My Edge Bender
Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:17 pm
I need to give all credit here to the Skevik guys. I saw their edge bender in their awesome video and thought it was ingenius, so I wanted to make my own. What I made is essentially identical to theirs, with just some minor improvements for a more "finished" look.
Here is the Skevik guys' thread for reference...
http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2016
Here is a rundown of all the parts I used...
- Harbor Freight 4" drill press vice $15
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=30999
- Two rubber knobs with 1/4-20 threaded insert from McMaster-Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/#6185k36/=4e7pst
- One rubber knob with 1/2-13 threaded insert from McMaster-Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/#6185k47/=4e7plk
- 3 rollers machined by a local for $100 (most machine shops wanted $200-$250 to make these)
- Various bolts/washers and some scrap steel rod
First I did a little work on the vice. It had some crappy green paint that was chipping off, so I stripped all of the paint off and repainted it with black wrinkle finish. I drilled and tapped the vice with 1/4-20 holes for the bolts for the rollers.
I didn't like the floppy handle thing for opening/closing the vice, so I welded it so it was straight with the threaded rod, then used a die to cut threads onto the end of it to accept the rubber knob. This is much nicer on the hands when you're moving it in/out.
The other two knobs went on the handle crank thing, they are attached with 1/4-20 bolts just tight enough so there is no play in them, but they spin freely.
When I did some test bending, I found that once there was a lot of force on the movable jaw, it would tilt backwards since there is no guide rod. My solution was to weld in a 3/8" steel rod underneath, with a guide that slides over that that I then welded to the movable jaw. Now there is NO play in any direction, but it still slides easily forward/back. HUGE improvement to the crap $15 vice. This made it so I couldn't get to the set screw on the bottom that holds the jaw to the threaded rod, so I had to drill/tap a hole on the top to accept a new set screw.
The biggest expense was the rollers... I am determined to buy myself a nice metal lathe now, its a tool I've always wanted, and I would have much rather made these myself anyways. If anybody wants to make one of these themselves, here are the drawings I came up with for the rollers. Any good machinist should be able to turn these for you, but it'll cost you...
The tool works great, it doesn't always feed the edge through on its own but if you pull or push with your other hand while you turn the crank it goes right on through. Super easy to make fine adjustments to the radius of bend. I'm not even bothering to flame heat the edges before bending like I did when I bent by hand, I'm doing cold bends.
Here is the Skevik guys' thread for reference...
http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2016
Here is a rundown of all the parts I used...
- Harbor Freight 4" drill press vice $15
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=30999
- Two rubber knobs with 1/4-20 threaded insert from McMaster-Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/#6185k36/=4e7pst
- One rubber knob with 1/2-13 threaded insert from McMaster-Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/#6185k47/=4e7plk
- 3 rollers machined by a local for $100 (most machine shops wanted $200-$250 to make these)
- Various bolts/washers and some scrap steel rod
First I did a little work on the vice. It had some crappy green paint that was chipping off, so I stripped all of the paint off and repainted it with black wrinkle finish. I drilled and tapped the vice with 1/4-20 holes for the bolts for the rollers.
I didn't like the floppy handle thing for opening/closing the vice, so I welded it so it was straight with the threaded rod, then used a die to cut threads onto the end of it to accept the rubber knob. This is much nicer on the hands when you're moving it in/out.
The other two knobs went on the handle crank thing, they are attached with 1/4-20 bolts just tight enough so there is no play in them, but they spin freely.
When I did some test bending, I found that once there was a lot of force on the movable jaw, it would tilt backwards since there is no guide rod. My solution was to weld in a 3/8" steel rod underneath, with a guide that slides over that that I then welded to the movable jaw. Now there is NO play in any direction, but it still slides easily forward/back. HUGE improvement to the crap $15 vice. This made it so I couldn't get to the set screw on the bottom that holds the jaw to the threaded rod, so I had to drill/tap a hole on the top to accept a new set screw.
The biggest expense was the rollers... I am determined to buy myself a nice metal lathe now, its a tool I've always wanted, and I would have much rather made these myself anyways. If anybody wants to make one of these themselves, here are the drawings I came up with for the rollers. Any good machinist should be able to turn these for you, but it'll cost you...
The tool works great, it doesn't always feed the edge through on its own but if you pull or push with your other hand while you turn the crank it goes right on through. Super easy to make fine adjustments to the radius of bend. I'm not even bothering to flame heat the edges before bending like I did when I bent by hand, I'm doing cold bends.