miniature steel angle irons? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 08:59:40 pm
content: I am looking for steel angle irons say 1/4 x 1/4 that are 1/16th thick, or maybe 3/8x3/8Do they sell this? I can't find any vendors. I want it in magnetic steel. Not aluminum or brass.I know you can probobly make something but it feels ridiculous that you can't buy it.I feel like 1/2 inch is the fucking plank distance for the angle iron industry.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:16:00 pm
content: McMaster has steel angle stock down to 1/2”, although they have aluminum down to 1/4”.I couldn’t locate anything small than 1/2” in steel.I was surprised that my normal hobby source MicroMark doesn’t have metal angle stock anymore.Model train people use brass or plastic.One suggestion in the rail literature was to slice rectangular tubing stock.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:17:03 pm
content: i want to buy this to avoid cutting / grinding / deburring / etc.So much work for probobly what accounts to a 50 cent part.Like with small thin steel angles you could do amazing things with a spot welder. It would be like god damn lego. It's strong as hell if you 'stitch' it.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:18:52 pm
content: You probably need to bend it yourself from 1/2” wide stock.Can you use 1/4” solid bar instead?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:20:01 pm
content: 1/4 solid bar will not spot weld like I want it to, that would be beast. I want like 1/16 or less thick steel that spot welds nicely.I don't want to buy a press break. I just wanna buy a 2lb bag of thin steel angle irons. It would make beautiful magnetic boxes. Easy to weld the outside corner too once its super braced with spot weld stitching to seal it up.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:21:33 pm
content: You don’t need a brake: use a vise or ViseGrip pliers on thin stock.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:35:39 pm
content: I tried it with a bolt down sharp 90 angle iron on a big block and it still is hard to do, and does not look great. The spring back of the metal requires adjustment.I really thought it might be a off the shelf piece its so damn simple and commonly useful.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:40:05 pm
content: The aluminum and brass alloys sold in this shape are probably easier to form, so like many of us you have a minority taste in the market place. ( Try finding non-insulated grid caps for tubes anymore.)

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:41:40 pm
content: I am telling you its a big market with the prevalence of small cheap spot welders.Its literary easier then soldering to put stuff together from iron. No cleanup no flux. All you need is paint, at least if its clean. Strong as hell too and faster, not only easier. Less heat input.If you want nice filled corners, solder the seam after its made. Thin enough iron you can solder with a soldering iron, especially for gap filling around an angle joint. I wanna weld it but its totally unnecessary.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:41:59 pm
content: That size I get from hobby stores, but they have nothing magnetic? Made byK&S Precision Metals.It's all brass that I could see i.e.https://www.hobbylinc.com/hobby-and-craft-metal-angles-metal-channels

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:42:37 pm
content: yeah I get Al and Brass up the wazoo during searching

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:43:34 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on August 06, 2023, 09:35:39 pmhttps://www.amazon.com/KAKA-BDS-8-Inches-Sheet-Metal/dp/B015U7JK0I

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2023, 09:53:41 pm
content: christ I am scared of that product by manufactures name alonebut I did buy it because its small and I can put it in a drawer rather then having a capital cost metal bending department in my house

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2023, 06:13:10 am
content: well I am impressed by that magnetic adapter for bending metal.I belt like 1/16 steel sheet that is 3 inches wide with it easily in a wilson 2 pin carpenters vise that it fits in and is somewhat deep. Actually stores well. I know its capable of a shit load more if you do hot work on it.if you are really reluctant to buy a benchtop brake but you have a vise and you are bending metal in a vise its like a massive upgrade from the bronze age to the modern age. wow. Offset platforms are easy for mounting shit (screw on raised brackets).I could make the same stuff with a hammer and a bending rod in a vise but this is like way easier and less fuckup prone.But I won't be making tiny angle irons because the alignment is too hard, you would need an alternative anvil.maybe if I make some kind of magnetic stop to position the smaller plates properly on it, I can bend mini angle irons.also gave me another idea, someone needs to add a metal nibbler to a engine piston, I am waiting for the lawnmower engine sheet metal cutter mod.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2023, 03:48:08 am
content: got their mini bender tool too. its actually pretty nice for something that mounts in a vise.They look like OK tools just the paint job is a bit shit (they don't bother facing the work surface on the bender), but so long it holds up then its OKI managed to bend a 1/4 by 3/16 stainless steel scrap I had to make a 90 degree angle OK.

author: mendip_discovery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2023, 07:17:14 pm
content: I'm a little late for this but could you just not use meccano stuff.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2023, 11:11:14 pm
content: hmm well I had some erector set parts that I got in a box of random stuff and they were extremely weak. are they any better?I want solid bits for magnetic shielding too, not with drill holes everywhere

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2023, 01:24:52 am
content: I have this exact one, over 15 years old and works like a dream.https://www.busybeetools.com/products/mini-shear-brake-7-1-2in-cx-series.html

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2023, 05:43:08 am
content: So if I made indexing marks/jig for the bending press, I could insert pieces of steel cut from a strip that is hopefully available, to bend a bunch of these out myself. Then I can have a box of mini angles.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2023, 07:58:15 pm
content: It's pretty versatile out of the box, but read the manual and adjust before first use. They are probably sold under a hundred brand names probably all made in the same Taiwan factory.For material automotive paint supply has high quality steel and aluminum sheet that is annealed. Super nice to work with.