600mm Finger Brake Bender (Box Brake)

Simso designed this 600mm bed bender. This is a picture of his one.

You can get the plans from the above link.

I have downloaded numerous bender plans over the years but they were all either simple angle iron and clamp set ups, or the very large, well engineered aircraft sheet brake which Larry MacFarland offers plans for. Between these two extremes, Simso's design is the first I have seen which offers a fully adjustable compact brake. The design features clamping thickness adjustment, set back and bend radius adjustment, while still being a relatively simple design.

I got started with the simplest parts. Since I only have a lathe at home, I started with the pair of bronze bushings which the closing mechanism runs in. Since the hardest part about starting is starting, I thought I'd develop momentum but starting with the simplest parts. Simso used an engineering plastic for these, but I like metals more :)

Next came the clamping thickness adjusting cams. Of yourse I didn't follow Simcos design. That would be too easy. I figured that these will be adjusted fairly irregularly, and you will have to unlock the screw, reposition and relock, so I used round stock and knurled it, (sort of like Rod did on the Aussie wood worker site), and countersuck for a nice flush look.