Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

All topics related to bending, forming, notching, drilling, saw cutting, etc.
Post Reply
KIDTech
3 Star Member
3 Star Member
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2014 1:21 pm

Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by KIDTech »

So I said I would and I am finally getting around to it, the review....

I have always wanted a press brake but as most know they are expensive pieces of equipment especially if you won't use them very much. I ended up finding the Swag Offroad 40" press brake DIY kit with the adjustable/removable fingers and figured the money invested in it would let me know if I could justify purchasing a larger machine or if it was just the "wants" getting in the way of the "needs" to grow my business. It was by far one of the best investments I have made for the shop and continues to impress me every time I use it.

When I ordered the brake I decided to go ahead and build the frame it would sit in and use for leverage. I found a tutorial online using I beams including dimensions and that is what I used. This was roughly late September fyi.... I welded the I beam frame up, added some additional gussets and awaited the brake. I would estimate roughly 2 hours in fabbing the frame. Also during the wait I purchased a 20 ton air/pneumatic jack from HF.

The day the brake kit arrived it came in a standard box as I would expect it to. The box was heavy as well which to me was a little reassuring since for the money I wasn't sure what I was in for in the matter of it being cheap and cheap or cheap and useful. I followed the directions for mounting/fabbing the brake together and would estimate 20 minutes total. I did not weld the base/v plate to the I beam, instead I clamped the brake to the I beam. Installing the knives was pretty painless as well, I use a cordless impact to tighten/loosen the bolts for clamping them in. I have it down pretty quick now, I can remove all of them, set up for different bends or install them all in minutes.

The first bend I made on the brake was a set of gate hinges I cut out of 3/8". I would call them a "C" channel bend and I was already in for a learning curve. The bends were too tight so the hinge would hit the brake before bending a complete 90 degrees. I would roughly get 80 degrees before hitting. Not a big deal I just made them a little longer and now the hinges clear. I also found that if the rods the brake is sleeved over on the ends are not exact the brake will not go down evenly which only creates an issue if you are not looking for 90 degrees. I have since fixed the rods as well but learned again that if the part is not centered to the jack which also has to the centered to the brake then you will struggle with anything but 90 degree bends. The issue is that one half of the material will bend before the other so you would have say 70 degrees on one half and 75 on the other. The addition of another jack was the biggest help with correcting this issue. evenly spaced jacks applying pressure at the same rate allows the user a little more freedom from center. Another issue I ran into would be the jacks themselves. They do not like to be stored upside down, I had originally made brackets to slide the base plate for the jack upside down so the cylinder would be pushing down on the brake and not the base plate pushing down on the brake. It's not a huge issue beside when not in use I have to remove the jacks.

As far as the handiness now that I have worked out my bugs, this thing is great. I would highly recommend it to anyone unsure of buying a press brake or for anyone who just needs one every month or so for a few parts. I really don't think you can go wrong with this tool in your shop. I have bent 3/8" thick brackets I would say 8" wide with not issues. I have not experimented with bending anything wide in it over 1/8" or 11 ga thick so I really can't comment on that. I would guess I could bend 20" wide .25" with the brake just from comparing it to other jobs I've done with it. I use it to bend the fire pit file I got from this forum though, same shape as the collapsible but welded pit.

In conclusion, this thing has helped me a lot and is a justifiable purchase. It has allowed me to buy other equipment that I needed instead of spending the money for a brake that I would only use one or twice a month with a small footprint so it doesn't take up a whole lot of shop space. I hope this helps anyone on the fence looking at these brakes. Go get you one and expand your capabilities.



Press Brake Frame Build:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/shop-too ... stand.html
20150611_204622.jpeg
CoffeeTable.jpg

You currently do not have access to download this file.
To gain download access for DXF, SVG & other files Click Here

DIY 5x10 v rail, rack and pinion
Gecko g540
Pm65 - aka game changer
Longevity ForceCut 42i is sitting on the shelf
Proma THC
ACAD, SheetCam, Mach3
Millermatic 211
NEW HORSE IN THE STABLE:
4'x8' LDR downdraft w/a scribe
Milltronics Partner 2 CNC mill
gsi
2 Star Member
2 Star Member
Posts: 67
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:56 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL
Contact:

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by gsi »

I have SWAG's finger brake kit for a regular shop press. I think it's 19" wide. I kinda like it but I want to do something else as I keep wanting to bend stuff that is just a bit wider. It would be nice if the fingers were longer as it would give more clearance for boxes and stuff. We tried to bend a 11 inch piece of 1/4" the other day with it. It didn't end well. It wouldn't bend it with a 20T jack. My press frame is rated for 30T so I put my non air 30 ton in to bend these parts. Unfortunately the press frame started to yield. The holes egged out where the pins go through and the pins bent. Note, I'm bend stuff that is listed as being in capacity for this setup. Another issue with mine is the bottom isn't flat(this way since new) so it's very frustrating trying to make precise bends with it using an angle cube to measure the plate. It rolls some depending on how much load is on it and where the load is front to back. The back gauge is a pain to adjust. I use my shop press for other things frequently so it's kinda annoying to have to constantly take the press brake on and off. I'm either going to buy a press brake, buy the swag 40" kit, or build my own.
Chrissi
1/2 Star Member
1/2 Star Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2016 10:38 pm

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by Chrissi »

gsi wrote:I have SWAG's finger brake kit for a regular shop press. I think it's 19" wide.
Is that the regular or the HD version of the finger brake kit?
Thanks, Chrissi
gsi
2 Star Member
2 Star Member
Posts: 67
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:56 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL
Contact:

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by gsi »

It's the regular version. Best I can tell the only difference is a 4" wide lower die on the heavier duty version.
nalin400m
2 Star Member
2 Star Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:07 pm
Location: Evansville, IN
Contact:

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by nalin400m »

Had you considered cutting your own? They're not exactly rocket science. This is mine before i drilled and tapped all of the pierced holes to hold the upper dies. Works great. I can cut/laminate all the custom dies I want with scrap or use commercially available dies.

Image
Nalin Manufacturing, LLC
Hypertherm Powermax 85
Bulltear Starlab 4'x8'
kbenz
3 Star Elite Contributing Member
3 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 465
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 1:26 pm
Location: Kannapolis,NC
Contact:

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by kbenz »

I want to build the new 48" brake they came out with
CandCNC
Mach3
Sheetcam
Draftsight
Hypertherm 65 machine torch
Millermatic 210
Passport plus
Spoolmate 150
Miller Bobcat 225
http://benzweldingandfabrication.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Benz-Wel ... 468?ref=hl
digitalmonk
1/2 Star Member
1/2 Star Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 4:36 pm

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by digitalmonk »

Long shot, old post...
KidTech
Regarding this
"I also found that if the rods the brake is sleeved over on the ends are not exact the brake will not go down evenly which only creates an issue if you are not looking for 90 degrees. I have since fixed the rods..."

What did you do exactly. I just built the 40" finger brake and tried it with a centered bottle jack and one side starts to compress before the other...
I thought this thing would be a little bit more precise.... It kind of sucks that I will have to go to a dual jack setup to make it work well...
User avatar
acourtjester
6 Star Elite Contributing Member
6 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 7770
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2012 6:04 pm
Location: Pensacola, Fla

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by acourtjester »

Here is a guy in New York that modified the swag to make shaper bends
https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.p ... swag+break
DIY 4X4 Plasma/Router Table
Hypertherm PM65 Machine Torch
Drag Knife and Scribe
Miller Mig welder
13" metal lathe
Small Mill
Everlast PowerTig 255 EXT
User avatar
Scratch
3.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
3.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 807
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:07 pm
Location: Hudson,WI
Contact:

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by Scratch »

I don't have any problems with it bending with only a single jack. I have bent some 3/8" but not much. A lot of 1/4" though.

I still really like the Swag Off Road press brake, but I also found myself needing to bend either thin gauge steel or smaller pieces of steel with sharper bends so I was thinking about ordering their Flat Top adjustable bottom V-die.

Then I remembered I have a CNC plasma cutting table and some extra 1/2" AR500 steel so I decided to make one instead.

If you don't know what a "Flat Top adjustable bottom V-die" is, here's the link:
http://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-20-T...Die-_p_94.html

I pretty much made a duplicate of that except my theory is "overkill is under-rated" so I beefed it up. I used AR500 steel, and used all 1/2" steel, instead of 1/2" and 3/8" steel that they used. I also added a support brace because I may have to bend Vibranium someday...

In this pic you can see the parts I cut out. The part on the right is the main bottom plate and has a support brace that almost touches the bottom of the existing brakes V-die. The two parts in the middle make up the adjustable V-die. The two round pieces are spacers for the springs since it moves everything up a bit.
0.jpg

This pic is getting ready to install the Flat Top in the brake:
1.jpg

Here are two pics are of it installed, piece by piece:
2.jpg
3.jpg

And here is the complete press with the flat top die in it. It also stores at the bottom of the press when not in use.
4.jpg

You currently do not have access to download this file.
To gain download access for DXF, SVG & other files Click Here

I think I'm the oldest 10 year old boy on the forum...
adbuch
6 Star Elite Contributing Member
6 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 8598
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2017 5:22 pm
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Contact:

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by adbuch »

Nice job on the flat top. Mine is only 20 tons, but I added the air-over-hydraulic jack for the thicker stuff. I purchased my flat top from swag offroad. I have made adapters to use some smaller upper fingers and lower dies for more precision work on thinner material. I also added a digital readout for more accurate/repeatable bends.
David
IronmanMetal
1/2 Star Member
1/2 Star Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2022 2:28 am

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by IronmanMetal »

Looks awsome.above link is dead.have a dfx? thanks
adbuch
6 Star Elite Contributing Member
6 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 8598
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2017 5:22 pm
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Contact:

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by adbuch »

IronmanMetal wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 12:53 am Looks awsome.above link is dead.have a dfx? thanks
https://www.swagoffroad.com/products/sw ... ttom-v-die
Jason@bc
2.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
2.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Moose Jaw Sask.

Re: Swag Offroad 40" Press Brake Review

Post by Jason@bc »

NICE JOB!!! Thanks for sharing your work.
Post Reply

Return to “Metal Bending, Rolling, Notching, Drilling, Saw Cutting”