Making a Radius Bending Fixture for Sheetmetal
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Ron Covell shows how easy it is to build a radius bending attachment that mounts to a workbench.
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THIS. This is what I needed to enter metal working. Simple, affordable, and adaptable. Up until this moment I've been limited in my projects to flat, square metal sheets. To my great frustration, sometimes you just need curves. And here it is. Thank you so much.
Glad I could help! I have nearly 100 videos on UA-cam. Perhaps there are some other ideas you can use!
You always make metal forming look easy. Nice as usual Ron.
Thanks 👍
This is the kind of diy i love. So simple, so cheap and such a good end result! Thank you for the video!!
Glad you liked it!
Thanks Ron, you always take a simple approach toward difficult problems - I have struggled with radius bends for years
Glad you liked it!
I’m a old tony watcher and now I’m a Ron Corell. Love your videos!
Thanks so much - more content on the way!
Excellent and simple. Very Ron Covell. You've had this bending fixture in your shop forever; longer than I've known you. I've done a lot of bending with just the tubing fixture clamped to the table for tanks and motorcycle tank tunnels, etc but always fudged it a bit. I think I need one of these! I think the radius edge tanks is the neatest thing I picked up from watching you (and Steve Davis). Keep digging in your tool box for these gems, please!
Brian - Thanks so much for the kind words!
I love quick and dirty solutions that get the job done without costing an arm and a leg. Thanks!
G Kuljian - Yes, quick and dirty is often good!
I love the looks gotten mid project when the customer/friend looks at how scabby or ugly looking something is as I'm making it, but it turns into a smile as they start to see where it's going and understand why I did some of the things I did early on with some bends etc. Good info as always Ron.
Dieselrotor - I know what you mean, not many people can 'catch on' to your thought process early in the project.
Excellent Ron, Thankyou! Simple and easy to build. You just gave me an idea for a brake that's similar but the axles of the bending leaf are on the centre line of the round tube and adjustable for use with interchangeable tubes for different radiuses, more complex than yours, but one could do a 180 deg. radius in one bend if needed. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us 👍
Van Der Hoof - Yes, sometimes you need to make bends up to 180-degrees, and my simple design isn't good for much more than 90-degrees.
Hi Van Der Hoof, would it be possible, to show, how you built this type of bending brake?
I'm always interested, to see other peoples solutions on tools. Thank you
This video is gonna save me a lot of money! Don't need to build a "slip roller" now. Thank You!
Glad it helped!
You are the best in the business Ron, have been following your work for years.
Awesome, thank you!
My son just sent one of your videos to me, I'm now going through them one by one! I've been a fabricator for nearly fifty years and am learning something from every vid. Thank you!
That is awesome!
Thank you for putting the background music in the background Ron
Dear Ron, thanks for the simple but effective solution for achieving rounded bends. Great idea...
Glad it was helpful!
The first time I used this method was to make a cowl for a steam traction engine at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney in 1988. I had your books and was learning metal forming when the issue of the cowl came up. I was just a lab tech but I piped up that I did a bit of metal forming in my spare time and was awarded the task. It came out well and I got promoted to workshop duties as well as lab duties. Thanks Ron
Sounds like you're a clever worker!
@@RonCovell I like making things,thats all. Im 53 and have been a maker for 43 of those years
A very clever artisan using simple tools; thank you Ron
Glad you are enjoying my videos.
Cool. Thank you for showing a non tooled shop version. I've been watch Trev's Blog for a while. He hooked up to yours. I've very excited on trying the things I see on his and your channel's. My Jeep Wrangler can use some TLC. It has been a life long chase if you will to build stuff for cars/trucks. Now I feel it's time to get my hands dirty!
Thanks for your comment, and good luck with your Jeep project!
This is amazing. I have watched quite a few of your videos. This one is so simple and yet so effective! Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge in metal shaping so freely!
You are so welcome!
Now THAT is slick! Thanks for sharing what the big brain puts out.
Stephen and Lori Young - I'm delighted that you liked it!
Thanks for the great video. You are a knowledgeable, yet humble man.
Thank you very much!
Excellent video! I usually shy away from thin metal working lack of of sheetmetal tools, especially the bending. Now I won't! I wish I'd seen this vid when it came out. I just subscribed a few days ago! With the snip tutorials and this diy build, I'm off and running! I have a bunch of back tracking to do on your videos. Thank you so much for passing on these methods and your experience. I will be back tracking on a bunch of projects that I passed over as too tedious. Maybe I can salvage some of the materials from failed attempts! Big thumbs up and thanks!
Welcome to my channel, and I wish you the best of luck on your projects!
Thanks Ron!
Excellent Video Ron. Short, concise, and very informative. Thank you.
Glad you liked it! Lots more videos on the way.
Hey, I am still here, You are the Best Ron, Hope you are staying safe !
I appreciate that!
Ron that's that cleanest table-top break design i've ever seen, great video keep up the hard work!!
Adam M - I'm very glad you liked it! More videos on the way.
Thanks for sharing Ron, fantastic idea! Such a simple design, yet so versatile, hence why you're the best!
Mick Holgate - Thanks so much for your kind comment!
The simplicity of your approach is brilliant new sub.
Awesome, thank you!
As always I learn something new every time i watch a covell video. You sir are a true metal craftsman. Thank you for your knowledge.
Tsr Racing - I'm glad you are learning more things, and there will be more videos to come!
Thank you so much, Mr. Covell. Excellent work. Thank you for making & posting this video. God Bless you.
You are very welcome!
Excellent idea, and gives me a brilliant idea for a new tool I wanted to build. Thanks Ron, hope you are keeping well in these weird old times....Rob from England (Fh Ellis courses)
Cool, thanks! Good luck with your new tool idea, and send me a picture or video if you like!
About as simple as it gets! Thanks Ron!
Right on!
I really look forward to your videos! The next time i'm at the metal supply i'm going to buy a nice heavy piece of angle iron so i can build one of these!
You'll be glad you did!
I am helping my Brother do body work fabrications on his 1919 Plymouth Coupe he just bought and as you know everything is Round...We are using 16 Gauged sheet metal. We did a couple 42" bends but we had to heat it to bend by hand on a home made steel frame we threw together with a round bar welding on it to give the shape. Now after seeing your video I jumped up and grabbed one of rear end of non running 8N ford tractor. The 8N does not need a motor to lift the lift arms. To test a 8N without starting it take the PTO handle is be sure it OUT OF GEAR turning the PTO OFF. Now move the hydraulic lift lever to the fully up position and then turn the PTO as fast as you can COUNTER CLOCKWISE, If the hydraulics is good it should start lifting the lift arms almost instantly. A running 8N can lift 900 LBS at full speed. But I'm guessing it can lift 300-400 at idle. I'll be cranking the PTO with a Hand Crank so who knows. Might work? Already mounted my already made super heavy gauge 8 foot long and 4 foot wide table to the rear of the tractor just over the lift arms. Can't wait to get it finished tomorrow.to try it out...In my mind I trying to calculate how much pressure is needed to bend 16 gauge say 4 foot long without heating it? With heating it I know it takes only two to three hundred ILS.
Interesting approach. Let me know how it works. Most cars of that era used 19-gauge metal for the bodywork, which is considerably easier to bend and work, compared with 16-gauge.
I love its simplicity, everyone can do this.
Simple is good!
I LOVED this video and your creations! Thank you for sharing! I only just found your channel. Will be watching more of your work.
I have close to 100 videos, so you would probably enjoy some of the other ones, too!
@@RonCovell 100 MORE! That’s Great! 👍⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Very nicely done. Just a bit of metal and some welding with my everlast welder. I love these kinds of projects.
Great!
Thanks Ron for that info,it is worth money just learning what you showed .That's one reason why I subscribed.
rockymontana1 - Thank you SO MUCH for subscribing, and I'm glad you enjoy my videos. I promise there will be more on the way.
Amazing, I watched a metal Craftsman in a third world country and he was using similar bending method. Wonder how many of these old tricks are lost. Good job and thank you.
I'm very glad you enjoyed this video, and that you took the time to comment!
Thank you, you have given me an idea for my one-off. I need to make a 11cm tube for a chimney flue, so I will try with just a steel tube screwed to the bench.
Later I will need to make a 2m J section guttering for the rear window of our camping-car, again I hope to bend it round a steel tube like you.
I hope this works well for you!
@@RonCovell In the end I used my Black and Decker Workmate, it worked fine thankyou
Great video Ron, really beautifully explained and demonstrated.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Great setup Ron. I've got a similar (albeit more complicated) design that I've never gotten around to finishing building. Inspiring me to finish it up. 👍
Thanks so much, Alan! I'll be eager to see your design when you get it operational.
Thanks for posting!
Just BEAUTIFUL!
Very simple... and works nicely 👍👍👍
Sometimes simple is good!
Awesome video thanks from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
Thanks for watching, and for commenting, mate!
I hope so. Have to look at the new floor braces and match the bend to a pipe and It's off to the races. Can't wait. Just have to make the brake long enough for a inner rocker which is about 6ft.
Very nice! Old school fabrication methods joined with modern tech (e.g., mig). Excellent!
Sub.
I'm so glad you liked this video, and thank you for subscribing!
I try To make my armor plated on my jeep thanks for this tips 🤙
This technique should work well for that application.
Wow so simple Ron your the man your worth your weight in gold keep it up 👌
Thank you, I will!
Thanks Ron - another project on my list
Go for it!
Solid gold, friend. I need this for a project. Will make tomorrow. Thank you.
Very cool - I trust it will work as well for you as it has for me!
Very clever. Simple & effective. 👍👍
Glad you like it! This device has worked very well for me.
Hi Ron.....I saw your story on Trev's chanel. I'm a new subscriber and look forward to seeing your work. Be safe and have a happy day!
John - Welcome to my channel! I hope you will enjoy my videos, and I plan to upload more in the near future!
Good job man! I'm needing to roll a 90 degree radius on a 22 in x 8 inch piece of 1/8 sheet metal. I need to saw a dent out of a lower outside dump truck body, weld the new in place and grind the welds smooth.
Glad you liked the video! 1/8-inch material is a bit challenging to bend with a device like shown in this video, especially with a smaller radius (the larger the radius, the less pressure it takes to bend it). Here is a video that shows how I bend 1/8-inch material:
ua-cam.com/video/utKpSRpLzCE/v-deo.html
Thanks for sharing. Always nice seeing what can be done with simple tools and a little bit of clever 😁
Tom Hanley - I'm very glad you enjoyed this video. More to come!
Fantastic, for my little lab is perfect. Thanks for suggestion Ron
Leonardo Chiruzzi - Yes, this idea is perfect for small working spaces, since it can be quickly removed from the tabletop when not in use.
It's great to see the simple things working that perfect. Now I have to cut and weld a little bit. 😁 Thanks a lot Ron, see you at SEMA!
West-Berlin-Customs - I'll be 'hanging-out' in the Trick Tools booth again!
Ron Covell Awesome, it will be great to meet you again - I will stop by at the booth to say hello! I can't wait to be in LA and Las Vegas again. 👋😃👍 Cheers, TOBi
@@RonCovell,see you at sema,Ron!
What days and time will you be there?
Phil Ortega - I will be demonstrating in the Trick Tools (Booth #20027) on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 11 AM and 2 PM. Come by and say 'Hi'!
25 seconds in and I pause to say "damn what a clever design" when looking at that brake. I'm rebulding my sheet metal brake to be like that ASAP!
You'll be glad you did!
GREAT IDEAS!!! THANKS, RON!!!
Glad you like them!
Thank you for sharing this will work perfectly for my transmission pan build
Great!
Many Thanks. It is EXACTLY what I meed to make fuel tanks..Will make these devices and attach to my workbench!
That's great - this fixture has served me well over the years!
Excellent content- as usual !! Thanks, Ron.
Glad you enjoyed it
Who needs art when you have stuff like this?
I'm so glad you liked it!
Simple, but very effective
Nicely done 👍
Glad you like it!
Thanks Ron. Ingenius method and well explained.
Robert Beck - I'm very glad that you enjoyed the video, and took the time to comment!
Great video Ron! How was going to add some homemade radius dies to my leaf brake, but you made a great point, and showing its limitations because of its size, and I'll be making one like yours. Good to see you making some videos, hope all is well.
louverdudski - Glad you liked it! I have 40 other UA-cam videos posted, and more on the way!
@@RonCovell oh, I keep up on your videos. In fact between you and Tin Man, is the only reason I still have a VHS player! Haha
Up next, Ron makes a complete roadster body using a bucket and a spring. 💪
HAH! - That's a good one. I do plan to make a video on building another Bomber Seat using VERY simple tools!
@@RonCovell Excellent! and yes you can absolutely do quite a bit with minimal hand tools. Although dragging old machinery home is fun too haha
Thank you Ron...very helpful
Glad to hear it!
Great idea with the square stock tacked that way.
Bill De La Vega - Yeah - it really doesn't work well without that feature!
Very nice Ron, I've learned so much from your videos.
Thanks for watching, and commenting! I'll have a new video this weekend.
Thanks, very useful, all the best ideas are the simple ones!!
Glad you think so!
Exelente Maestro!!!!
Saludos desde Cordoba Argentina.
Nice simple setup Ron. I would be interested in a video explaining how to calculate that offset you set the bending bar at in creating the corner bends of that tank.
To make a tank, I bend a test strip first, with bend lines spaced the dimensions I want the finished sides to be (for example, 10-inches, 5-inches, 10-inches, 5-inches). Then I make all the bends with the bend lines aligned with the edge of my table. This test strip will always comes out oversize, but then I know how much to reduce each dimension to get the exact size I want. Fortunately, this process works with any degree of bend, so the tank doesn't have to be 'square'.
@@RonCovell thanks Ron. And I guess your rollation techniques will come in handy here too.
Hmmm - I've never used rollation to make a gas tank, but I guess you could. I normally just work from dimensions.
Here's an article I wrote for a magazine that shows the process in more detail:
digitaleditiononline.com/publication/?m=54239&i=683927&p=120
you make it look so easy
The first 100 times are the hardest!
Excellent and thanks for taking the trouble to share this DIY tool.
At the end of the video you hint it could be used to make a bonnet ?
Is there somewhere I can see the method used to do that ?
regards Paul
I'm glad you liked it! I'm out of town until Tuesday next week. If you send me an email then, I think I have a picture that will explain the process - covell@cruzio.com
@@RonCovell Thanks for your very prompt reply , will be in touch all the baet Paul
Nice to see a real person doing real shit
Thanks!
Wow what a nice material
Thanks for watching, and commenting!
what a craftsman superb
I'm so glad you liked it!
Excellent idea Ron, thanks for sharing.
Glad you liked it!
Hello
Scooter R
Simple, and perfectly effective! Thanks for sharing Ron!!
tj marshall - I'm so glad you enjoyed this video. Keep an eye out for more in the near future.
Thanks for posting that video!
Glad you liked it!
Great Idea! Will use in my projects!! Thanks!!
ARTUR ROIG - I'm very glad you found this useful!
Ron, just realized I been watching your videos for few years now, I had that video where you weld the Aluminium foil and used to show it to my mates here in Spain years ago, what was that liquid you used to clean the metal? It was in a glass container....
Can´t believe you replied to my coment... many thanks it means a lot to me that a top guy like you has the time to reply to one of my coments. Regards!
ARTUR ROIG - I normally use acetone to clean metal, but I always keep it in a metal container to prevent breaking it in a shop environment.
You're the best. Thanks man
I'm so glad you liked the video. I have over 100 videos on UA-cam, and you may enjoy some others!
That was brilliant!!!
Glad you liked it!
I will be making this ! Thank you 👍👍👍👍
Gib Clark - I hope you like yours as much as I like mine!
Gib Clark - I'm sure you will like it!
Just found your channel and Subscribed. Very nice work
Thanks and welcome! I have over 100 videos on UA-cam, so there is a good chance you may enjoy some of the other ones.
Great idea, will have to make one for my workshop. Thanks
Glad you liked it!
Man I want to learn how to do that! There's are so many things I want to create.
This is a pretty easy type of metal forming. I do hope you try your hand at it!
Awesome tip and something I was looking for.
Cheers brother
I'm delighted this is something you like!
This video now gives me the idea to DIY a custom diesel heater tank for a camp trailer. I find it hard most of the time to look for something which maybe close to fit and it just not the way you want it. Where as a custom built item would fit and match the needs of the build. Thank you for posting.
Don't have room in my shop for metal working tools. I'll have to keep them very basic. Your radius bender fits the bill when it comes time for me to build my own tank.
Do you use any lining material inside your tanks? I have seen some videos where a thick gray liquid was poured in to a tank, rotated around to get coverage then with the hole upside down to drain any excess.
I know there are many sealers on the market for tanks, but I have not used any of them.
Ron, I think you should run for President. I doubt we have a single politician who could make a radius bend with a few left over parts in their garage. They would have to out source it to China....and then pay for it twice. Great video, great idea.
Brad Deal - I'm very glad you liked my simple fixture, but I think I'll stick to what I know!
Wow I am impressed with the diffrent bends ,and the parts you made for your bender I can see many uses with that bender. 👍
Yes - it's a very versatile and useful tool!
Awesome video! Pretty much answers all the questions I had about bending a radius into aluminum sheet. If you get a chance to read this, can you tell me if you think your bending setup could bend a 20" wide sheet of 1/4" (.249") 3003 alloy aluminum 90 degrees with a 4" radius bend, i.e. using an 8" OD steel pipe as a bending die? It seem possible, in that I feel like 1/4" thick aluminum won't crack at a 4" radius (right???). What I am mostly unsure about is whether aluminum sheet that thick can be bent by hand. In your video, it looks like you're able to bend the metal with ease, but it also appears to be 1/32-1/16" thick and only 2" wide. For all I know, 20" wide 1/4" thick aluminum would require major hydraulics, and/or might rip your break out and destroy the end of your bench. What do you think? Again... amazing videos man.
Michael, while the principle shown with my fixture could conceivably work with 1/4-inch aluminum, the 'tonnage' required would mean that every aspect of the fixture would have to be 'beefed-up' considerably. For example, you couldn't rely on C-clamps alone to restrain the radius die - it would simply slide back on the bench with the thicker material.
Press brakes with radius dies are the best way to form 1/4-inch plate.
I found an online calculator for the minimum bend radius for 1/4-inch 3003 aluminum plate, indicating a radius of 3 material thicknesses (3/4-inch) was sufficient to prevent cracking when bending.
www.cumberlandmetals.com/aluminum/minimum-bend-radii/
@@RonCovell Ahhh... I never thought about the die slipping backwards, which I can absolutely see happening. Even if I built your rig with two really long handles to act as levers to overcome the manual pressure I'd have to apply to cold-bend 1/4" thick sheet, that doesn't help the fact that the amount of force being exerted on the system itself is simply a hell of a lot! Thanks for the response man. I am a software engineer by profession, but I watch all of your videos, because in my mind, I will one day have the courage to go all in and start a metal working shop and restore an old Buick. I'd trade in all the 1's and 0's in my digital world if I could earn a living working with my hands. Thanks Ron!
Excellent travaille
Merci beaucoup!
first vid-genius-subscribed-thanks for uploading
Thanks for watching, and subscribing. I will be uploading more videos soon!
You sir have inspired me
Great - I hope you do some wonderful work with that inspiration!
Brilliant!! Thanks for that. In the future I'm going to make some repair panels for some rusty rockers. This should work great!
I'm glad this video will prove useful for you!
Great and very informative.
Glad it was helpful!
That's very cool I love them.
Great tips. I love it! Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
You sir are outstanding 👍
Thank you kindly!
This is a great idea and video.... I have to make curve 1/8" milde steel, 5" x 16" lenght wise to a curve that wraps a 12" radius structure.. since getting a pipe of that diameter is impossible for me, what would be your approach using this method
When you bend metal, it always 'springs back', so you will have to bend your strip to a radius tighter than 12". I would start with a strip of metal longer than what you need, since it's hard to get the bend al the way to the ends of the part, and bend it over whatever radius is necessary so it springs back to a 12" radius. The ends can be trimmed off after bending. You can see something like this at the 7-minute point in this video: ua-cam.com/video/2PNl7QwURPs/v-deo.html
the place where you draw the line is that the start or the middle of the bend?
thanks for the good video.
The answer to your question is complicated, since there are many variables - most importantly the diameter of the radius die, how far the die is set back from the edge of the bench, and the angle of the bend.
I normally cut a test strip of the metal to be bent, make lines on it where I want the center of the bends to be, and make all the bends on that strip.
Then, I can know how to adjust the bend line locations on the actual part to get the results I want.
I will try the a test strip before I get on my actual project. I think this will help me get the right settings.
I made this fixture last week it works well, bu I have been struggling with the precise location of the bend.
My radius is a 30mm 🤪 at 90 degrees, 2mm aluminum.
Glad to hear you already made your bender! The 'test strip' method should work well for you.