Bending Sheet metal - Vise mount brake

[Chumley54]

I've been looking for an "easy" way to bend sheet aluminum and other sheet material to make beams and angle for my RC stuff.

I've been looking at the Harbor Freight Bender-Brake...but looks a little fiddly for small piece work. It does have a good price though.

I also see some Shear/brake combos , 8 inch/12 inch, but they run into the $200 range.

But I found an interesting device, wondered if anyone on here has used it and if it works...
http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-H3243-...NSTBNPBNX2QE56


Any opinions or advice. This looks like the very small, good for small stuff item....I like the size and I have a very good mechanics vice that would work well with this.

[K.O.M.]

That's a nice option for pieces 4" and shorter. Tighter bend radius than the Harbor Freight for sure.

I have the 18" HF brake, and I've made a one piece 16 gauge stainless steel chassis (boat side), for my Tamiya DF-01, worked fine for that, though that might be the limit of the HF bending brake. It'll do similar gauge aluminum a lot easier. I've also cold bent Lexan wit the HF bending brake with moderate effort.

The key to the HF brake is to have a sturdy table and really strong c-clamps; recommend using 4 for clamps for anything longer than 6 inches.

[C*H*U*D]

Those aren't bad for what they are. We have them at work and I still use them from time to time. They don't take the place of a good brake, but they're also less expensive and small enough to put on a shelf.

[DrewHammer]

Very interesting. I've never seen a vice brake like that.

FWIW, if bend radius matters to you, I'd get a pan brake. I use a press brake fairly regularly at work and sometimes wish I could get tighter radii. Since a press brake doesn't hold the material tight against the tongue/shoe/leaf it'll only form a radius tight enough for the material to work in the bender, whereas a pan brake will hold the material tight against the leafs.

I'd cruise Craigslist a bit and see if you can get someones nice, older brake in your price range.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by DrewHammer

Very interesting. I've never seen a vice brake like that.

FWIW, if bend radius matters to you, I'd get a pan brake. I use a press brake fairly regularly at work and sometimes wish I could get tighter radii. Since a press brake doesn't hold the material tight against the tongue/shoe/leaf it'll only form a radius tight enough for the material to work in the bender, whereas a pan brake will hold the material tight against the leafs.

I'd cruise Craigslist a bit and see if you can get someones nice, older brake in your price range.

Good point and something I should have mentioned from my experience with the vise brake above.

The thinner the sheet metal, the looser the bend will be on that vise brake. It's designed to work with different gauges, and thicker material works better.