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Permalink Reply by Jesse Hartman on August 10, 2014 at 8:58am

Hello,

     I don't have any tools that are for sale, however I can offer some advice.  Harbor Freight has pneumatic rivet guns that work awesome for about 40-50 bucks.  There are many choices when it comes to homemade brakes.  The one that I built is from Macsmachine.com.  I have seen others use wooden brakes with great results.  I believe I have a video on my page of the one I built.  Good luck with your build.

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Permalink Reply by Todd Osborne on August 10, 2014 at 9:06am

Thanks. I am a Harbor Freight addict already! If you can shop on holidays they usually do 25% off and I get their coupons via email which also routinely offer big discounts. I was looking at one of their rivet guns that had mostly good reviews, but had a negative comment about using it with aluminum rivets. Which one do you have?

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Permalink Reply by Clint L Gosch on August 10, 2014 at 10:24am

Hi Todd, 

Check out yardstore.com for cheap cleco's, they usually sell new ones for around 40 cents,  they have lots of used tools too, some good deals some not so good.  Also, take a look at an olfa pc-l for scoring and breaking aluminum, if you do not own one already. The olfa is a bit more work to use than a shear, but it is small, cheap, and gives great results on 6061T6.  I've also been able to get good results using a "David Clay Brake", I modified David's original design to incorporate an interchangeable shoe made out of hardwood so it can form different radii.  If you have welding skills, I would recommend the brake Jesse built, very nice piece of equipment!! Check out Jesse's flange forming tool, I still think he needs to manufacture and sell them. Good luck with your project!

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