The Safety catch is quite a small part which requires two bends. So was a good excuse to use the Universal bending tool I'd bought a few months ago. (See groz-tools Metal bender). The instructions were pretty basic(see groz_metal_bender.pdf) with lots of picture on what you could make with it but not much on how to do it! I decided to experiment with some sheet metal until I got the results I was after.
In the picture above you can see I am using the 90 degree mandrel (centre black post), the work is the silver metal plate bent round the mandrel. On the right I'm using the flat side of the clamp plate to hold the work against the mandrel (the notched side is used for bending tubes). On the left the Rack has been withdrawn to show th e finished bend. The basic idea is the rack is used to keep the work in tight against mandrel whilst the green cat on the left pivots about the mandrel making the desired bend.
It was quite straightforward to create the first bend but it took several attempts to make the second bend in the right place.
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| The attempt above has too much distance between the bends but is th eminimun possible with the supplied accessories. Time to add some extra spacers.... |
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| In the above picture I'm trying to use a small piece of steel to support the first bend whilst making the second, the larger piece of steel was needed as the nothced clamp plate is not long enough. I need to make a new clamp plate for the method to work as the whole thing was too fiddly. |
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| Above shows making the first bend on the 1/16" steel bar |
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| And the second bend. |
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| Both bends were at 90 degrees and the gap between the bends was still a bit much, by flattening them in the vice I was able to get a neat fit. |
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| Trial fit, still needs to be flattened out more. |
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| A closer look at the drawing suggests I should have used the 120 degree mandrel! |
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| I use hardened filing buttons to get a quick neat radius on the end. note I have left the strap long to make it easy to hold. |
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| Finished strap with slots hand filed. |
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| Pin silver soldered to strap |
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| Finished strap. Need to drill casting now for mounting bolts |
