Hydraulic press for bending plate

[flagg]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of using a 30-50 tonne hydraulic press with some sort of die and V block to bend plate steel. The largest I'm thinking of is 6mm thick plate and a bend maybe 200mm long. Max 90 deg.

The plan is to make up a Vee block out of thick angle iron with significant reinforcements. Either buy a Die or make one up.

Similar to this:

Hydraulic Press Bending Steel - YouTube

But with much larger, thicker plate. Is this feasible - or is the strength required too much?

Thanks :)

[slug_burner]

I think you will be ok, even if you have to do it in shorter sections iaw your die.

[justfishing]

Hello,
You do not need the angle for the ram side ( top bit ) nice 16 mm piece of Bisalloy ( carbon steel, wear plates ) would do better as for the block depends on what you can get, it would be better with 2 bits of angle upside down next to each other as the you tube shown will flatten out with thicker plate. Good project would interested in what you make.
Ian

[dhc4ever]

Yep its doable, not sure if 200 mm is feasible with the press you have, but probably possible up to 6mm thick.
I made a press brake for my 20 ton press, have a look here, second post down;
View topic - Show Us Your Welding Creativity | Australian 4WD Action (http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=131747&start=30)
I reinforced the angle with solid bar under all the angles, beveled all the joins very well and then tacked everything together every 50 mm then welded in 50 mm sections one here, one there to limit distortion.
I put a lot of bracing under the base plate thats not shown in the photos.
Google press brake and take the best ideas for use in yours.
Cheers

[roverrescue]

I totally understand the "need to create", but this mob get good wraps on US fora
Metal Fabrication Tools (http://www.swagoffroad.com/Metal-Fabrication-Tools-_c_7.html)
freight would be ugly I imagine but just in case you hadnt come across them?

Steve

[flagg]

Steve - I hadn't seen that before. Mind = blown. :D

Thanks!

Sometimes it doesn't matter much much I search for something on the internet I just don't find it.

[Ancient Mariner]

The usual width of the V die to use is 8 times the material thickness if you use a bigger die size you need less tonage but require a larger flange so you may need to bend then trim the flange to size. It is very easy to get dog knotted when bending complex shapes so it is advisable to try bending the shape on some scrap first .The pic is a standard brake press type v die which is fairly versatile .To bend 300mm of MS plate would require about 14.5 tons with a
48mm die or 5.4 tons with a 96 mm die
AM




F

[De Ranged]

Flag a couple of things wrong with the angle iron idea, first and most obvious is you wont be able to bend 90degree with it my guess is about 85degrees with 6mm, there is a certain amount of spring back.... you need to change the shape of your blade and the die your pushing into
Your blade wants to be something with an edge sharper than 90 degrees and strong enough not to bend or bruise... Id suggest hitting up the local contractors for a length of bucket or grader blade edging (should cost you a box as once you wear them down to a certain length they are a throw away)
cut it with a grinder and grind it to shape
As for the die lol simpe a bit of reinforced "U" channel, the only contract points are the edges either side, just make certain it is deeper than it is wide, imagine laying a bit of angle in there + the thickness of the material and some extra depth for spring back
As AM pointed out 8x the width of what you want to bend, narrower and it ramps up the amount of force required, it also runs the risk of damage to your work
If your wider it makes it easier, but makes your bend radius larger

I run a 60 ton jack in mine and Ive bent 200mm wide 10mm plate to a 45 degree in an 80mm wide die... I'm guessing I'm near max on the jack as I broke the linch pin for the jack handle pump mech lol
I'll get a pic or two of mine if you want.... it was made from my scrap metal pile tho so lol lets just say its a case of what fitted and worked

[wrinklearthur]

The usual width of the V die to use is 8 times the material thickness if you use a bigger die size you need less tonage but require a larger flange so you may need to bend then trim the flange to size. It is very easy to get dog knotted when bending complex shapes so it is advisable to try bending the shape on some scrap first .The pic is a standard brake press type v die which is fairly versatile .To bend 300mm of MS plate would require about 14.5 tons with a 48mm die or 5.4 tons with a 96 mm die

Reversing the whole concept, I am thinking that I should start looking at the longest length of material I would need to fold up.
A couple of sections come to mind, that is the steel top piece of the fire wall and the side panels of the rear tub.

Once the overall length has been determined, the construction of the press frame would be made to suit that length.
if the ends of the frame were left open small section sizes could pass through and not restricted.
.
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