a galvanized product. It’s even easier to buy an already curved product, then the question “how to bend a corner” will disappear by itself.

How to bend rebar

At home, it is quite possible to bend the reinforcement, however, a lot depends on your physical data and the diameter of the metal rod.

How to bend rebar? To do this, we need two pieces of steel pipes, the diameter of which is greater than the diameter of the bent rod. The longer the length of such pipes, the easier it will be to bend the reinforcement (gain in strength due to the leverage).

All that needs to be done in order to bend the reinforcement is to insert it into two pipes and, fixing one of the pipes (pressing it with your foot or resting it between the posts), wielding the second one as a lever, give the reinforcement the desired curvature. That's all!

Cutting metal at home is a boring process. And its quality often leaves a lot of desire, thus imposing additional processing on acquired faces. Fixing the situation in several ways allows you to use special devices, including those that you make yourself. We will talk with you today about one of these devices, namely the steps.

Rollers for metals

Today, the roller knife is becoming more and more popular.

This is due not only to the high performance of such a device, but also to its rather simple device. The principle of the mechanism is simple: two cutting discs rotate in different directions, are compressed into a metal surface and thus cut.

The friction between the metal and the knives ensures that the workpiece runs smoothly along the tool.

In most cases, sheet cutting knives include two rotating cylinders - upper and lower. Depending on the variation of the cutting element used, these tools can be classified as follows:

• Parallel position knives - used to cut metal on strips, while providing a very acceptable quality;
• Edges with one inclined - this group allows not only longitudinal cutting of the material, but also the cutout of round and round beams;
• Knives with several tilting devices allow you to effectively flicker a circular, curvilinear or annular formation with a small radius.

It should be noted that all the above changes are perfectly processed when cutting sheet metal, while the cutting edges do not require additional attention and post-processing.

Home roller blades

With all its clear advantages, even the simplest knife model is a worthy value.

DIY bending machine: 7 steps to implementation

This is the reason for the inaccuracy of its acquisition for one-time work or occasional use. But the best solution from a financial point of view still exists - you can manually make a foot roller at home.

The design of such a device can be very different.

Below are the most common changes (photo, photo 2). In any case, the main part remains unchanged - the cutting knife.

It must be made of the strongest and most reliable steel alloy, the characteristics of which must necessarily exceed the analog parameters of the material being cut. If this condition is not taken into account, the quality of the cut will be poor, which will require additional processing of the cutting edges.

Practice shows that the working source of knives of a manufacturing plant is about 25 km of steel sheet if its thickness is 0.5 mm.

If the thickness is greater, the source will be lower. However, this tool can be almost problem-free and continue to function effectively.

If we are talking about the source of domestic knives, it directly depends on the material from which the cutting parts of the device are made.

What can you make a knife out of?

The options can be very different, here you should pay attention to what is planned to be reduced.

Thus, if the strongest steel sheet is not available, including aluminum, galvanized metal and other similar materials, the most correct decisions will be the right ones. The truth is to pre-sharpen your goals.

For cutting, one of the cylinders is mounted on a handle that will act as a drive that forces the knife against the metal.

Note that the larger the diameter of the bearings, the faster the material can be cut.

You can optionally equip the device with guides that will not be difficult for special ones, but in the future it will be good.

The resulting tool is very versatile and can be used in conjunction with a variety of metalworking equipment, including bending machines, which can also be made independently at home.

Do-it-yourself sheet metal bending machine

A sheet bending machine is a tool that is distinguished by its rather simple design, which, however, does not in the least prevent it from demonstrating amazing productivity and efficiency when performing bending work. It is about how to make such a device with your own hands and with minimal financial investment, we will talk with you today.

Bending technology and its features

In the process of metal bending, its inner layers are compressed with simultaneous stretching of the outer ones, while the applied stress exceeds the maximum allowable stress for this sheet metal.

As a result, the sheet of metal is bent to a pre-selected angle. The degree of deformation of the material depends on various factors, primarily its thickness, the speed of the operation and the required bending angle. And you should not forget about the plasticity of the metal.

I would like to draw special attention to the fact that bending must be carried out in full compliance with the technological process - the slightest deviation can cause various, including quite significant defects, nullifying all the efforts made earlier.

Materials and tools

To make a bending machine with your own hands, you will need the following:

• Welder;
• Steel I-beam;
• Corner;
• bolts;
• handles;
• clamps;
• Loops.

Making a machine with your own hands - the initial stage

A self-made bending machine includes the following components and components (Fig.

• Base;
• clamp;
• flywheel nut;
• Crimp punch with lever handle;
• Clamps fixing the fixture on the workbench.

So, in order to make a sheet bending unit with your own hands, you should first of all take care of arranging its base, which is made of a metal channel No. 6.5 (you can also No. 8), the length of which does not exceed 0.5 m (this parameter can be selected at your discretion) .

The clamp, which is based on a corner, allows you to bend sheets at an angle of more than 90 °, which is especially important in a situation where a seam connection of sheets is required.

The design of the clamp itself is welded, the main corner under No. 5 is reinforced by means of a profile from the corner No. 3.

DIY sheet metal bending machine

For maximum rigidity, the thickness of the corner shelves should be at least 5 mm. The length of the clamp should be less than the base by about 70 cm, while at its ends brackets are welded from corners No. 3, the wall thickness of which is also 5 mm (Fig. 2).

The edges of the corner, especially those that will be in contact with the metal, are filed or milled so that they are parallel to the base.

An 8 mm hole is drilled in the middle of each bracket.

For a crimping punch, corner No. 5 is used, which is 10 cm shorter than the clamp. The lever handle is bent from a reinforcement bar with a cross section of 15 mm, giving it the appearance of a bracket, and then welded to the punch. From a sheet of metal, the thickness of which is 5 mm, cheeks are cut out and holes are drilled in them by 10 mm.

A chamfer is removed from the ends of the punch ribs - a depth of 5 mm, a length of 30 mm, which will allow you to install steel axles made of a rod with a cross section of 10 mm.

The direction of the axes to be welded must coincide with the edge of the corner. Similar chamfers, but slightly larger - length 32 mm, depth 6 mm, are also removed from the edges of the base.

Homemade bending machine - work continues

We continue to manufacture a bending unit with our own hands. The turn of pre-assembly of the device has come. To do this, the punch and the base are installed in a vice, making sure that the shelf of the corner and the channel arrive in a single plane horizontally.

The axes of the punch are supplemented with cheeks, fixing them by welding or in any other convenient way.

Trial bending is carried out on a soft sheet of metal (1 mm thick). It is laid on the base, and rollers and a clamp are pressed on top of it, pressing it to the base with pins or clamps. If necessary, after trial bending, the position of the cheeks is adjusted, after which they are finally welded to the base.

Through the holes in the brackets, holes are drilled on the base - a section of 8 mm, after which an M10 thread is cut into them.

The holes in the clamps expand up to 10 mm. Bolts are screwed into the base from below, fixing their heads by welding.

The clamped base is tightened with M10 nuts with washers placed under the heads.

For the reverse pressing of the clamp, springs pre-dressed on the bolts are used. Although rubber shock absorbers are far from the worst choice.

For the manufacture of mounting clamps, corner No. 3 is also used. Their design can be found in Figure 3. Support pads are installed on the M10 clamping screws, and the clamps themselves are mounted by welding near the cheeks on the base shelf.

Buying or self-manufacturing - what to choose

That's actually all.

We figured out how to make a bending machine with your own hands. But the question arises, is it not easier to buy a ready-made device in the store? Let's get a look. Practice shows that the advantages of a home-made machine are more than obvious - in the overwhelming majority of cases, factory models are quite large and capable of bending sheet metal up to 3 m wide, the cost of such devices is very, very significant, and the mechanical drive with which they are mainly equipped is not at all suitable for fine work.

Another thing is a hydraulic type drive, although the cost of such equipment is so high that it is impractical to use it even when performing permanent work in small volumes.

So it turns out that apart from a manual drive for home use, nothing remains. It is easy to set up and operate, the cost of its manufacture is minimal, it is quite possible to make it independently and without using any specific equipment, while the quality of work in many respects is in no way inferior to purchased models.

Sheet benders, or sheet bending machines, are called specialized equipment, which is intended for cold bending of metal sheets, as well as the formation of profiles of the required configuration.

Machine-building plants carry out the design and manufacture of manual bending machines, as well as machines with pneumatic, hydraulic and mechanical principles of operation.

The use of sheet benders

Sheet metal bending machines are used for the manufacture of sheet metal profiles, which are used in the construction of metal roofs, ventilation systems and drains.

Also, with their help, individual elements of various sizes and shapes are made for finishing the facades of buildings.

The production of roofing and facade elements by means of sheet bending is of great importance in the production and construction market, and there are reasons for this.

DIY manual sheet bender drawings

Significantly expanded technological capabilities in metal processing make it possible to produce high-quality metal products on bending machines. With the help of sheet benders, it is possible to produce both standard and non-standard products from steel sheets of various thicknesses in accordance with the technical characteristics of a particular machine, which can be manual, hydraulic, pneumatic or electromechanical.

Manual sheet benders are usually used in small industries or in construction. Their distinguishing features are convenience in the process of work, durability and reliability.

Mobile sheet benders

Mobile manual sheet benders are used for work directly at the construction site. The whole process is characterized by mobility and high productivity.

Due to the low weight of the structure, the machine can be easily moved around the construction site. It can be quickly assembled and disassembled. In addition, the transportation of this type of sheet benders is not difficult.

Stationary sheet benders

Sheet benders, whose work is based on the hydraulic principle, are used when there is a need to process metal sheets exceeding 0.8 millimeters in thickness.

Compared with manual bending machines, the process of manufacturing parts is greatly simplified, while their quality is higher.

Such machines are widely used for serial production of steel profiles of the same type. On electromechanical (mechanical) bending machines, the production of parts is carried out due to the operation of an electric motor with a gearbox attached to it.

Such equipment is stationary.

Mechanical bending machines are versatile and compact. With the help of such sheet benders, almost any metal elements can be made. Electromechanical sheet bending machines can be made in several versions, including those with an increased level of wear resistance. On the listed modifications of sheet benders, it is possible to manufacture products from various metals, for example, such as: stainless steel, copper, aluminum, galvanized steel sheets, painted metals.

At the same time, a protective strip or a vinyl insert does not allow the machine to damage the coating. Accordingly, high-quality and reliable manufacturing of the product, carried out in compliance with all necessary requirements, is guaranteed.

Principle of operation

The production of profiles using sheet bending machines includes a certain sequence of operations. The original sheet of metal is pressed and bent. Then, if necessary, it is additionally bent to the required angle, after which the metal profile is cut to a predetermined length. The uniform clamping of the sheet along its entire length is ensured by the pressure bar, which makes it possible to give the product manufactured on the sheet bender a perfectly flat surface.

In the process of bending, the accuracy of the bending angle is carefully set, as a result of which high quality of the product is ensured. Some plate bending machines are equipped with a device for cutting steel sheets. For example, circular hand knives with hardened rollers (with their help, metal cutting is very professional), roller knives, electric vibrating shears. The cutting equipment is characterized by increased wear resistance and will provide cutting of high quality metal throughout the entire service life, which will make it possible to produce high quality products.

Much attention should be paid to the safety level of bending machines. Personnel must be protected as much as possible from possible injury when work on sheet benders. As an auxiliary function, access restriction for an employee who violates the technological process in the manufacture of parts on such machines can be applied.

Homemade sheet bender is assembled from simple parts that any locksmith can carve. With the necessary parts, it will take only half a day to make your own manual bending machine. Most of the elements of the bending fixture are made from metal waste. Metal bending devices are in no way inferior to factory ones, but cost almost nothing. Based on the presented drawings, it is possible to make a more powerful analogue that qualitatively performs bending of steel up to 3 mm thick.

Design description

This model of a metal bending device easily copes with tin, the bends are obtained quite accurately. Painted metal can also be bent.

The base of the machine is welded from channel No. 6 or No. 8. Depending on the length of the future apparatus, the length of the channel is selected. For small work, 50 cm is enough. To bend the iron at an angle exceeding 90 degrees, a clamp is made from the corner. Such bending angles are used in the manufacture of folds.

The clamp is welded: the basis of the design is the corner 50 x 50, reinforced 35 x 35. The thickness of the corner shelves must be at least 5 mm, otherwise the clamp will be too weak. A clamp of such power will cope even with a length of a manual bending device up to 150 cm. The sheet is bent up to 135 degrees, this is enough to form folds. The length of the clamp should be 7 cm less than the base. Fasteners-brackets from a 3 x 3 corner are welded onto the ends. If the bracket is made from a larger corner, the clamp length is reduced by another 2-3 cm. With such dimensions, the spring is freely placed below.

The edges of the clamp are set clearly parallel to the frame, without burrs. Therefore, they are cleaned with a cutter or file, it is convenient to clean the edges with an angle grinder. The cleaning wheel removes protruding burrs and defects.

An opening with a diameter of 0.8 cm is sawn through the center of both brackets. The crimping punch is made from corner No. 5, the length of which is 5–8 millimeters less than the length of the clamp. The handle for the punch is made of a 14 mm metal bar, bent in the form of a bracket, and fixed to the punch. Cheeks are cut out of metal 0.5 cm, sawn through one hole with a diameter of 1 cm in each.

You can further strengthen the knot by cutting a 6 x 7 mm shelf around the edges and a 14 mm hole. Take the rod for the handle a little thinner - 12 mm.

Chamfers 30 x 5 are cut from the edges of the punch at the ends, to which the axes from a 10 mm metal rod will be fixed. The axis of the rod must coincide in direction with the edge of the corner. Near the ends, a 32 x 6 chamfer is made on the lower edge.

Pre-installation

Before you finally weld the structure, you must set all the details in the right direction and check the performance of the structure. Therefore, light temporary fasteners are made first. The frame together with the punch is fixed in a vice. The moving part and the frame must form a common horizontal. The cheeks are mounted on the axis and pointwise mounted on the frame. It is convenient to use clamps instead of welding. As soon as the temporary fasteners are ready, the clamps are removed and mobility is checked. If the amplitude of the punch is sufficient, the clamps are tightened and finally boiled.

It is advisable to remove the structure from the vice after the welding has completely cooled down, otherwise it may lead.

Device testing and final fine-tuning

Check the operation of the bending machine on thin pliable metal. The material for bending is installed in the device, the clamp is tightened with clamps. It is necessary to check the correct placement of the cheeks in relation to the bed. To do this, perform several bends and correct if necessary. If the cheeks are installed correctly, they are finally welded to the bed.

Using holes in the clamping brackets, holes are made in the base with a diameter of 8 mm with an M10 thread. The holes already prepared in the clamp are increased to a diameter of 1 cm. Bolts are screwed into the holes in the base (threaded) from the bottom up, the caps are welded.

The clamp is attached to the frame with nuts with obligatory washers. It is more convenient to operate the nuts in the form of handwheels (plumbing). In order to press the clamp during unscrewing, springs or rubber shock absorbers are installed on the bolts. Valve springs work well.

As a result of simple operations, an inexpensive, easy-to-operate and reliable machine is obtained. It also has a few small downsides:

• the fastening of the cheeks and the punch is not well thought out. In this node, during operation, the metal interacts with the metal and gradually frays. After a while, the mechanism begins to play. The sheet of metal is not bent clearly enough.

The method of correcting the disadvantage of a manual bending mechanism: the use of bearings in this assembly.

If you plan to bend a large amount of sheet metal, the drawings of the upper clamp will have to be slightly modified; on the presented work, the work is performed quite slowly.

In the original version, the sheet bender easily makes metal boxes 2 mm thick, forms folds, and copes with painted sheets.

You can make a bending machine with your own hands, without using any drawings, from scrap metal. There are specimens up to 2.5 m long, which perform up to 350 m of ferrous metal bending per day. Professional tinsmiths often prefer a homemade factory-designed bender.

More complex, manual roller benders can also be made independently according to the drawing. It is important here that the weight of the device is not too large, because it is controlled with one hand. Roller structures have one drawback - during rolling, small sections of sheet metal can be deformed. A bend is formed by stretching the surface. Therefore, most tinsmiths prefer not to work with them.

A few more models of manual bending machines with a detailed description of the nodes in the videos:

Making a bending machine with your own hands is sometimes much more profitable than buying a ready-made mechanism. So you will save financially, get exactly the machine that will meet your requirements.

When planning to make a bending machine with your own hands, you must adhere to a certain principle - the entire load when working with a manual device should fall on the strongest muscles. And the recoil of the unit is to press your feet to the floor. So the process of working on the machine will select a minimum of physical strength.

Using a roller or simple sheet bender, you can make an unusual roof pattern, make some additional elements, and create entire structures. It all depends on what type of machine you are going to do with your own hands.

1. Roller devices are the most compact benders. They are often used when installing seam roofing. Roller machines provide the production of bypasses, additional elements, non-standard type roof patterns, increase the rolling depth from the inside of the seam roof, etc.
2. Machines that bend sheets at an angle of 90 degrees. Such devices are the most popular among those who decide to make a bending machine on their own.
3. Press. Trying to make such a unit with your own hands is almost pointless. These are machines for industrial use, the assembly of which should only be carried out by professionals.
4. Stretch sheet benders. Here, the radius of the bends directly depends on how the rolls are arranged. Such devices are multifunctional, but there is no objective need for their availability for domestic use.

From this we can conclude that the most attractive sheet benders for self-production are those that provide a bend at an angle of 90 degrees. With their help, you can perform minor repairs, correct irregularities on metal products, make some crafts, etc.

Buy or make

Making a bending machine with your own hands is a task that requires certain skills and free time. It is the need to spend their time that makes many give preference to purchased machines, despite the abundantly presented schemes, drawings of machines on the network.

But how to do the right thing - buy or make your own bending machine?

1. To create a homemade sheet bender, you will need a minimum of tools and materials.
2. The main cost of creating a sheet bender is temporary. Many machines are assembled from improvised parts, so you rarely have to spend money.
3. Not infrequently, factory machines turn out to be less efficient and convenient to use than a home-made bending machine.
4. A large number of ready-made machines are designed for bending sheets up to 3 meters wide. This is too large a device, even for those who have a spacious yard or a large garage.
5. Question price. Comparing a home-made manual bending machine and a finished machine at a cost, you will be pleasantly surprised how seriously you can save money by spending just a couple of hours on making a home-made bending machine.
6. Many factory machines have a mechanical type of drive. But it is completely inconvenient if you need to carry out thin, accurate work with metal sheets. Plus, for their work, you will need to connect to the mains, additional costs for paying for electricity.
7. There are models with hydraulic drive, which are more convenient and preferred for home use. They allow you to delicately work with blanks. But the price of a hydraulic machine is impressive, the design itself is quite complicated. Even if you regularly plan to bend sheets, the payback period of this machine will be too long.
8. The best option is a manual drive. Here you control the effort, distribute it over the workpiece. Manual sheet bending machines are very easy to operate, and they cope with their tasks no worse than mechanical and hydraulic counterparts.

But the most important question is your real need for such a machine. If you need a bender for a one-time use, it's easier to borrow from a neighbor, or pick up a simple mallet.

For those who plan to actively use a bending machine, we will tell you how to make a bending machine without resorting to complex structures.

Assembly of the bending machine

Finding drawings of a sheet bender is not a problem. Therefore, first of all, think about what dimensions of the machine you are supposed to need, for what purposes you are going to use this tool.

Each drawing provides a detailed description of the assembly process. Complete the video drawing with a manual, which will allow you to make a full-fledged compact bending machine in just an hour.

In our case, we will consider a drawing of a machine designed for minor repairs in our own garage.

The drawing includes several basic structural elements of the sheet bender:

• clamp;
• Crimp punch;
• Lever handle;
• Base.

The material for the manufacture of the machine can be metal. Although not one drawing provides for the use of an ordinary tree for these purposes. Wood as the basis for creating a sheet bender allows you to carry out minor work when you need to bend small sheets of iron, aluminum and other materials.

1. The wooden base can be left in its original form, or strengthened with metal corners, sheet metal. Based on the strength of the selected tree, as well as the expected loads on the base.
2. Fasten several strong loops that will be responsible for the movement of the bending link of the sheet bender.
3. If the bending link has an impressive size and weight, there is no need to install an additional frame. Its installation allows you to increase the pressure generated when bending metal sheets.
4. The crimping punch is a structural element of the machine that matches the profile of the die used. The punch acts as a closing component that forms the product from above. The punch is used for stamping, marking or pressing.
5. The punch should be secured to the wooden base using wing nuts. Be sure to install washers under them.
6. If you plan to bend sheets of various parameters on the machine, it is better to make several different punches at once, differing in the thickness of the grooves.
7. In order to obtain a quality 90 degree bend on this simple machine, it is recommended that the surface limiting the span of the bending component be made with a slight slope. Literally 5 degrees will be enough. Otherwise, problems may arise when obtaining a right bend angle.
8. If you notice at the first bends that the result of processing the sheets is not very accurate, try making guide cuts at the bends.

Some require bending of larger parts, metal sheets. For these purposes, the design of the sheet bender presented above will not be powerful enough.

Self-produced sheet bender, designed to work with large sheets, has an identical design. Only differs in large size and other materials for its manufacture. Use channels and corners, and weld the connections.

Bending machines are indispensable hand tools for many homeowners. They are easy to make with your own hands, and their scope is limited only by your needs and imagination.