Hobbies And Interests
Rebar Bender
With some round or square steel tubing, you can replicate the design of common rebar benders. The shearing action of rebar bender/cutters is harder to fabricate, but the simple lever action to bend rebar is well within a hobbyist's scope. Drill a hole in the end of two pieces of steel tube and through-bolt them like giant tongs. Mount one side to a 2-inch by 6-inch board. Weld two tabs onto your bender: one to hold pieces off straight rebar in place; the other to catch the rebar when you bend around the first tab as you pull the handle.
Peg Bender
Peg benders can be used for rebar and a whole variety of mild steel stock. Peg benders are more versatile and easy to store, too. To make a peg bender, start with a piece of thick, perhaps 1/4-inch, steel plate. Weld two round pegs made from 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch steel rod perpendicularly to the plate. Fasten the pegs an inch or so away from one another. Now you can insert long stock--bar or rod--between the pegs. One peg will hold the stock as the stock bends around the other peg. Use a long steel tube to slide over the stock that you're bending, applying leverage directly adjacent to the bend, giving you a clean, tight radius. You can execute this design in hardwood, too, drilling many holes to give you a versatile bending jig with many options.
90 Degree Bench-top Bender
Ninety-degree angle bends can be done with rebar benders or peg benders. For smaller jobs that always require the same angle, consider building a custom, bench-top angle bender. The design looks a little like a bookend. Start with a base on which you can lay stock. You'll fabricate a guide that will stop the arch of the bend in the same position each time. Consider using a hinge for the bending arm. Make the jig-stopper adjustable as the memory of the steel will require you to bend it slightly past 90-degrees so that after it springs back slightly it rests in a position of 90 degrees. For example, the stopper may be set to 94 degrees.
Homemade Breakform or Press
A large hinge is essentially a break form: a tool to bend sheet metal and bar-stock. You can manufacture your own hinge using a hinge pin and welding tubing to plate to make hinge-plates. When your hinge/break-form is laying open or flat, you can clamp a flat piece across the axis and when the hinge is rotated, it will bend the bar placed across it. Consider making a mount for a long handle so that you can use extra leverage.