Some of you may recall I bought a used Tapco III brake off CL a while back.
I wanted to make my own sill pan flashings for doors mostly.
I’ve cleaned it up and used it some, discovered it’s really pretty beaten but for the most part, makes a straight bend @ 10′ and was worth the 350$ I spent on it. By the way, what’s the smallest ‘hem’ I should be able to do on it? Is my material too thick if it ‘pops’ at 1/4″ or 3/8″?
I’ve made simple pan flashings, Z flashings and a custom sidewall flashing for polycarbonate roofing with it that have turned out fine.
My question is what type of material, what gauge and metal, should I buy for these types of flashings?
If I buy galv steel I assume the cuts will rust and stain? Should I get aluminum? Should I go for it and buy copper?
Is there a book or other resource that I can get some coaching on other bends?
Thanks all,
Pat
Replies
I only have a minute, but for a 1/4'' hem start it as usual, and to close it tight, lay it on the closed jaw, pivot OUT the moveable jaw to the other detent and CRIMP it closed.
At out local Norandex Distributer they have a Tapco rep out for free contractor lunch, and the rep will tune p your brake for free. He checked my Pro19 ( after I dinked with it) and said it was perfect,which it is.
Roofers often are harder on brakes than siders ( so I hear) so yours may have been hammerd with heavy ga. galvy or 20oz Copper.
Siders mostly just bend up alum coil stock, so the brake has to be adjust depending on what your primary use is.
Tapco's site hass the PDF manual online..tells ya all the goodies you can do with it.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "
Me.
What if you have an antique brake lacking the moveable jaw.....how tight should you be able to hem then?
Use the same technique, it wont be frogs a$$ tite, but serviceable. If the stock is gettin kicked back at 1/4" you may need new liners or titen the jaw lock.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
Are you asking for yours? Mine does have the articulated jaw...
I only have a minute, but for a 1/4'' hem start it as usual, and to close it tight, lay it on the closed jaw, pivot OUT the moveable jaw to the other detent and CRIMP it closed. I was trying to figure this out and couldn't get it to work. It would force the material up and away fromt he closed jaw... perhaps to thick of stock... Not "in" the jaw, but "On" it right?
At out local Norandex Distributer they have a Tapco rep out for free contractor lunch, and the rep will tune p your brake for free. He checked my Pro19 ( after I dinked with it) and said it was perfect,which it is. I strongly doubt mine's perfect, but I adjust it to hold the stock I had and it seems to hold and bend straight.
Roofers often are harder on brakes than siders ( so I hear) so yours may have been hammerd with heavy ga. galvy or 20oz Copper.
Siders mostly just bend up alum coil stock, so the brake has to be adjust depending on what your primary use is.
Tapco's site hass the PDF manual online..tells ya all the goodies you can do with it.
What sort of stuff do you bend up on yours and what type of stock should I buy for head casing Z metal, sill pans.. whatever...????
I have some galv. 20" valley stock, have no clue what ga. but its about as much as my brake wants to do at full length. The other most common has been 16oz copper odds and ends. Like head flashing and watertable work.
I rarely use any Al. coilstock, just don't get that much call for that material.
"Not "in" the jaw, but "On" it right?"
That is correct, you DO need to hold it down as you crimp, and you do need to have pre-bent fully..as far as you can get the lifters up. Maybe your stock is too heavy, but I sense something in the technique ( just sayin, not blaming, it took me some practice to find the sweet spot).
For sill pans, I use lead..so it never sees the brake...all else is copper, and being as I am mostly in woodwork, it is not a daily thing any longer.
Get on tapco's site and print the manual out, there is showing how to do and outside corner ( I think it is there) and I saw a siding guy at that lunch, whack one out slicker than snot in about 45 seconds! I mean intergal J and nail flanges! Blew me away.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
we do 95% of our flashings with painted aluminum coil stockthe others will be copperor on chimneys.... most of those are leadsince our brake is from the early '80's, it doesn' t have an articulated jaw so the smallest hem we can make without standing on our heads is 3/4Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
What gauge is the coil and where do you typically buy it? (like what sort of supply house?)
Thanks Mike,
Fun getting to learn how to use a new tool.
don't know the gage.... we buy it any number of places
lumber yard
roofing supply house
gutter suppliermost of the standard stuff is the same gage they make gutters fromusually runs about $75 for a 24" x 50' coil..... someplaces as high as $90Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike, if you want to bend smaller than 3/4", take the piece out of break and install the small size into the break, then bend.
For what it is worth, we now install doors with plastic sill pans from the supply house.
I usually go with a 1/2 hem the break seems to like it and it looks good to me.It seems like 1/4 is too short.
Make your first bend up as far as it will go. Take your peice out, lock the jaws down set your peice on the jaws with the 1/2 facing toward you, bend all the way up again, sometimes I let off on it push the peice down again and bend all the way up again.
Try the half inch I suspect you 1/4 inch ecge is getting caught on the bottem jaw when you lift the bottom jaw up to try and crimp it, then it binds and all that garbage. I belive the break your talking about is pretty much the only one ive ever used.
What would the pan your trying to make look like do you have a picture? I would like to try that too but have never tried, I have managed to make some fairly complex peices so maybe I could help.
Hey thx for reply.
Yes I can do a hem @1/2 more easily.
The pans I'm making for doors are really simple. I just put up to a 1/2" lip on the inside, this meets the inside of the threshold, then 4 1/2" out under it and bend down.
It's the width of the RO and then I use peel and stick to lap down onto it.
If the door is really exposed--South side of the house and really getting the weather, I think it's worth it.
I've not used a portable brake with an articulating jaw (don't really know what that is), but a standard portable brake well tuned won't hem much smaller than 1/2" unless you turn the stock around as frammer said, which is awkward. 1/2" should be adequate for almost any application. I usually hem 1/4" or less with my shop brake just to save material.
The two main limitations to a portable brake are the distance between reverse bends and the width of the throat. Usually about 3/4" is the minimum distance between reverse bends which is usually adequate for most applications. If you start at the middle and work out and then turn the stock around and work out again, you can bend stock about twice the width of the throat.
Aluminun coil stock is typically .019". Gutter coil comes in .027" and .032". Around here, there are siding/gutter suppliers that cater to vinyl siding/continuous gutter contractors. Also, in this area, most roof supply houses sell coil stock as well as copper. http://grantlogan.net
Who got Bo Diddley's money?
There were quite a few siding guys (25-30) at that Norandex lunch ( great food too,BTW) and when the Tapco rep , pushing slitters and stands, was tuning the brakes that guys brought in, he showed that trick.
Not ONE of the guys there KNEW that. One guy said he was doing bending for 40 yrs, and had never seen it. On that Tapco Dale and I bought, it has a second hinge channel, by pulling the jaw out and up, it makes the pivot point change and really locks down with more leverage on the upper clamp-jaw, kinda like a hinge bound door. And on the pre-bend, gets the meat of the swing jaw at an angle that starts the hem, rather than push back and get hung up.
If I was doing alot of sheetmetel, I'd lust for one like your's. No comparison.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
waters, I used to bend all our stuff out of coil stock like mike uses. In our area--ALL the painted coil stock I have used the last few years has got alarmingly thin and flimsy.one of my suppliers carries 18" wide x 1-ft. long sheets of un-bent w valley flashing---which is what I use now I used to bend all my W valleys myself---now i buy the pre-bent stuff from this supplier because it is thicker than what I used to bend myself, 20 years ago
Stephen
The only way I can do a 1/4 " bend is to bend 3/4" then move it out a 1/4" and score it there.