Yesterday I went to a friend’s shop to get the box and pan brake so I could finish the thresholds. I bent the left side and that went really easy as it’s an “L” and .032. The right (cargo door) side is .040 and is a “J” shape and was a lot tougher to form than I thought. I really wanted to get it formed in the brake because hammering over a form block stretches the metal and would warp it. It can’t be fluted. Also, the .040 I have is 36in square and the part is 44 inches long, so I made it in two parts. That really simplified the bending, but not the fabrication.
The 13.5 inch bottom part went really easy, but the 30.5 inch top part was another story! The brake was really at it’s limit and I had to adjust it to have as much clamp pressure as I possibly could. You have to start at the thin flange. All it did was want to slide the piece away from the movable part of the brake and under the fingers. After quite a bit of fussing I was able to turn out a part that was acceptable.
I matched the two pieces together and using a copper chill bar I welded the two. I took it easy and by using the techniques I have learned so far I was able to make a thin sheet metal part that was warp-free. Yay! Onward…
