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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Sydney
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    201

    Default Press forming flat bar

    Hi guys,
    I needed to make 8 brackets to attach the mudguards to the trailer for the sawmill I'm building. My first thought was to mill up nice curvy brackets from HDPE similar to the way truck mudguards are attached to their cantilevered tubular supports, but then I thought of bending saddle brackets up from 25 x 3mm flat steel. After consulting some guys at work, it seemed that a simple press tool for the hydraulic press would work to form the brackets. I made up a very basic tool from mild steel rod turned to the inside diameter of the clamps and some blocks of 25x25 bright mild steel welded to a steel base.

    IMG_0940.jpgIMG_0941.jpgIMG_0942.jpgIMG_0944.jpg

    The tool is made dead square, and to the final shape I wanted. ie. with no allowance for spring back. There was some spring back after forming, but a quick squeeze in the vice fixed that. The items came out of the tool after pressing with no jamming. Forming all 8 brackets plus a few spares took less than 10 minutes.

    IMG_0943.jpg

    I marked and cut them to length and drilled the holes after forming. Then de-greased them thoroughly and put them in the zinc plating bath. The picture below is before plating, to show how they fit on the trailer.

    IMG_0948.jpg

    Here they are zinc plated with a blue passivate finish.

    IMG_E0960.jpg

    This was a fun project, and the brackets will do the job well. The cantilevered tubes are 1 inch ID gal water pipe, pushed into sockets welded to the trailer frame so that I can remove the mudguards when using the mill. It's turned out to be a neat and simple way of attaching the mudguards.

    Graham.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge S Aust.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    5,942

    Default

    Hi Graham, They are very nice neat brackets for the trailer.
    Presses like yours are very underated, and can pressed into all sorts of uses.
    I have a 20 tonne unit plus a small arbor press that I use for similar projects.
    Do you have a Zinc Plating set up at home, or is that your work????
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    near Rockhampton
    Posts
    6,216

    Default

    Well I am impressed. I always thought forming brackets like that would require a much more complicated former.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    201

    Default

    Kryn, I agree, this is a Hafco 20 tonne hydraulic press that I've had for 30 years, and I couldn't be without it. I used it and the top half of that form tool to put a dog leg bend into some tabs made from 50x5mm bar. It bent it like cheese.

    IMG_0956.jpg

    I got a Jane Kits zinc plating kit for fathers day this year. It's been in constant use since I got it, plating all the steel parts I'm making for the sawmill. The process is remarkably simple, and quick. I should put a thread up about it.

    RC. Yes, I too thought I'd need way more force and a more complex tool to do this job, but to my surprise it worked first go and with surprisingly low force. The 3mm bar just slid into shape. I did oil the blanks first. I'd only tacked the blocks in place, but it worked straight away and I kept going and did all the brackets.

    Graham.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge S Aust.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    5,942

    Default

    [QUOTE=Oldbikerider;194134I got a Jane Kits zinc plating kit for fathers day this year. It's been in constant use since I got it, plating all the steel parts I'm making for the sawmill. The process is remarkably simple, and quick. I should put a thread up about it. Graham.[/QUOTE]

    YES PLEASE
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  6. #6
    jatt's Avatar
    jatt is offline Always within 10 paces from nearest stubby holder
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Bendigo
    Age
    51
    Posts
    760

    Default

    Done my fair share of bending plate with the bearing press in the shop. Bit of thought and keeping an eye out so work or tooling doesn't shoot out the side.

    Then you discover punch presses. Now that the one offs have become a couple of hundred at a time!!
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    4,779

    Default

    Nice work. I too am surprised at the results for such a simple system. I will put my hand up to say I'm interested in your zinc plating as well.

    Simon
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

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