need plans for bender

I have been looking at diacro manual benders. THey come in sizes 1,1A,2,3,4

These benders are expensive new and even seem to fetch a good price on ebay. It would be nice to have one, but its hard to justify the price for something I would not use very often.

Anybody ever make a simple version of one? They look simple enough. See diacro.com under manual benders for pics if you are not familar with them.

Micro mark sells something the looks similar that might be a good starting point.

chuck

Just for comparison, I have a DiAcro 24" brake, which weighs 325 pounds (according to the web page, but it seems to weigh more), and the

There is a *lot* of cast iron in this thing, and a lot of steel as well. The moving part (which accomplishes the bends) is a 1/2" steel plate about nine or ten inches from edge to edge (and, of course, 24" wide). It is applied edge-on to the workpiece -- the maximum strength orientation. There is also a length of angle-iron bolted to the working edge, to keep it from bending sideways as the load is applied.

The DiAcro uses large diameter needle roller bearings in several locations. Something like 1-1/2" diameter in one place, with needles probably 0.100" diameter at a guess. It is downstairs, and it has been a while since I partially disassembled it to get it up onto the workbench.

So -- yes, you *could* build your own, but it would help to have an iron foundry to make the various rather massive parts.

Good Luck, DoN.

Have you looked at these?

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

These benders are NOT brakes.