Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum banner
1 - 20 of 32 Posts

Drakeduze

· Registered
Joined
·
1 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
The brake I am using in jobsite can only Catch a minimum of 3/4 of the trim coil. I would like to make a bend of material of a 1/2 inch or even a 1/4 inch. Can anyone recommend a brand of brake that will do this. Do i just need to adjust the brake? Any advice is appreciated.
 
Most field brakes are limited to 3/4".

It can be done, but it's not to easy.I'll adjust the pressure clamp on my Pro III and insert the piece in the 1/4 or held and bend it. Then you have adjust the brake to do the normal work.

Tom
 
I assume you are talking about the 3/4" flat area that bends up. (the handle side)

For myself, I plan ahead, so I have the 1/2" side in the jaws. They clamp on the material and the bend is no problem.
If you are trying to lift up a 1/2" bend on the 3/4" side, it will only push the material into the brake. It may also bend up some of it. Making it look like crap and have to be thrown away.
 
Tapco Pro 3 can bend 5/8" To make shorter bends either reverse the material so the short side is in the brake or back up the material with a strip of aluminum that is out past the rubber edge and underneath the material you want to make the short bend on.
 
With my Black Max ,Tapco, if just doing a L I can do 1/4- 3/8 fairly easy on one leg. Doing a J it pretty hard to do much less then 5/8 bend. One thing you can do to stop the coil from pushing in is snip each end so it stops the coil from going in. I do this lots of times when doing brick molding.
 
Taping an L bend over the handle side to take up the gap makes certain bends possible also. Im pretty good on a brake and recently an old timer who specializes in aluminum crown molding came out and schooled us on the break. He showed me a few tricks on making really tight Z bends This guy reproduces alot of old cornices in philadelphia and 50 years experience. It was time well spent watching him.

Hes got 3 brakes welded together in his shop for up to 30' bends!!
 
30' bend eh, ok good luck with that...
Takes more than a few guys and ive never been part of that mayhem lol. Have just installed his supplied crowns. Honestly id rather do boral or pvc crown for all the dickin around ya end up doing on miters
But yes and he does have good luck with that, the 30' of aluminum pipe welded to the brake handles helps to say the least

This one was around 20'
 

Attachments

Most are limited to 3/4 bends unless its your first or last bend.

Still with some extra effort you can make 1/2" bends in the middle by doing partial bends then finishing them once it takes shape. I tuck a wider scrap rip under that helps the piece bend instead of the lever moving the piece out of position.
 
Takes more than a few guys and ive never been part of that mayhem lol. Have just installed his supplied crowns. Honestly id rather do boral or pvc crown for all the dickin around ya end up doing on miters
But yes and he does have good luck with that, the 30' of aluminum pipe welded to the brake handles helps to say the least

This one was around 20'
Nice job bending a long rake crown, it looks great. Problem with that is a long rake is rarely straight enough not to have fit issues with one long piece. A well fitting tight seam every 10'4" is hard to notice...
 
Nice job bending a long rake crown, it looks great. Problem with that is a long rake is rarely straight enough not to have fit issues with one long piece. A well fitting tight seam every 10'4" is hard to notice...
I have made the crown with a brake buddy, turned out looking pretty good too. Pretty hard to find a nice straight gable on an new house anymore let alone an old one. 10 ' is just about the right length.
 
Takes more than a few guys and ive never been part of that mayhem lol. Have just installed his supplied crowns. Honestly id rather do boral or pvc crown for all the dickin around ya end up doing on miters
But yes and he does have good luck with that, the 30' of aluminum pipe welded to the brake handles helps to say the least

This one was around 20'
Nice job bending a long rake crown, it looks great. Problem with that is a long rake is rarely straight enough not to have fit issues with one long piece. A well fitting tight seam every 10'4" is hard to notice...
THX ! Absolutely agree its not neccessary. It does turn out nice BUT, major PIA becuase of exactly what you mentioned. The gables overhangs on that farm house were pretty bad which made for a challenge to say the least. Not my call tho, aluminum crown was subbed to me. One of those things, cool its in the portfolio but id talk people into boral, pvc if i could. Labor be faster for sure. All the windows were profiled aluminum too, to cover the 5/4 trim with a thumbnail molding backband. 90 % of the original window trim was in Great shape and if it was me i would have repaired the 10% and painted
 
Totally agree. HO on that job was a 20 something architect and he insisted on more than a few things that i would have done differently. Dumped ton of cash on reproduction operating shutters and hardware but aluminum capping.

Not my call, looked good all said and done and checks (from dads business account) cleared. Lol
 
Many times when I install the rake trim I will let the lower piece overlap the top piece so the laps disappear when you look up the rake. I know its against the water runs downhill rule of law but what I do is bead the back of the overlapping piece with clear Geocell, OSI or silicone to stop any little water that could possible get behind the trim.
 
Many times when I install the rake trim I will let the lower piece overlap the top piece so the laps disappear when you look up the rake. I know its against the water runs downhill rule of law but what I do is bead the back of the overlapping piece with clear Geocell, OSI or silicone to stop any little water that could possible get behind the trim.
I do that when I put my corner caps on for siding , so when looking up you don't see the lap.
 
1 - 20 of 32 Posts