Thread: Bezel Work

The trouble with something like that part is they are made in large volumes so fancy press tools can be used. It would be made from sheet metal.
If I were making 100,000+ parts, I'd probably make it up as a square tube and then put it in a die to upset the end.
For a few, you could try (silver) soldering a square tube into a square flange
Depending on the material and the sizes being used, you might be able to form up a square tube and using some pliers very carefully bend down the flanges (looking at the picture there are relief holes in the corners that would help things along).
I think this is one of those parts that would take a lot of effort to duplicate in a home workshop.

Michael

Thanks Michael...

Soldering a profile of a square pipe and bending the bezel with pliers is out of the question due to the poor results which will ensue (poor finish with soldering which would require sanding/polishing and the pliers well). The bezel will be on the front facia and visible, so any imperfections will be readily apparent. Any sanding/polishing work would take too long as I'm planning on making quite a number of these.

What did you mean by putting it into a die to upset the end?

Also... I don't quite know why I didn't think of this sooner but I would imagine a simple brake could do this lip?

To answer your questions in reverse,
A simple brake might be able to do that lip, but depends on the size of the lip and the quality of the brake. If you did, you would then have to fold the rectangular bit without the flange collapsing on you.

Upsetting is the name that is given to press operations where basically the part is clamped and then whacked on the end to form a lump or flange - the most common example is probably a nail. Formed from wire, the wire is clamped (there are usually some marks under the head that show that) and then a die comes down and forms the head.

Attached is my thoughts on how I would make this part (I'm assuming that it is around 20mm square with a say 1 to 2mm flange). I'm not a toolmaker with 40+ years of experience so there is a bit of guess work here and I'd be experimenting a bit.
I would start with a blank (remember to allow for the bends) and drill the holes in it. These holes will distort things, so if they are not needed then try without them.
I would then fold the blank up around a former. You can probably do 3 of the 4 bends in a folder, but the 4th...
The tube can be joined (welded?) but provided the punch and die is good, will probably form with the break in the material
Lastly I'd have made up a die block that the part just slides into with the top just protruding out enough for the flange. I'd make 2 punches. One with an angled transition to start the metal off and then a 2nd with a square transition to get the flange 90 degrees.
Use lubrication (such as heavy grease) so the metal does not stick to the punch or the die. Use a metal that is as ductile as you can find as the corners are going to be the tricky part (stainless is probably not going to be good). Having those holes will help as the metal won't bunch up in the corners. The important thing about forming operations is that you must only allow the metal to move where you want it. With this method the corners will be rounded - if you must have square corners on your flange, then you need to make it oversize and trim it back.

I hope this is understandable but not too basic for you - I'm working on the assumption that you have not done much with sheet metal before. This is certainly not a part that I'd pick for someone not familiar with metal bashing, if it's what you need -
Attachment 188463
Michael

Thanks Michael, I really like your idea! Much appreciated. Yes the 4th bend will be interesting to do. However the way it's made is there is a tear on one of the sides with jigsaw puzzle piece type formations which basically enable the part to form the square without falling apart, not sure how they do the 4th bend themsevles, but once the part is held in place, I think they spot weld it. I was getting wildly varying techniques for welding, from basic to laser or something. I was thinking to just do a silver solder joint over the entire length of the piece, should be strong enough in my opinion (even though I've never done silver soldering before).

Either way, I think I have a great method to add to my arsenal for doing this, thanks . I was thinking along the lines of using a brake to create the bezel on a flat sheet (assuming it's possible to do to an acceptable quality with a crude brake which is what I'll only most likely be able to jig up)... then... cutting a thin grove in the brake where the bezel will fit which will hopefully prevent the bezel from bending in unwanted directions, but this is so basic that I'm not sure how effective it will be. Hopefully I was clear enough with my explanation also. Either way, I've got some work to do.