Poor Mans CNC Brake

[magma-joe]

After looking at Big Toys press brake build I think he stole the show. I must say for a home build it is awesome. Some day I hope to own such a press brake but for now I will have to settle for my poor mans CNC brake.

It is a 48" x 12 gage National finger brake converted to hydraulics. After setting it up it will repeat the same bend all day. I installed a cheap linear read out scale and an electrical switch for setting and controlling position.

I also added a rotary encoder and a read out I bought off ebay for 75.00 for quick one off bends. The hydraulic system is single acting so I placed the counter weights on the handles to speed the return of the leaf after a bend. The handle valve on the stand ports to the oil tank when opened. When Making a bend I can crack the valve and "throttle" the speed down to a snails pace for better control.

Magma-joe

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by magma-joe After looking at Big Toys press brake build I think he stole the show. I must say for a home build it is awesome. Some day I hope to own such a press brake but for now I will have to settle for my poor mans CNC brake. It is a 48" x 12 gage National finger brake converted to hydraulics. After setting it up it will repeat the same bend all day. I installed a cheap linear read out scale and an electrical switch for setting and controlling position. I also added a rotary encoder and a read out I bought off ebay for 75.00 for quick one off bends. The hydraulic system is single acting so I placed the counter weights on the handles to speed the return of the leaf after a bend. The handle valve on the stand ports to the oil tank when opened. When Making a bend I can crack the valve and "throttle" the speed down to a snails pace for better control. Magma-joe

That is a super nice setup....

Garry

[skippy]

You've acheived repeatable performance on a low budget setup. Nice work and well done!

[BobWarfield]

That's cool!

BW