Need Help from the Group

Hey Kenneth,

Not familiar with the article, or even your meaning, about the "nice radiused corners in steel angle". But about the 4 position tool-holder......

There are tool-holders made or cutting tool sizes that will fit in those tool-posts. Cut-off tool bits should come in a size that will fit directly in the tool-post, or you can order a variety of toolholders that are like the letter "T" but laid on it's side that will clamp in the tool-post side slots.

Take care, especially where you are.

Brian Laws>Hello everybody! I could use a bit of help and advise. Some time

There was an article about a guy who built a rack for his vehicle out of angle iron. Everybody knows the dodge where you cut an angular chunk out of one flange and bend. This leaves a sharp bend, much like a mitre cut. This guy had a different approach. He cut his notch a bit differently, and cut a strip out of the back flange as well. When bent, the back flange pulled around into a nice large radius. Course, this leaves two "ears" sticking out behind the corner, but that's easy to take care of. We are building racks for our vehicles. I'd rather see 'em with big dull non-troop-puncturing corners than otherwise. Sometimes the guys have to move around the vehicles faster than might be otherwise prudent when 90 deg. corners are present.

Thanks again,

Kenneth James

Here's a couple of thoughts.. you can take two (or more) notches out of the flange that's in the plane of the bend, the more notches the smoother the curve.

Wonder if I can make a picture for the other way I'm thinking..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I r I r I r Ir Ir

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Pretty bad.. the dotted line is the edge of one flange, the x's are the flange that stands up toward you. The I's are a square cut across the flange and the r's are another cut, a quarter of a circle. Maybe a little heat on the standing flange if it's thick stuff and it'll wrap nice and smooth around the curved cut. If it's going to get a lot of vibration you could lay a gusset in the corner to take some of the stress away from the end of the weld.

Good luck with it, hope all works out well over there.

John

Seems to me that instead of just making the notch a "V" and locating a tight radius bend at the apex of the notch, you could remove more material along the bottom flange, depending on how much radius you want in the bend. Find a round piece of something, like pipe, clamp it in a vise, and use it as a bending mandrel. I don't know what material thicknesses you're working with, but you can easily bend a flat section of 1/8" thick hot- rolled 1" wide by hand. Relieve a flange area about 3" long, and wrap it around the 1 1/2" pipe you found, and you have a radiused corner. Might work OK, depending on what you have to work with.

I have sent a file to the metalworking.com drop box with a diagram of rounded corners on angle iron. The file is called anglemiter.gif and anglemiter.txt Not sure when it will appear

Tom

There is a better way than the one in the HSM article. I did it recently when building a headache rack to go on a '48 GMC 1-ton a buddy was restoring. Here's a pic:

GWE