Making A Simple DIY Hydraulic Finger Press Brake

DIY Hydraulic Finger Press Brake

A Finger Brake, also known as a Box Brake or Pan Brake, is used to form boxes or pans by bending metal around segmented fingers attached to the upper jaw of the brake. There are stand-alone brakes and brakes that are designed to be used in conjunction with a hydraulic press — this project constructs the latter.

In this DIY build example, YouTuber Plumber Life constructs a capable finger press brake with some simply shaped plate steel, angle iron, bar stock, rod stock, a couple of springs, and nuts and bolts.

The result is a simple brake that is a capable, multipurpose tool that can handle sheet metal bending, of course, but also much heavier bar stock and plate bending for brackets and similar projects.

This finger press brake project is made to be 70 cm (approximately 27.5 inches) wide overall with fingers of 10, 15, and 20 cm wide (approximately 4, 6, and 8 inches) plus one of variable size based on your project. Adjust the size of this project and press fingers to your needs and to fit your hydraulic press…