Building a magnabend

[.RC.]

The inventor of the magnabend bender now has a website with some details on construction..

Alan Bottomley's Web Site (http://www.aaybee.com.au/)

Discussion on the magnabend here with the inventor posting.. Magnetic bend brake (e.g. MagnaBend) - Practical Machinist - Largest Manufacturing Technology Forum on the Web (http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/magnetic-bend-brake-e-g-magnabend-217995/)

Thought some here would be interested in this..

[Dave J]

Thanks RC,:2tsup: interesting.

Dave

[neksmerj]

RC, that's fantastic. I have heard of the Magnabend, but have not really taken much notice until now.

Some plans to make a small one would be great.

How do you get a password to view the photo gallery?

Ken

[.RC.]

No idea Ken, I only read about this today...Although I have known about the Magnabend for 11 or more years (ever since I read the herless catalogue) but have not seen one in the flesh...

[.RC.]

Alan has now started a roll your own version aimed at the hobby user.. I looked up prices for the genuine unit and a 1250mm model is $5000..

Seems second hand ones are near unheard off and sought after

Building Your Own Magnabend (http://aaybee.com.au/Magnabend/Building%20Your%20Own%20Magnabend.html)

[RayG]

Hi .RC,

Thanks for posting that link, very interesting. I'm tempted.

Regards
Ray

[Stustoys]

I've used them but wasnt that impressed. I'm sure there are times were nothing else can do the job or times when they were easier to use than a more normal machine. Repeat folds take longer.
Having said all that, if I could only have one folder in my shed I get it would be a magnabend as they don't weigh nearly as much.
lol seems I want it both ways

Stuart

[.RC.]

I've used them but wasnt that impressed. I'm sure there are times were nothing else can do the job or times when they were easier to use than a more normal machine. Repeat folds take longer.
Having said all that, if I could only have one folder in my shed I get it would be a magnabend as they don't weigh nearly as much.
lol seems I want it both ways

Stuart

Is there any machine that can do everything though?

Magnabend, panbrake, pressbrake? All seem to have their limitations and can do things none of the others can do...

[Stustoys]

Agreed RC, Thats why I said I would have one and they can do almost everything the others can do if only a little slower, which isn't a great issue for me.
One thing I forgot is they can't fold very thick sheet. They say 1.2mm for the one in the link. Still even that is a lot more then I can fold ATM.
Should be a easier build than a normal folder

Stuart

[.RC.]

The genuine ones claim 1.6mm steel.... I think that is about the limit for most panbrakes too isn't it?

[welder]

we have one at school its alright but it wont do 1.6mm full width sheet

[Stustoys]

Panbrakes will do thicker sheet over shorter lengths than their rating, of course there are limits, 6mm is the thickest I have folded in one, but only 50mm wide. I'm not sure a magnabend would do that, it may if you made some spacers so you have the top tool held down over a longer length than the fold.
1.6mm over 1200mm fold will give you a work out anyway lol.

Stuart

[Stustoys]

Just been looking at the hinge design on the real thing. Some of them look doable.
http://aaybee.com.au/Magnabend/4513475_Hinges_and_hinged_articles.pdf
Shame it doesn't have dimensions ;)

[RayG]

I wonder how it would be for workholding? Like the magnetic vise on a surface grinder?

Regards
Ray

[Stustoys]

Ray,
You may need to make the poles smaller, which would be easy enough. But what would you use to seal the air gap between the poles?
Stuart

[LukaWoodie]

Has anyone actually built DIY Magnabend? I can't even start. Local steel suppliers don't stock 100mm x 50mm K1045 cold rolled flat bars (here in Perth). Any ideas where to get it?

[.RC.]

Maybe the US... You would be very lucky to find any shape other then round of 1045 steel in Australia.. Believe me I have tried, no one uses must use it in square/rectangular sizes...

[Graziano]

Ian Stansfield Smith claims to have 150 x 100mm black K1045 in stock: http://www.alloy-steels.com.au/stocklist-pdfs/flatbar.pdf on the last page 3. That could be plasma cut into at least two pieces 100x 50mm.

Didn't the designer of the magnabend say it was purely because the 1045 was a bit harder than straight mild steel in it's normalised state. If that were the case you could substitute mild steel and attach a tough surface piece like a piece of un heat treated leaf spring to the top for wear. It would need to be a good mating fit to prevent an air gap for the magnetism though.

[Jekyll and Hyde]

Didn't the designer of the magnabend say it was purely because the 1045 was a bit harder than straight mild steel in it's normalised state.

Certainly did!

Material:
A medium carbon steel, say K1045, is a good choice however if you cannot obtain this then CS1020 would be OK or just mild steel is also OK but it will damage a bit more easily and does not machine quite as well as the higher carbon steels.

Taken straight from the link in the previous page.

Here for the lazy ones (http://aaybee.com.au/Magnabend/Building%20Your%20Own%20Magnabend.html)!

[LukaWoodie]

Thanks guys, I'll give 1020 a go.

[Oldneweng]

Interesting coincidence. I looked at the web pages just for interest sake. I have way too much to do now! The Maxton weather station mentioned and shown for the "Stevenson screen for a home weather station", just above the magnabend was one I had not looked at. I googled it and found it at a price that has decided me to buy it. Been waiting for a long time to find one at the right price (affordable) and with a decent radio range. With all the trees around our house we need something that can transmit from well out into a paddock.

Thanks for that link RC.

Dean

[snowyskiesau]

More OT - sorry.

Dean, Which weatherstation are you looking to get? I had this one (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pro-Wireless-Touch-Screen-Weather-Station-USB-PC-81-/390366063833?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item5ae3a16cd9)on Sydney and would like to set one up again down here. There's a solar powered version as well, a little bit dearer.

[Oldneweng]

More OT - sorry.

Dean, Which weatherstation are you looking to get? I had this one (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pro-Wireless-Touch-Screen-Weather-Station-USB-PC-81-/390366063833?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item5ae3a16cd9)on Sydney and would like to set one up again down here. There's a solar powered version as well, a little bit dearer.

That looks like the same unit. SKU WS-1081. Solar powered could be handy as I was intending to mount mine on a tall pole to obtain more height to clear trees. Theory is, with rain gauges to have the gauge 1.5 times the height of any tree, away from the tree. The best one I have found until last night was from Jaycar and only had a range of 50m. I stepped that out a couple of weeks back and it got me nowhere. Trees and more trees. 150m would give me the middle of a paddock which is clear of trees. Lots of options but I want to mount on a fenceline. Easiest to mount on a post. Also if it is in the middle of the paddock it would need some serious protection from nosy cows.

Thanks for that link. Cheaper than Crazysales. I thought I had checked EBay. Guess not.

Dean

[Oldneweng]

Geoff can you give me some idea of rainfall statistic storage method. I currently record rainfall and enter in to an excel worksheet which provides a graph of monthly falls over the year.

Dean

[snowyskiesau]

Dean,
Do you intend hooking it up to a computer? If so, the Cumulus (http://sandaysoft.com/products/cumulus) (free) will do all the forecasting, averaging etc for you. It doesn't mean that you have to have the computer on all the time as the weather station console will store sampled data for later uploading.
Can't help with an increased range model, they're all pretty much the same in that regard.
Here's a weather station (http://hrvistaweather.com/) just up the road from me. It's a Fine Offset model 1091

[Oldneweng]

Hooking it up to a computer. Yes I intend to download data to my computer.

Computer not nedded to be on all the time. I understand that.

Increased range. The one we are talking about is 150m. This is the only one I have seen that is. 150m is ok for me but any less, ie 100m may be a bit short on range.

I am wondering whether I can incorporate the data into my current data base. I would guess so as most applications like this have a spreadsheet export function but not sure.

Thanks for your reply. I have just ordered one from EBay.

Dean

[JTonks]

I wonder how it would be for workholding? Like the magnetic vise on a surface grinder?

Regards
Ray

Hi Ray

The E shaped magnet bodies make excellent magnetic chucks. I actually worked for Alan Bottomley during the development of the Magnabend .

I used a bare magnet body to hold the bending beams for machining (milling) and anything else that was too thin to clamp conventionally. The only thing to look out for is that all of your cutters get magnetised and swarf can marr the surface.