new stainless brake

[Gary R]

I've been gearing up to make some pans. I have a decent supply of 18ga., 304 stainless sheets. I started using my fathers 3' brake. It is only rated to 20ga. mild steel. I'm pretty much worried about braking the brake and busting a nut doing it. So if figure I'd build a 4' brake. One that can make a box. Well, a week later and a couple hundred bucks, I'm almost there. I bent a pan up and it went ok. Sure is easy using hydralics. If you look at the picture, you'll see the brake still bends a bit. This is not allowing for a tight even bend. I've already learned that if I beat the brake with a hammer it tightens things up pretty good. I'll probably weld a big piece of channel on the bottom. Also, I'm going to set it up to use two jacks. That should help spread the load out a bit. Then put it on some wheels. It's pretty heavy:rolleyes:

The price of pans is going up:lol:

[Haynes Forest Products]

Gary now you need to go down to Harbor Freight and get a air jack Cheap and you will be in buisness:)

[Sugarmaker]

Gary,
That is a nice box break. If I had one of those I would start some other project. I am sure you will get it stiffened up to your satisfaction. The stainless does not bend easy. The pan you made looks good. Are you going to have Jim Brown TIG the corners shut for you? Yea the hydraulic will take some of the strain out of it. I had several bends that took Keith and I on each end of the 5 foot brake.

Chris

[Gary R]

Haynes, I just looked at the jacks. Not sure how they work but, still might be too big of an investment. I need a little bit of exercise:) Were only talking about a dozen pans or so. I do plan on getting some return springs.

Chris,

I am going to use a MIG welder for the corners. I've got some alum. angle to clamp and back up the corners during the weld. These are backyarder pans for over block. After the first fire under them they won't look to good anyway. You are welcome to use this thing. I don't know what I'm going to use this thing for after I bend the pans up in a couple of hours.

Jim Brown, I should be ready to reskin your arch!

[Sugarmaker]

Gary,
May you MIG welds be water tight! I did not have much luck, but Eric did a much better job of being leak free than I.

Chris

[Gary R]

I added more steel top and bottom and some wheels. I bent up 8 pans. It works ok. You need to use the hammer a lot. It keeps the bend tighter and keeps the bend at the bottom of the "V". Need to buy the SS wire and finish them up.

[Big_Eddy]

Good Luck with MIG. 18 gauge might work out ok. Buy the 0.023" wire, not any larger. Consider a Tri-mix gas. Weld downhill and move fast. Stitch and skip weld any long joints. Are you planning to back-purge?

[Gary R]

Big Eddy, thanks for the push. I broke down and bought tri mix. .023 wire and all the parts to run that wire. I previously welded a few pans with .030, 75/25 and a 140 MIG. It did OK, but I had about a 50% leak rate in my corners. This time I welded 32 corners and had ZERO leaks. Must have been my lucky day. No splatter using the tri mix. Now if I can sell these pans it may pay for the supplies I bought:)

Welding Guru's, I had one big issue. I was using a 255 MIG. When you initialy start the arch, the output voltage goes higher. Say from 20 to 30 for a second or so. Many times this would cause the wire to melt off at the tip and get stuck. I spent a lot of time unscrewing the tip to clear the wire. Any help? Thanks.

[Haynes Forest Products]

What side are you welding first? Inside or out. I like welding the outside top to bottom. Welding down gives a nicer weld and keeps the wire to object contact constant.

Sometime its a small tweek of the wire speed that can keep the arc from over powering the wire. It is a fine line between the wire speed, Amps and then the distance between the tip and work peice.

[Gary R]

I'm welding the outside. I position the pan so that the corner I am welding is flat. Usually I am pushing, not pulling. In the past any verticle welding I did went terrible. I did not try it with this set up. Why do you want to weld down hill? I did do some grinding on the welds when I was done. I think if I really wanted to spend some time on the welds, you would hardly know they are there.

[Sugarmaker]

I think I will get Gary R to weld my next project with the MIG! Nice job with no leaks!
The world of maple now will be a better place with more pans! Should make some maple newbies very happy! What $ do you need for one of these?

Regards,
Chris

[Gary R]

Chris,

I would like to get $75 each. They are about 18"X27"X4 1/2". There are handles on two sides. It's just the size of the material I have. I've heard Janet may be interested. If you see her at a board meeting please mention it. I'll be in Erie a few times over the next month. I hope to see that monster you added onto your rig.

[Big_Eddy]

Gary R
Welding downhill reduces the amount of heat in the material, and therefore your heat affected zone. As you weld, your puddle is "falling" down with you, onto the cooler material ahead. You move quickly to keep up with it, and you have less problems with burn through etc. A good trick for thin material.
Welding horizontal is okay - you will find that you move slower and therefore end up with a larger HAZ and more problems with sugaring on the back side. Probably okay at 18 gauge, harder as you get thinner.

Uphill is the worst, as the heat rises but your puddle doesn't. By the time you get to the top, you're slowing down and blowing through.

Your issue with burn back is most likely due to the tip to workpiece distance. Keep a tight gap as you initiate the arc, and adjust once the arc is established. Every model has different characteristics, so it might just be an ideosyncracy of the machine, especially if you're at the very lower limits of its performance envelope.

No leaks in 32 corners is impressive either way - well done.

[Gary R]

Big Eddy,

Thank you for the response. I appreciate everyone's help. There are many DIY'ers on here. Hopefully they may pick something up that will help them also. Next time I will try the tips. I had some "sugaring". I did not back purge. I clamped they inside of the corners with a big piece of aluminum angle (I don't have any copper). Nothing warped but that aluminum sure was hot. Not sure what the next project will be.

[wegnerwelding]

Looks like it works. You might want to put a buffer between the mild steel and your stainless to prevent contamination. Hate to impregnate that nasty stuff into a nice stainless pan. Even a good masking tape would work. We use a nylon type tape between our brakes/shoes at work to prevent it.