The Home Machinist!

Guys Need some opinions,

Can anyone who has used one of these or has a feel for its value provide their opinon on what it's worth, and anything to watch out for when inspecting it.

I think the two missing fingers arn't with the brake. It also looks like it has been been rebuilt using "home made" parts.

If parts were built correctly should this brake bend 16 ga. ok?

The piece under the fingers looks like it doesn't belong there as part of the brake?

There is an auction today and I would like some opinions on what to limit my bid to on this brake. I am having someone bid for me so I havn't actually seen it myself.

Any help would be appreciated.


Dennis

Oops,

didn't get the pic attached
let's try this

dpage

Do a search on Ebay - you might be surprised what they pull.

Last one I saw was a 42" and it went for 5 or 6 hundred (locally)- the smaller ones do nearly as well and sometime seven BETTER on Ebay as there can often be a frenzy in the bidding for old iron.

I have one just like this one. Very handy for pan building. The jaws are fairly easy to replace (make new). I saw one yesterday at a machine dealers site for $1500. Take a friend if you intend to take it home, it will be all any two will want to move even detached from it's stand. A brand new Di-Acro 24" pan brake for up to 16 ga. costs $2495 plus $539 for the stand.
Pat

Dennis,
i bought 2 brakes(2' and a 3' ) at a high school auction for a 110$ only had enuf
fingers for one ,the 2'. so made the fingers for the 3', and sold the 2' for 250$
That was 10-15 yrs ago already.
that extra pc(angle iron) that is something the manufacturers recomend, you can
take it off when makin certain bends.
now the rating, it should be rated at 16ga cr, (thats about 18 or 20 s/s) it should be able to do it but it will take some muscle to bend it(no counter weights to help)
one thing that you may find is the clamping adjustment(what holds the fingers down) gets loose and the metal slips, it can be adjusted.
Hope this helps with your descision.
Happy Holidays
tt

Yeah Jacin, my seat-of-the-pants analysis is that the smaller stuff in benders seems to attract more bidders and thus higher prices.

Somewhat similar to the Atlas 6" lathe frenzy, where a larger Atlas 10" or 12" machine will typically be more rigid and have more capacity but sell for significantly lower prices unless fanastically tooled.

It seems like either the possibility that shipping would be more resonable with a smaller machine or it doesn't take up much space where a shop is strictly limited in size drives this.

I don't claim to be an expert on the phenomenon, but it's interesting to watch.

On the other hand, Di-Acro makes top notch stuff. Very very nicely detailed machines that feel robust in operation. I just scammed a #4 bender and stand a low price and I couldn't resist posting! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif"%20alt="[/img]

-Matt

Marty posted a pix of a Pexto PX24 brake last year, a friend of his was offering it for 450.
Once I learned that the man attends Westec show yearly I offered full asking price if
he would hand carry to show. The brake was as advertised.
Roper Whitney offers the same brake for 4200. I am a happy man. Like most
shop equipment I have equivocated about buying, I use this lots more than I
thought I would. Some day, when we have "passed on" and our widows have auctions
we want to know that some respectable equipment is being offered,,,,,,
Best. Charles

I wholeheartedly agree with you Matt - I too have witnessed the same thing - sometimes to my surprise other times not.

But Hark!!!! You know the rules!! You can't do a tool gloat with out posting a picture!!!! <grin>

Here's the newest guy in the shop (sorry wrong forum, not a sheetmetal tool!!!!!).

Not a whole lot of tooling came with it, present "pipe" dreams include a caster system so I can roll it out of the way, then 4 flush Hilti anchors in the concrete so I can bolt it down in the open center of the shop when the time is nigh, with plenty of clearance for that super long handle extension!

The tooling doesn't look THAT complex for bending round bar and flat bar. Tubing or angle iron tooling look more complex. Bender is rated at 1" solid round and 3/8" x 4" flat stock, so this should be plenty beefy for me!

The elves have been working REALLY hard this year!
-Matt

Dennis - I looked long and hard for this 24" Di-Acro brake on Ebay for two years. Finally found one for $450 that was only 80 miles away! It did not sell for a $550 price on Ebay, so I contacted the seller and bought it. Transportation is expensive for these, as they weigh 435# with the stand! The brake in the photo looks GREAT! It is in older paint - surely a quality American-made product. Some of the more recent Di-Acro machines in brown paint were made in Mexico and Taiwan. (They are now all made back in the USA). All parts are available for it too. In short, I thought $450 was a STEAL for my brake (EXACTLY like yours-stand and all), since over a 2 year period on Ebay, I saw the same brake sell for anywhere from $400 to $1100. The fact that it was just down the road made the purchase a cinch.

Thanks guys for the input,
The brake went for $500, i beleive. More t han I could afford after buying a 15" clausing at the same auction.

dpage