YOU CAN BUILD A MACHINE THAT FOLDS STEEL PLATE
A machine that bends 3/16 inch steel plate in a four-foot span, built from heavy tube and hydraulic jacks for about 1,000 dollars.
by Custom Fabricated
Workshop
- difficulty
- ●●●●●
- time
- about 2 weeks of design plus 1.5 weeks of part-time building
- license
- license not specified
- repo
- repo 0 stars
●●●●● · about 2 weeks of design plus 1.5 weeks of part-time building · license not specified · 0 stars · repo
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
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COMPAREE VERDICT
Custom Fabricated built a 40-ton hydraulic press brake — the machine metal shops use to make clean bends in steel and aluminium plate. Two 20-ton air-over-hydraulic jacks, plumbed together with a quarter-turn valve, push a steel blade down into a V die. The frame is welded from 4×6×1/4 inch rectangular tube and 5 inch C-channel; the upper die is cut from 3/4 × 4 inch flat bar and angle-milled; the lower die is C-channel with 1.5 inch steel rods. The blade assembly alone weighs about 300 pounds. The whole machine weighs 1,200 pounds. His guide is unusually complete: a press brake force chart, material cuts, assembly photos, and a spring-compensated gauge rod for repeatable stops. Total cost was around 1,000 dollars; he says a commercial machine of the same capacity runs upwards of 10,000. The hardest part is not the welding — it is handling the weight safely and milling the dies true. He used a 210 amp MIG welder, a mill and a CNC plasma cutter, though he notes chop saws and grinders work too. This is a serious fabrication project, not a weekend adventure. The one thing most likely to go wrong is underestimating the tooling and workspace you need to move heavy steel assemblies around without injury.
IN THE REPO
GOOD TO KNOW
- —21-step Instructables guide with design sketches, force calculations and full materials list.
- —No CAD files, no technical drawings, no repository.
- —Licence: all rights reserved; the guide is free to read but not openly licensed.
- —Dies are fabricated parts — you cut and mill them from steel stock.
- —Build requires MIG welding, a mill or equivalent cutting tools, and the ability to handle 300-pound assemblies.
Parts to buy
8 itemsFrom our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.
Can I build this?
Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.
Videos
Building and Testing a Homemade Hydraulic Press Brake9:08
April 2021, about 198k views; shows the finished machine and test bends in steel and aluminium
More builds like this
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Start here
Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.
- 1.Read the 21-step Instructables guide and watch both of his videos (the guide includes a press brake force chart and design sketches)
- 2.Work out your actual bending capacity using the force chart(the 40-ton rating is total; actual bending capacity depends on material thickness, die width and steel type)
- 3.Source the two 20-ton air-over-hydraulic jacks and heavy rectangular tube before committing(these dominate the cost and determine whether the build is viable)
- 4.Plan how you will safely move and weld 300-pound steel assemblies(the blade assembly is overhead during construction; you need lifting gear or help)
Resources
Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.
KNOWN ISSUES
- No CAD files and no technical drawings — the design sketches in the guide are what you get; you will be working out cuts and angles yourself.
- The dies are not off-the-shelf parts; you cut and mill them from steel stock, or fabricate alternatives from angle iron if you do not have a mill.
- The blade assembly weighs 300 pounds and hangs overhead on extension springs during assembly — do not attempt this alone or without proper lifting equipment.
- Licence is all rights reserved: the guide is free to read, but it is not an open licence.
- The finished machine weighs about 1,200 pounds. He put it on legs with 4 inch steel casters, but says a forklift was a must for moving the frame during the build.
Can I build this without a milling machine?
The creator says you can use chop saws, drill presses and grinders instead, or fabricate simpler dies from angle iron. The upper die is angle-milled 1018 flat bar; alternatives will be less precise but functional.
What is the actual bending capacity?
The guide says he designed it to bend steel up to 3/16 inch thick in a four-foot-wide section. Two 20-ton jacks give the 40-ton rating. For other thicknesses and materials, the guide includes a press brake capacity chart for plain steel and shows how to read it.
What does the licence allow?
The Instructables guide is published as all rights reserved. It is free to read, but the text and photos are not openly licensed, so you cannot republish or sell the guide itself.
How much does a commercial press brake cost?
The creator says a commercially available machine of the same capacity costs upwards of 10,000 dollars.
Community builds
No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.
Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
The blade assembly weighs 300 pounds and the finished machine weighs 1,200 — how did you handle the heavy lifts when you built yours, or what would you plan if you were starting?
Custom Fabricated
Custom Fabricated (Customfabricated on Instructables) designed and built this 40-ton hydraulic press brake to bend steel plate in his own shop, published the 21-step guide on Instructables in August 2020 and showed it working on YouTube.
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DISCLAIMER
- Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
- Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
- Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
CompareeTEAM3d ago
Practical notes from our verification: the Instructables guide is complete and honest about the tools and weight involved, the two YouTube videos show the machine working and are clearly the same build, and the creator is straightforward that this is a serious fabrication project with real safety considerations. The single biggest decision is whether you have the space, lifting equipment and welding skill to handle 300-pound steel assemblies overhead during construction. The guide is free to read; it is published as all rights reserved, not under an open licence.