How to put the round back into a bent up running board edge

[billrigsby]

I think, we all just commend you on the ingenuity and effort

for this solution to a problem most would have patched with filler!

 

Waiting for photos!

 

 

[ggdad1951]

I applaud the work on your press tool.  But I kinda see what happened to you.  Such a small area on a press will deform the metal in that are and you end up with edge effects (leaving marks, ripples, etc.)?  Might be better to dismount the dies and hand work the shape slowly as you "float" along the edge, gradually bringing it back to shape, instead of brute force 2" at a time?

[Eneto-55]

14 hours ago, lostviking said:

After using the press, it's very difficult to use properly. I knew it was going to be awkward, but I think I need to hand the running board from a rafter so it doesn't need any other support. Also, I need to remove a sharp edge at the top of the inner die. It can leave a mark.

 

Otherwise, it will put the round back. Not sure if it is the best idea or not. I might try some rods that I grind the curves into to do a little hammering also. I really messed this running board up badly

I wonder how much force is actually required to gradually reshape the piece.  I have an arbor press that I had custom built by a machine shop in this area.  I started with a drawing from an old Mechanics Illustrated (or Popular Science? Not sure now) magazine, and made some changes myself, and then the machinist also made some design changes.  It also uses a hydraulic jack, like yours, and it can be tedious to operate that all, in comparison to an actual press that has easy to operate controls.  So I'm wondering if a manually operated leverage type press would provide the needed force.  Then suspend the work piece with bungee cords, so it can easily conform to the relative position of the press.  Then work slowly back and forth across the work area, little by little.  But it might require some sort of cam (or gear-driven) set up to get the necessary force to actually move the metal.  I am thinking of that type of system for two reasons, ease of applying and releasing the pressure, and the 'feedback' you get from a hand operated process, letting you know how much relative force you are applying at each spot.  Just thinking out loud here.

[kencombs]

I've been following this with interest.   Short dies will probably distort the edge as already mentioned, but that can be minimized by stopping short of a full bend.  Go full length of the repair, then do it over and over a little at a time, overlapping the dies position each time.   If you have an acetylene torch it can help by relieving the stress between press passes.

 

I've done something similar on my shop press.   It sorta works but I'll bet you will be wishing for a air over hyd jack before you're done!  I know I got really tired of pumping and releasing over and over and over and.....

[lostviking]

All good suggestions, but I think I didn't explain what was happening well enough. The inner die was designed by offsetting the outer die the metal thickness. That meant that I had to "figure the top end point out", rather than have a good model for it. I just picked a spot and ended it, then did a flat top. That left a sharp edge at the top of the tool. Unfortunately that edge ended inside of the top radius, leaving a mark. Here's a picture to better illustrate what I'm trying to say.

 

 

 

I grabbed my Dremel and a sanding roll and put a radius on that edge instead. The tool only had the curve just below my finger, not the very top one. I'll have to fix that by hand. That's what I meant by rounding the end of a punch or something. I think I'll use a cheap chisel and grind it down to the shape I need.

 

You can see more clearly how truly messed up the sides of the running board are.

Edited November 4, 2023 by lostviking

[lostviking]

Haven't given up on this. I used some air dry clay and did an impression of both the outside and inside faces. This time I've got the complete detail of both surfaces from the bottom edge all the way up to the flat top. A friend of mine at work is going to use the CMM system to plot the surfaces for me and generate a cad profile I can use to get some better tools made. This time it will put the metal exactly back where it belongs. I'm also going to go with thinner dies, so I can have them water jet cut the pieces. The laser seemed to smear the edges a bit. I'll put two holes in each piece so I can align them and bolt them together also. I'm doing that for two reasons, one is just so I can try 1 inch wide and 2 inch wide dies (of course I can size up and down in .125 increments also).