TOOLS

Other than the ususal assortment of hand tools found in most homes, I had to get a few more tools that were specific to this project.  It's difficult to include these in the project budget, as I will be using them again for future projects.  But the bottom line is that these tool purchased were money out the door. 

BAND SAW

Inexpensive bandsaws are available at stores like Harbor Freight and home improvement stores.  I think this is a Sears branded unit I found on Craig's List, I paid $75.  A new one runs around a hundred bucks.	Cutting the 1/4" aluminum plate requires a different blade than the wood cutting blade that came with the saw.  I had trouble tracking one down locally, so I ordered a blade from Amazon, cost $12.17 with free Prime shipping.  This is a Vermont American #31152  3/8" x 59-1/2" 18 TPI General Purpose metal blade.

The work table of the bandsaw was too small to accomodate the larger pieces of aluminum plate, so I constructed a 2' x 4' table extension from 1/4" thick particle board and 2"x2" pine studs.  Total cost under $10.

Here's what it't like trying to make a cut with the stock work table	The table extension makes the job much easier.  The extension is secured to the stock table with C-clamps.

BENCH SANDER

A Harbor Freight special.  A combination belt and disc sander, this tool is essential  for smoothing out the rough edges of the aluminum plate parts.  Inexpensive models available for around a hundred dollars.  I was fortunate enough to get one on loan from my son-in-law.

Here's two cut parts, before and after sanding the edges and rounding the corners.

Be sure to replace the woodworking belt in the bench sander with a metal grade belt.  About ten dollar for a package of two belts.

DRILL PRESS

Another Harbor Freight acquisition, the little drill press costs around $70, plus I spent another $25 on drill bits.  An essential tool for drilling straight accurate holes.

METAL BENDER

Here's where I started running into problems.  The project design requires several 90 degree bends in the 1/4" thick aluminum plate.  Inexpensive benchtop brakes are available, but they do not have the capacity to bend aluminum of this thickness.  I found a bender online for about a hundred dollars from Churchill Tools, identical to the one depicted above except for brand markings. The specifications said it would bend 1/4" aluminum up to 4 inches wide.  I adjusted the plans to meet the capacity of the tool.

Churchill had the tool on back order for two months and I was getting impatient to get going.  I had most of my parts cut, sanded and drilled.  All I needed to move forward was to make the required bends.  I found an identical bender online from Kaka Industries.  Identical except for the price, it was about forty dollars more expensive.  Either way I had to spend an additional twenty dollars for shipping.  Another $160 into the project.

This is not a power tool.  It is not a hydraulic or pneumatic too.  The power to bend 1/4" thick metal is applied by manpower using the mechanical advantage of those big wing-nut looking handles and a screw driven die.  I'm a big truck drivin' man, and it took almost all of my strength to get the bend started. 

 Once I had the bender set up, I resumed the project.  The bender did the job, but not very well.  The bends aren't quite square and the pre-drilled bracket holes didn't quite line up.  I ended up redoing several parts and I'm still not satisfied with the result.  I'm uncertain as to whether I got a defective bender with an inaccurate die, or whether it tolerance of the machines design isn't up to my requirements.  The whole project is once again on hold while I decide how to proceed.  I need to either find a different tool or outsource the bending to a local machine shop.

POSTSCRIPT:  I eventully abandoned the metal bender for fabricating the upright braces.  I found that I could accomplish far better results using extruded L-beams and a handful of hardware.

-- BACK TO PARALLELOGRAM MOUNT PAGE --