Which Brake to Buy?

[Maddog]

I need to buy a brake to make 90degree bend in some sheetmetal, around 20g, about 10" wide. The bend needs to have a very sharp (small 1/16" or so) radius. What style of brake will be more likely to make such a sharp bend? I would think the larger ones would make larger radius'

[chevynut]

A larger brake doesn't make larger radii. I have a Jet 48x16 finger brake which is 48" wide and bends 16 gauge steel. It can mke very sharp bends. The radius of the bend is determined by the setback of the top jaw from the bottom jaw, and how sharp the top jaw is.

If you don't plan to use a brake that much, I would just have a sheetmetal shop bend it for you. They'll charge a few bucks.

[Maddog]

So the cheaper brakes all have this upper jaw adjustment? I'll take a trip to HF

[Rick_L]

HF, Northern Tool, or Enco should have something you can use. I got one from Enco years ago that does a good job within its specs for about $150 - 2' width capacity.

Actually the problem with most cheap equipment is that it bends with little or no radius, not the opposite. Something that will bend a proper radius is more expensive. I've rigged up a way to do a radius with my cheapie. Better not expect to do the job quick, or make many parts that are identical.

[Maddog]

I replied to this and it's not here????
I went to HF and bought a $40.00 cheap, small does 90 degree only and it worked perfectly for my 90 degree tight radius job. Now I could use a shear but I don't see any cheap enough!

[Rick_L]

I've never seen a cheap shear I wanted to have.

You can work around the limitations of a brake, at least some of them.

If a shear won't shear, well it's not worth anything.

Saws, home made guides for them, and sanding tools are what I go with for now.