Author Topic: Bending jigs (Read 4390 times)

Wolfdog91 · « **on:** January 05, 2021, 11:22:19 PM »

Any advice on building bending jigs for making cage frames and what not ? I cannot for the life of me do a free hand bend and have it even

Cougartail · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2021, 05:42:34 AM »

Quote from: Wolfdog91 on January 05, 2021, 11:22:19 PM

Any advice on building bending jigs for making cage frames and what not ? I cannot for the life of me do a free hand bend and have it even

Two peices of angle iorn, two C clamps and a rubber mallet. Secure it to the edge or a work bench and pound away.

Humptulips · « **Reply #2 on:** January 06, 2021, 08:09:44 PM »

Find yourself a piece of flat steel larger then the piece you wish to make. Get some chalk and draw the piece on the flat steel. Best if an end of your drawing is near the edge.
Now cut some short pieces of round stock, like 2". Weld them in the corners of your drawing.
Cut the piece you plan to bend to length and clamp one end to match the start of your drawing. You can heat the stock at each corner you come to and bend it around those round stock you welded in place.
If you want to cold bend which is better you'll have to weld some angle iron in between the corners to contain the piece you are bending from bowing out.
When cold bending you can expect the steel to grow a little in length so you have to account for that.
Cold bending you will also have to make a tool to help you bend around the corners. You need a piece wider then your round stock corner pieces. Drill a hole in the end to fit those round stock corner pieces and weld a larger round piece like an 1 1/2" long by say 3 inches across onto your piece far enough back so the piece you are bending fits between the hole on the end and the piece you are welding on.
You can then drop the tool on to the corner pieces you are bending around and force the bend nice and tight around.
That sounds clear as mud. Maybe look at this it will give you an idea what I am driving at
https://www.toolots.com/bench-model-compact-metal-bender-with-7-dies-sturdy-and-versatile.html?cid=389572081&msclkid=53808cf76ea01757f91dd301e6d4ed33&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=everytings%20-%20shopping&utm_term=4581252644184726&utm_content=everything

Norman89 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2021, 09:44:33 AM »

I knew I should have taken pics of the whole process, but here is what I have come up with to be able to production bend trap frames in a decently timely manner. I didn't have a large enough plate to template my largest cage (12x18) so I welded scraps together to make the surface. I then layed out on the steel the exact outside dimensions I wanted for the frame, one for the exterior frame one for the interior frame. So for this particular cage the exact outside dimensions would be 12x18. Using 1/4 material the left my inside dimension to be 11.5x17.5 traced out as well. Then leaving a 1/4" gap around I layed out outside dimension of my inner door frame at 11x17, leaving my inner dimension at 10.5x16.5. so now I have both exact dimensions of both doors layed out onto the jig base. Using a sleeved 3/8 bolt, I set the sleeve tight into the corned of each carefully measured dimension and use a transfer punch to mark the location of my bolt and drill it out. Insert 3/8 bolt slide on sleeve and install but. Repeat for each inside corner. Then repeat for interior door frame. Since I build 3 different traps (12x18,12x12,6x6) I used a single corner as the starting point of all three frames so all can be built on the same jig by simply removing the bolts and moving to the next door frame or next size traps. Illustrated by the pictures. Each piece of 1/4 material is clamped to the first corner bolt, and heated with oxyacetylene to cherry orange to make the bends. As Bruce said this is not as strong as cold bending, but easier to do and makes a very consistent bend. Each corner is bent continuously until the frame is formed meeting back up with the starting end. At this point I remove the bolts and move to the next size. The sleeve makes a nice steady even corner bend, while not damaging the bolt or threads. Then weld outer frames together. Inner frames have the hinge point and door springs slid on before welding closed hope this is helpfull

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Norman89 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2021, 09:45:17 AM »

Frame jig with each corner layed out