Hi Guys when I read it back it looks like a bit of a Gloat, sorry about that, I mean really sorry.
But I just wanted to open us up to a little more than machine tools only. My first sheet metal folding machine was self made and very similar to the one Darren (Mayhem) posted mine was 20" long and made from two pieces of 2" x 4" Channel, I used it for about eight years and did loads of car restoration panels with it I moved "up" to one of those three in one Chinese "slip roll/Shear/press brake" tools and got about five years out of that, then in 2006 while trolling EBay I saw this
Morgan gulliotine (6).jpg (Size: 23.14 KB / Downloads: 154)
I got it for under £500 (only bidder, it looked that bad!!) but then had to ship it home, So I hired a seven tonne truck and then it took a lot of work to make it look decent, not to mention replacing the control circuits blades and needle scaling about eight layers of house paint off of it and repainting it in green Hammer finish and of course all of that engine turned stainless steel sheet, even the "catch tray" at the back needed to be fitted properly when I bought it the 1/4" plate was supported on a 2"x4" pine frame that was nailed into the building where it was being used. Another thing I want to point out is one of my little "trademarks" if you look at the second picture on the original post in the middle of the end flywheel cover you can see a saucepan hanging on the cover, this is actually a cover for a protruding shaft, whenever I do a machine restoration I like to leave behind a bit of a "wind up" just something to make me smile, on this one one of the guys said that with all that stainless trim it looked like a commercial kitchen, so when I needed to cover the shaft a saucepan seemed appropriate, there are a couple of other such shafts covered by stainless cooks measuring cups
So while that first post looks like a "rich kid playing workshops" the machine is really the result of a load of work.
A little while later I found the matching sheet metal folder capable of a fold in heavy sheet up to six feet long , But.....
the folding beam was snapped in two, so I bought it anyway and built a reinforcing girdle for the beam, the guy that broke it had been using it to "fold" 8mm that is 5/16" steel plate for making industrial stair treads, but he did snap it, so I have limited it to 4mm or 5/32" except for really short pieces. it is fully mechanical, no hydraulics at all!!! it uses gear drives with overload clutches. I used it to fold 4mm stainless a full 6 foot bend of 120 degrees and it didn't even slow the motors down, seriously this machine is an animal, One day I will get around to restoring it but for now it works fine so I am using it. To give a little perspective, the pick up parked behind the folder is a full sized mid seventies F250, so yes it is BIG
and I'd like to say that I don't want to come across as a "gloater" but I love my collection and I just want to share it, I hope y'all understand.
Best Regards
Rick
Whatever it is, do it today, Tomorrow may not be an option and regret outlasts fatigue.
