Harbor Freight C Clamps needed

[Southern Ray]

Started my next project and will need to bend/break sheet metal for the various pieces.
I have in the past used the machines at the University shop when I was still working. I would still go back and use the machines as I needed.
I went there this morning and found all the machines have been sent to surplus.
Harbor Freight sent me a circular and two breaks are shown. It also included a 20% coupon. I bought the 18", tax and coupon for $38.96.
The one on display did not have a press bar and I asked the attendant about it. He said it is in the box.
I read the instructions and they were very vague as how the press bar works. The attendant said if I don't like it I have 90 days to bring it back.
I brought it home and set it up. I was not surprised when the press bar would not hold the sheet metal. I needed to use some c clamps.
It works. Kinda clumsy, but it got the job done. I have many more pieces to make. Guess I'll keep it.
I will need to make various lengths of press bars though for the various shapes to be bent.

 

[jeffcat]

You wonder what fool or Fools deamed all of that equipment junk. So sad how poor our machine tool skills are. Many years ago my dad worked at a tractor dealer part time. The usual bunch of hammer mechanics and old farmers. They hired an exchange student kid from Sweden. Within a few weeks this KID was running absolute circles around everyone in the shop. He took apart a busted up IH Axil flow combine by himself and modified the begabbers out of it. The field man just happen to show up and looked at his work. Couple days latter there were several company design guys pouring over the machine from top to bottom. Europe has training programs that we can only dream of. When you finish you ARE a machinist.

 

[Dusty MI]

I have an 8' break.

Dusty

 

[Duane WI]

I think that brake is better than most people give it credit. The C clamp method is actually very versatile. You can do things like your closed box that a normal brake can't do as well. As you mentioned you can cut the hold down to different lengths and make it a box brake. You also have to remember that you pay $40 for this thing. Don't expect it to work and act like a $1000 brake.

 

[T.R.K.]

I'm guessing by University you mean something like the Technical College I attended. What is at work is simple economics. It is much cheaper to train a person to run a computer than it is to train a person to run a lathe. Once you buy the computer and software all you have to do is pay somebody to teach kids to run it. For machine shops, you have the serious outlay for the tools themselves and Then every piece of metal the kid cuts has to be bought. I recall my machine shop teacher back in the '80s telling us that by the time we graduated he would have given us the cost of the course in tool steel (to make tool bits-cutters- out of).

And in this area at least, most of that kind of manufacturing was sent out to China long ago. And the old-timers who used to run the one-man machine/welding shops are becoming only a memory too.

So the Community College got out of the machine shop business.

 

[504]

The High Schools and the Community college are gearing up again here. The local companies are telling them what training is needed and they are training. They pay good, but they won't train at the factories like they used to.

 

[rlp in Co.]

The box looks good! What's it for?

 

[Southern Ray]

gonna try to build this.
will even look around for a spent mini rc race car for the motor and gears.
AC 66 All Crop

 

[CenTex Farmall]

Yep, we've gotten behind in this area.

Nearest big city opened up a kind of Vo-tech high school and is generating good results. Not everyone needs or wants to go to college. We still need people to make the lights come on and the water run.