Swag 20 ton finger press brake

[Advanced Design]

Somewhere in internet land I read a reference to a Swag press brake and how handy it was for their shop.

So, I checked out their product at the company website, viewed their videos about the press and found one on Ebay from them for less than on their website.

They sell an unwelded one that fits in a flat USPS box and they included the shipping fee in the price of their product. Their reasoning for the unwelded unit is if you want to bend metal like this you can probably weld...like their thinking.

Ordered it on Tuesday and it arrived on Thursday with our postman huffing and puffing it to the front porch.

Unit is well built, made in Oregon and includes a depth stop for repeat procedures.

[Advanced Design]

I only grabbed a few pictures when we were assembling it up at my neighbors shop. The pins to the side press into the base half way, then you weld them on the bottom.

We used the press shown because that is what he has. He built it about 20 years ago.

The base is formed to cradle the angle iron forming the bottom of the press area.

[Advanced Design]

The top (finger) side of the press uses guides to control the position of the finger assembly during the pressing process. Instructions suggested to "eyeball" the guides half way fore and aft.

Wasn't good enough for my buddy. He straight edged it and measured to position them.

Welded in position.

[Advanced Design]

Wanted to try it out so I used my 12 ton press on this piece of 1/4" material.

It worked fine and I will put one of the 20 ton bottle jacks in the press to make it a little easier.

And I need to grab some longer plates for the bridge base.

So far I am pretty pleased with the finger brake. Will try some lighter material as that is the majority of my fabrication.

[Advanced Design]

I tried the press brake today on some 16 gauge and it really doesn't get a 90 degree bend. Maybe I can think of an insert for the base to be able to get a true 90 degree bend.

Swag website and videos state a 110 degree bend is possible. I suppose it is if you measure from the other side?

I did get the 90 degree bend I was after.

[franken]

I've been wanting one of those.
I'd think a slightly better design would use 2 pieces of angle to form the V on the bottom, possibly with one or both shimmed slightly so the V was a bit less than 90 degrees. This would bend a bit past 90 to allow for the elasticity of whatever is being bent.
You might get a piece of say .75" angle the same width to lay on one side to simulate the bed being less than 90...

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by franken

I've been wanting one of those.
I'd think a slightly better design would use 2 pieces of angle to form the V on the bottom, possibly with one or both shimmed slightly so the V was a bit less than 90 degrees. This would bend a bit past 90 to allow for the elasticity of whatever is being bent.
You might get a piece of say .75" angle the same width to lay on one side to simulate the bed being less than 90...

Great idea and I will give them a try. Thanks Franken!

[PGSigns]

Getting rid of the radius in the bottom piece of angle may do the trick. Should allow the finger to get that last bit of bend needed. I know the dies we have at work are a clean tight vee in the bottom. Does look like it would be a nice addition to the shop for making brackets and mounts.
Jimmy

[cg285]

i had to build dies for mine in order to do shorter length bends

[truckster]

I'm thinking of making one with the vee in the bottom made of two pieces of flat bar welded together. That way I would eliminate the radius in the bottom of the angle. I could even make the angle a little tighter, if I need to, to compensate for metal springing back after bending.

[michael bustamante]

what link did you use for the e bay finding?

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by michael bustamante

what link did you use for the e bay finding?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271303190338...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Hope this helps.

[notchbackgta]

They sell another "die" for thinner pieces of metal. it is just a flat plate on the bottom with two pieces of metal, same thickness, half as wide as the bottom that are slotted at the ends for bolts to slide. You move the top plates in and out to get your 90 degree bend on the lighter material.

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by notchbackgta

They sell another "die" for thinner pieces of metal. it is just a flat plate on the bottom with two pieces of metal, same thickness, half as wide as the bottom that are slotted at the ends for bolts to slide. You move the top plates in and out to get your 90 degree bend on the lighter material.

I saw that on their website and didn't really understand what it does. Will have to check it out again.

Thanks for all the ideas guys. It does need a sharped V at the bottom.

[CHIZZLER]

Swag makes some nice stuff. I've been to a couple local shows and seen there stuff set up.

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by CHIZZLER

Swag makes some nice stuff. I've been to a couple local shows and seen there stuff set up.

I was pretty impressed with their creativity and video's on their web site. And after following Rocktonka's build I have a hankering for their dimple dies.

Kinda spendy for no more than I would use them.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281460832627...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Here is their adjustable V bottom Notchbackgta mentioned.

http://www.swagoffroad.com/FLAT-TOP-...Kit-_p_94.html

Looks like if will allow a 90 degree plus bend.

[CHIZZLER]

I have been looking for a quality used hydraulic press but no luck yet.

[Advanced Design]

Chizzler, Swag kinda talks up the Harbor Freight unit that their press is designed for. Might be worth checking out.

I went ahead and ordered the flat top kit and hope I can use it this week end.

[CHIZZLER]

Thanks. i will check it out.

[_Ogre]

lots of peoples over on pirate4x4 forum that have these swag benders
many mods to make them work better/different, jigs and specialty bending heads
harbor fright has the air over hydraulic jacks that many of them use and straight electric/hydraulic conversions

[crossfire84]

I don't see any bolt holes in the fingers. How are they held in?

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by crossfire84

I don't see any bolt holes in the fingers. How are they held in?

Yhe fingers are clamped between the two flat bars. The second bar has the stepped edge to provide additional support to the fingers.

Here is a link to their page with a video demonstrating.
http://www.swagoffroad.com/20-TON-Fi...-Kit_p_86.html

[Advanced Design]

The adjustable flat top kit showed up two days after ordering. It is a well made heavy piece and allowed me to bend beyond 90 degrees. The plates were adjusted all the way out.

If I took time to play around with it, I anticipate the degrees of bend could be controlled by the width of the gap between the two plates.

[diceman50]

Thanks A/D, Very helpful.

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by diceman50

Thanks A/D, Very helpful.

Very welcome Ron. It is about right for no more bending than I do. It works well.