Modified 30” Inch Harbor Freight Sheet Metal Brake

[@paulzagoridis5785]

Please clarify you reference to split piece 0:57 in the hollow square. 4x bar stock 3/4"x30"x3/16"? why not use a solid bar 1x1? Nice build and it looks like it could eventually swap out the clamping bar for a set of fingers for box bends

[@ehRalph]

Ideally a solid bar would have been great. I played around with angle iron and a piece of T iron from an old garage door opener, but then I found the 30” x 1” square tube that fit exactly as shone in the video, (so I started working with that piece in mind). Looking back, I might have gotten some 3/4”x3/4” square bar to insert through the 1” tube and it would have likely been stronger than a stack 4 thinner pieces. But again, I had those thin 3/4” x 3/16” “thin” bars on hand and a stack of 4 fit snugly inside the 1” tube, so that’s what I went with. Two thin strips go all the way through the tube on either side. That left enough room for the 1/4” bolts to pass through without drilling materials in the center of the tube. Then I filled the void between each bolt location with a pair of shorter steel pieces leaving room for each bolt. So those are the “split” pieces I mentioned. Fingers That’s a great idea of adding fingers to the brake, but I’m not sure how to do something like that. As it stands, the brake is way easier to use now compared to its original c-clamp design. Glad you liked it.

[@paulzagoridis5785]

@@ehRalph I've watched every youtube video I can find on modding this 30" sheet metal brake (mine arrives on Tuesday). That's a lot of videos. You are the only one to bolt not weld, the extra support and I thought it's genius, especially as the square tube on it's own gives 2x 1/8" support to the pressure plate (plus lateral strength from the horizontal parts). The additional internal 4x 3/16" bars again are genius. The arms should break before that bends. Bolt on means no risk of heat warping the pressure plate. The only other mod I've seen to consider is those eyebolts screwed through the support to press down on the pressure plate should it bend over time. That's something I can add in future should it bend. Fingers kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5LGgKiHfNppe9k I'd think I'd basically build the fingers below a new 1x1 square tube with mods just like this one. That way just swap out the whole pressure plate allowing me to mount the fingers at 45°. Alternatively I could drill a set of finger mounting holes in the existing 1x1 and change out the presure plate for fingers.

[@ehRalph]

@@paulzagoridis5785 Great !! Gotta love KZbin for diy tool mods. Good luck with your project. A couple things I didn’t focus on: the square tube adds 1/8” lift to the internal extended clamping arms so I only had to file the frame down a small amount compared to angle iron builds where they grind down the curb. Also, I made the brackets for lateral push adjusters from hardwood scrap that are sheet metal screwed to the frame. The push bolt location was drilled 3/16” & threaded 1/4-20 using a rounded off bolt head as the pusher. And the little extension springs (just something I had in a jar) perfectly thread a 1/4-20 inside as the knob. Short rings of rubber tubing like heavy wall 1/4” fuel line are threaded onto bolt ends and serve as grips for the pushers and stops on the actual clamp down bolts.