"Bob" wrote in message
arthlink.net...
There's a Gingery book on building a sheet metal brake. Of course, you
can
rent them. There's also a tool used by roofers (years ago)on the roof for
standing seam tin roofs, bends about 16" per action, probably impossible
to
find now (my moron neighbor had one from the junkyard, but left out it in
his yard for the local scum to steal). But consider well if tin
encapsulation is really what you want; it prevents the wood from drying
out,
and promotes rot and insect damage, besides giving an older home that
ghetto
look. Open, painted wood of the right species should last at least a
century, and dutchman patches might double that. Epoxy wood fillers are a
nifty way to save complex shapes. Note that this is the last year CCA
treated timber will be sold.

And I just built a complete deck and gazebo with the stuff.






"William G Darby" wrote in message
.. .
First I want to thank everyone who has offered comments. I sure have
learned
a lot about brakes that I never knew before. So again thanks to
everyone.

To be honest I took a long look at the hinge type bender found in the
Port-O-Brake but they are far to difficult to build a one of. What did
catch
my imagination was the idea of milling something like a 3/4" dia ball
nosed*
end mill slot 3/8" deep along the top edge of a .5" by 3" al/steel bar
about
7' long. If I then placed a half round 3/4' rod in the channel and a
clamping plate whose edge lay exactly along the center line of the rod I
would have a 7 foot "light metal" brake.

All I need do is clamp the line to be bent along the centerline of the
slot
and rotate the rod using handles at both ends simultaneously. (perhaps
a
rotation handle in the middle as well) I should be able to get a
perfect
7
foot 90Ebend. This arrangement seems quite sound as it provides support
for
the full length of the bend and axis of the bending face is forced to
rotate
exactly about the axis of the required bend and therefore there should
be
no
deviation from the desired bend line.

* The slot could be made with a square end, end mill as the half round
would
still rotate properly but the wear point would be restricted to the two
(three) points upon which the half round would rotate upon.

In any case I am in no rush to build this thing and I do enjoy playing
with
various ideas.

Thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

Bill



"George" wrote in message
...
If you want a cheap bender, Harbor Freight has a number of them that
fit the bill. Bear in mind that there are many different benders.
For example, I have a 48" Harbor Freight brake in a style known as a
pan & box brake as it has metal dies that can be removed/moved to bend
insides of pans. If you don't need to do complex bends, there are
cheap benders out there that will just bend whatever size of metal you
put in - depending on the gauge rating though. For example, my brake
is rated to 16 ga mild steel but I rarely bend anything thicker than
20 ga in it.

You can spend a ton for a production bender - Tennsmiths and other
name brands just go up and up and up. They are beautiful machines but
out of my price range at least. On the other hand, There are small
light duty benders starting at $40 that should make short work of thin
aluminum. Do some digging at Harbor Freight, Enco, US Industrial,
Williams Lo-Buck Tools, and MSC and you'll quickly get an idea of
prices and features.

I've heard of guys putting sheet metal on their bench, angle iron on
top held down with clamps and then bending the metal by hand. If you
are dealing with real thin aluminum, maybe that is an option.

Hope this helps,

--G--


On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 21:59:49 -0400, "William G Darby"
wrote:

Hi All

Yea,, I am looking at my windows and I can see that some are
rotting
out. They are 20 years old and are near the end of the road. A
complete
replacement is a $14K deal. So,,,, to soften the blow I was thinking
of
cutting out the rot, replace it as required and refurbishing the
surfaces
with a resin paint and then try my hand at surfacing everything with
light
aluminium or vinyl. I think I can permanently bond either to the
existing
frames with PL Premium and or calk.

I guess there are a lot of ways to tackle the problem but I am
partial
to buying a roll of AL at home depot and bending it up as required. I
see
that there is a Bandito bender for $449 I.E.:



http://www.toolscomplete.com/t/Tubin...o_39_Heavy_Dut
y_Metal_Bending_Brake_23045.htm

But not being a tin man I am not at all sure that it's what I would
need
and
also I would like to try my hand at fabricating a bender. Does anyone
have a
simple plan for a brake and or any advise on the subject??

Thanks
Bill D