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Bending flat stock

dremu

dremu

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I'm just full o' thinking tonight, a very dangerous proposition indeed /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

So I understand about tubing benders, been reading the bazillions of posts on that topic... but how about flat stock? Obviously the thin stuff can be done by hand or in a vice... but, say, 1" x 1/4" stock is stronger than I can bend by hand.

Can one do it in a tubing bender with new dies, or by some miracle involving duct tape, or ... what does one use?

-- A
 
Oh, you mean using the right tool /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif

Somehow I doubt my little propane torch would heat 1/4" stock up enough to bend it, so a real torch would cost me more than the bender.... whee, so many power tools, so little money! /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif

-- A
 
I've got the "Compact Bender" and it works fairly well. There is also a plan for a small bending brake that will do up to around 2 x 0.250 over on the Hobart welding board. Also saw some round stock benders over there that were pretty simple.

Hobart Board
 
[ QUOTE ]
I've got the "Compact Bender" and it works fairly well. There is also a plan for a small bending brake that will do up to around 2 x 0.250 over on the Hobart welding board. Also saw some round stock benders over there that were pretty simple.

Hobart Board

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44094.gif




so you can make slider and bumpers with this /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
 
No, not unless you want to make them out of solid bar and strap stock. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif That bender works well for those, and there is a larger, stronger, and more expensive bender like that which will hold dies that can bend tubing (Greenlee (sp?) is the main name) but generally you want a ratcheting bender like the JD2 for bending tubing to make bumpers and the like...
 
[ QUOTE ]
No, not unless you want to make them out of solid bar and strap stock. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif That bender works well for those, and there is a larger, stronger, and more expensive bender like that which will hold dies that can bend tubing (Greenlee (sp?) is the main name) but generally you want a ratcheting bender like the JD2 for bending tubing to make bumpers and the like...

[/ QUOTE ]



I was looking at this before I saw your post


M3B%20BW.jpg
 
for $266 sounds like a good deal. I want to get it sometime before this summer.... also whats an averge price for tubing? my dad works at an sheet metal shop and can get it at an cheaper price /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif but he hasn't check it yet. anyways we have acess to all sorts of stuff execpt a tube bender. he's going to try to talk them into getting 1 if not well just buy it /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif
 
That's a good one, and the price is pretty typical of those benders. I have an NE5 which has features that I think place it above the rest, but it lacks the nice "polish" and fancy knurled pins the others have added. Plus it was cheaper when I bought it and I basically got a degree ring free, local, no delays and no shipping.

As for steel, it's been literally going through the roof. I was paying less than $1 a foot for uncut (20') lengths of 1.75 x 0.120 last year. Trying to find an old steel bill to get an exact number, but seems like $0.70 or so when I built my cage. Earlier this year, I paid 1.23 per foot. Now, it's approaching $2 a foot from what I've been told. Fortunately, I bought up a bunch back in Feb so that I wouldn't have to buy it when it topped out... $1000 worth of steel at once hurt and cluttered my shop, but from what I hear, nobody expects it to go down again for *years* if ever...
 
[ QUOTE ]
That's a good one, and the price is pretty typical of those benders. I have an NE5 which has features that I think place it above the rest, but it lacks the nice "polish" and fancy knurled pins the others have added. Plus it was cheaper when I bought it and I basically got a degree ring free, local, no delays and no shipping.

As for steel, it's been literally going through the roof. I was paying less than $1 a foot for uncut (20') lengths of 1.75 x 0.120 last year. Trying to find an old steel bill to get an exact number, but seems like $0.70 or so when I built my cage. Earlier this year, I paid 1.23 per foot. Now, it's approaching $2 a foot from what I've been told. Fortunately, I bought up a bunch back in Feb so that I wouldn't have to buy it when it topped out... $1000 worth of steel at once hurt and cluttered my shop, but from what I hear, nobody expects it to go down again for *years* if ever...

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thanks...I think I should start stocking up on tubing soon before the prices get out of hand. another question, what's the general or best size tubing to make sliders and bumpes?

thanks /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif
 
IMO the prices are out of hand. Mild will almost match cro-moly the way it is going.
As for bending flat stock I use the harbor freight pipe bender (ya know the orange tubing kinker) I used the original mandrel parts and welded some 2.5" wide flat stock on them that match the radius. So I have an 8 ton flat stock bender with 6 different radii now. It does 2" .50 plate fairly well (with no heat too). That is the only good use for that tool that I have found.
 
As always, the answer is, "it depends"...

On:

what dies you have.
how big it needs to be.
how strong it needs to be.
if it needs to be able to stand up to abrasion.
and on and on...

Sliders and bumpers are two totally different things. However, because I have a only a 1.75 and a 1" die, I would use those sizes due to the cost of dies. If I thought a new die was worth it and needed, I would look at the use, and also the aesthetic proportions (2" tube looks strange on a Jeep bumper, but maybe not on a 2500 HD depending on how it's designed). As for sliders, I don't care for the round tube versions. The are generally (IMO) a moderate duty design that give in a lot too aesthetic compromises. If you *really* expect to use it (like most of us in AZ) then you probably want something like 0.188 wall square tube. 2x3x0.188 is what we used on my son's, and what I’ll be putting on the family K5 when I get to it. My buggy has 2 x 2 x 0.250 "outriggers" only supported near the ends, and I have landed HARD on them many times with no damage. Normal tube will not hold up so well, even if comparable thickness is used. Lots of things to think about...
 
Heh, I did a similar thing with my tube bender. I took a 3 x 0.250 short and bent it into a 90* over the shoulders of my die. It's wide enough that it is not possible to fall in between the shoulders and damage the die. I use that and flip the follower over to bend radiuses in strap stock. The radius is near perfect for diff cover ring guards! /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

I’ve also got some plans to build a press brake for my 20 ton shop press and a small brake (based on the Hobart site plans) just for convenience. Right now my HF compact bender is mounted in one of the receiver hitches on the back side of my welding table so it’s pretty easy to get to, but sometimes it would be easier just to use the little brake. And making your own fab tools is just plain cool…
 
[ QUOTE ]
As always, the answer is, "it depends"...

On:

what dies you have.
how big it needs to be.
how strong it needs to be.
if it needs to be able to stand up to abrasion.
and on and on...

Sliders and bumpers are two totally different things. However, because I have a only a 1.75 and a 1" die, I would use those sizes due to the cost of dies. If I thought a new die was worth it and needed, I would look at the use, and also the aesthetic proportions (2" tube looks strange on a Jeep bumper, but maybe not on a 2500 HD depending on how it's designed). As for sliders, I don't care for the round tube versions. The are generally (IMO) a moderate duty design that give in a lot too aesthetic compromises. If you *really* expect to use it (like most of us in AZ) then you probably want something like 0.188 wall square tube. 2x3x0.188 is what we used on my son's, and what I’ll be putting on the family K5 when I get to it. My buggy has 2 x 2 x 0.250 "outriggers" only supported near the ends, and I have landed HARD on them many times with no damage. Normal tube will not hold up so well, even if comparable thickness is used. Lots of things to think about...

[/ QUOTE ]



good point. I'm stil deciding on how I want to make my sliders. I was thinking of using 2x4 or 2x6 scquare tubing to give pleanty of protection and cuting 2 inches in to my rockers to sit flush but not real sure on how to mount them
I don't really want to weld them to the body...


something like this
4472end-med.JPG
 
Ya, as russ stated kicker tubes on sliders crush real easily. I have collapsed my tubes in now and when I boat side my truck this summer will use thick wall rec. tube with no kicker tube. I don't use the regular 2"x3" .188 wall though, I use 1"x3" .120 wall with a 3/4"x3/4" .120 wall piece slid inside on both sides. This basicall gives me a .250 wall slim line tube, having the extra walls of the 3/4" pieces makes it plenty strong (I have not bent it or crushed the 1x3 yet) It is set up like this

Top view (not to scale)

---------------- <- edge of 3"
XXXXXXXXXX <- 3/4" sleeve
|||||||||||||||| <- 3/4" empty space in middle
XXXXXXXXXX <- 3/4" sleeve
---------------- <- edge of 3"

Side view (not to scale)
---------------- <- top of 3"
XXXXXXXXXX <- 3/4" sleeve
---------------- <- bottom of 3"
 
The last ones I did use a couple of pieces of 1 x 0.120 angle welded to the slider with one leg vertical. The slider then attached to the 2 braces coming off the body mounts, and have provision for tying in the cage from above as well. The vertical on the angle iron goes behind the sheet metal. For the quarter, it attached with rosette welds and the seam was filled with seam sealer. This was a boat side so no rockers, but you could do something similar there with a smaller vertical. Same thing for the front fender which looses it's lower mounting point. The fender still needs to be removable, so we just used some button head screws to attach it to it's piece of angle.

And like the pic shows, you want to have it stick out a bit to protect the body, and don’t mount it too high if you want to keep the doors stock (so the pinch weld can clear over).
 
[ QUOTE ]
The last ones I did use a couple of pieces of 1 x 0.120 angle welded to the slider with one leg vertical. The slider then attached to the 2 braces coming off the body mounts, and have provision for tying in the cage from above as well. The vertical on the angle iron goes behind the sheet metal. For the quarter, it attached with rosette welds and the seam was filled with seam sealer. This was a boat side so no rockers, but you could do something similar there with a smaller vertical. Same thing for the front fender which looses it's lower mounting point. The fender still needs to be removable, so we just used some button head screws to attach it to it's piece of angle.

And like the pic shows, you want to have it stick out a bit to protect the body, and don’t mount it too high if you want to keep the doors stock (so the pinch weld can clear over).

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks now I have an idea on how to mount the slider... I was thinkindg I don't want the slider that high just the same size I think those are 2x6. also what I want to do is cut out 2 inches or so into the rockers then moun them to the body mounts like you said . what do you think....



justin
 
I think we're getting too far off topic... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I would suggest starting a new post with a clear subject. You'll get lots of input and discussion.

Sorry to go so far off topic...
 
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