Do-it-yourself metal lathe: a simple and inexpensive design for the home. How to make a compact multifunctional machine Do-it-yourself machine making

Snail equipment for cold forging- required hand tool any craftsman who produces forged products without heating the metal. The “snail” is designed to bend a metal rod during cold forging of metal. Making a “Snail” for cold forging with your own hands is not so difficult.

Using homemade cold forging machines, you can make many openwork metal products. Wrought iron fences, fences, gates, gates, railings, benches amaze with their interesting shapes and rounded smooth lines. It is the curved shapes of forged products that are made using a “snail” - a machine for cold forging of metal.

The production of snail equipment takes place in several stages.

In the next video you can see how a craftsman made a homemade “snail” with his own hands, as well as how and what kind of blanks can be made using such equipment for cold forging.

This video shows another interesting view a homemade “snail” on which it is convenient to bend forgings into curls and volutes. According to the master, “everything is made more convenient and easier on this machine.”

The following video contains a drawing and description of the snail device and necessary materials for the manufacture of a bed and patterns for the production of forged curls.

Forged metal products add color to any interior and look very aesthetically pleasing. But not every owner of a house or dacha wants to have standard solutions that the market offers. In addition, forged decorative elements are very expensive.

Hot forging requires serious skills, equipment and work space. The ideal solution for realizing your design fantasies are cold forging devices. Not everyone can afford to buy such machines, but making the device yourself is not so difficult.

1 Advantages of cold forging

When processing metal using this method, heating is not required. Therefore, no furnaces, no temperature control, no skills in working with hot metal, no special work areas, etc. are required. In addition, there is no danger of serious burns.

Cold forging devices involve bending and pressing of metal. Machines for performing these processes can be either electric (you will need an electric motor and gearbox) or manual. They are easy to make with your own hands and easy to maintain. The design of the units themselves is absolutely elementary, but it is worth knowing that the process of hand forging itself requires considerable effort from the worker.

Unlike decorative elements, obtained as a result of processing hot metal, the product of cold forging, if necessary, can always be remade. It unbends as easily as it bends.

The method of creating decorative elements from metal without heating is very convenient when you need to make many of the same ones. In this case, it is made homemade device for a specific drawing with specific dimensions and template actions are performed.

A bending machine significantly saves time, effort and financial costs on equipment of the premises and the metal processing work itself.

1.1 Purpose of the device

The cold forging device allows you to perform absolutely all work, performed by a blacksmith who processes hot metal. Hand tools will cope perfectly with the production of such decorative elements as:

window grilles;
constructive for handrails of stairs, benches, chairs;
legs, frames and other elements of home furniture;
design of various fences, gates, wickets;
flower stands, fireplace grates, shelves and much more.

In the cold forging process, exclusively soft metals are used, such as aluminum, duralumin, steel, copper, brass, magnesium and nickel alloys.

1.2 Types of units

To create a decorative forged metal interior, you will need several types of parts. Among them are spiral rods, arcs, spirals, various parts made of sheet metal.

It is almost impossible to make a universal machine for cold forging with your own hands, so to create each element you will have to make a separate device. Such devices include the following units:

Gnutik. Allows you to produce metal arcs curved at a certain angle.
Snail. This device is designed for bending reinforcing and profile bars into a spiral.
Twister. A tool for bending a rod into a spiral along its axis.
Wave. A device designed for bending a reinforcing or profile rod into a wave element.
Ring. For making rings and ovals.
Press. A device designed for flattening metal products.
Hammer and anvil. Very useful universal tools that allow you to correct defects.

All units designed to perform the above tasks can be either manual or electric.

To operate the latter, you will need an electric motor and gearbox. Electric machines, having a motor and a gearbox, perform work much faster and make the lot easier for the worker himself.

2 How to make a cold forging machine at home?

Making a machine of any of the above types with your own hands at home is very simple. You don’t need any fancy tools or expensive mechanisms and materials for this. Everything you need for such a device can be found in almost any garage.

2.1 Materials and tools

Regardless of what kind of device you plan to make, you will need the following materials:

sheet metal 4-5 mm thick;
reinforcing bars, profile bars or profile pipe;
stable bed;
If we are going to make an electric bending machine rather than a manual one, we will need a low-speed motor and gearbox.

To organize the process of manufacturing a unit for cold forging, you need to stock up on the following tools:

“grinder” for cutting metal elements (if you don’t have one, use a metal file);
welding machine;
emery stone and sandpaper;
vice and pliers;
paper, pencil, marker;
tape measure or centimeter.

2.2 Manual machine “snail”

Spiral-shaped elements are most often used to create a “forged” interior. Therefore, we will begin our consideration of the production process with the snail machine.

A homemade electric unit will require, in addition to the usual set of parts, the use of a motor and gearbox. The gearbox is used to reduce engine speed. But we'll talk about this later. For now, let’s look step by step at how to make a hand-held device.

Note also that one machine can make spirals different diameters, but for this you will need a removable snail. This can be achieved in two ways: solid metal removable circles with a welded scroll, or one circle with removable parts of the spiral.

The homemade apparatus for cold forging is ready. You can lay the rod, fix it, rest against it with a bending barrel and walk around until you get the desired product.

2.3 DIY cold forging machine 3 in 1 (video)

2.4 Electrical analogue

The only difference is that the engine must rotate the working circle through a reduction gearbox. The bending barrel is welded directly to the circle without affecting the gearbox. Otherwise, the manufacturing principle of the unit is absolutely identical, and the gearbox and electric motor only complement it.

You can make machines for cold forging from scrap materials.

Since universal devices from manufacturers have a fairly high cost, a self-made machine for cold forging of metal will be an excellent solution for people involved in the manufacture of forged products.

Today, metal structures with a unique design and bold architectural forms are used to furnish houses in cottage villages.

Figuratively curved forged elements of gates, fences and gates bring an unusual image to landscape design estates.

In the proposed photos you can see what an unusual artistic look metal structures create.

What parts can be made on a cold forging machine?

Cold forging, unlike hot technology, is simple and safe. This process does not require the use of hot metal and precise adherence to operating temperature.

You can make a cold forging machine with your own hands specifically for the production of a certain type of part.

Also, a homemade machine will allow you to solve a wide variety of problems, so it will be simply universal.

By using homemade machine will be possible to achieve perfect geometry metal elements for individual design idea and make original parts with a pattern yourself.

In the process of cold decorative forging, as a rule, soft metal is used - this can be nickel and magnesium alloys, steel, copper or brass.

Otherwise, the range of products produced on the machine will be limited only by the imagination and ability of the master.

If desired, you can make openwork elements for stairs, gates and fences with your own hands.

The use of decorative details will allow you to decorate fireplaces and barbecues, beautifully decorate the outer walls of the house and gazebo, and make original tripods for flowers, as in the photo.

Types of cold forging equipment

Existing types of machines can be operated with the participation electric motor or manual force.

The first version of the device makes it possible to perform work faster than manual ones, but at the same time requires certain skills from the master.

Forging machines are divided into types:

snail - a machine with separate removable parts or solid cast - it is used when making spiral-shaped individual parts;
universal device - used for cutting, riveting and adding volume to the product;
bender - with its help you can perform arc bending of metal or bending parts at a certain angle;
device for forming rings;
twister - allows you to bend the product along the axis;
press – to form a matrix imprint on the product;
wave – for producing wave-like elements from metal rods.

Making the “Snail” machine

Using the list of tools and metal parts below, you can assemble a solid snail machine.

To work you will need:

metal rods;
steel sheets and strips;
profile steel pipe;
welding, pliers, grinder.

Drawings and step by step diagram, as well as watching a thematic video, will allow you to get a high-quality device with the necessary parameters:

Using a piece of paper, draw on it an image of a spiral with three turns. Next, check the dimensions so that a reinforced rod with a diameter of 10 mm fits into the thread;
Using a grinder, cut two plates from a steel sheet. The first should have parameters of 100x100 mm, the second - 130x130 mm;
Take a 3 cm rod and three steel strips. The cut edges of all used parts must be sanded to remove burrs;
Using pliers, bend the steel strips according to the template, as a result you will have three spiral parts with different lengths;
Using welding, all elements of the machine are welded according to the diagram, welding work It is recommended to carry out it qualitatively, since the service life of the tool will depend on them;
The steel pipe is welded last from the bottom in the center of the machine.

As a result of the work carried out, equipment for cold forging of metal should be obtained, as in the photo.

If, when decorating any interior elements with cutting profile pipes no one experiences difficulties, then if it is necessary to bend them, on the contrary, everything becomes more complicated.

A special specialist will allow you to carry out such work efficiently and quickly bending machines for pipes that you can make yourself in advance.

Different drawings for the manufacture of this type of equipment can be used, depending on what materials will be used in the work.

Assemble the machine production type For cold forging of metal, as in the photo, at first glance it is difficult.

But if a master has already gained experience working with metal, nothing is impossible for him. The main thing is to choose a solid, stable foundation for the future structure.

For example, it could be massive metal table, made on the basis of pipes or profiles.

Since bending of the metal will occur due to the shafts present in the structure, it is necessary to select three such elements.

Each of them is a metal cylinder with thick walls and an axis of rotation. Two cylinders are fixed slightly above the table, and the third, central, is placed above them.

The distance of the two outer cylinders determines the angle at which the pipe will be bent.

In order to be able to change the position of the cylinders if necessary, it is necessary to make additions to the design drawings in the form of stoppers and rollers, which will make this part adjustable.

After the cylinders are fixed, it is necessary to organize a rotation transmission system for them.

For this purpose, they use a chain mechanism from an old car, which can be found on the spare parts market.

It is better if the mechanism is equipped with gears; if not, then they will have to be purchased separately.

The gears are mounted on the two outer cylinders and the tensioner is placed below the shafts in the center. Then one of the outer cylinders is equipped with a handle in order to create a rotating force.

The machine for cold forging of metal products is ready. The following video will help supplement the above material with details.

How to make a torsion bar machine

A machine for cold forging of torsion bar type products is used for twisting metal spirals in the form of a snake.

It is difficult to work with such a device manually, therefore, most often for the manufacture of a torsion bar, drawings with electrical versions of machines are used.

In order to properly assemble the torsion bar, we suggest watching the video and reading the instructions below.

Tools and materials for assembling the machine:

steel sheet;
I-beam;
vices and fasteners;
gearbox, electric motor, chain;
Bulgarian;
welding.

Action sequence diagram:

The basis will be an I-beam, to one side of which a steel sheet must be welded;
Then a vice is attached to the steel, welded and secured with bolts and nuts;
So that when tension metal product does not jump out of the machine, plates are attached to the vice from below and above;
The other side of the I-beam is equipped with rollers, on which the platform is subsequently mounted;
Another vice with movable main elements is attached to the surface of the resulting structure. In this case, both structures located along the edges of the I-beam will have to be located on the same level;
Next, the structure is equipped with a steel handle made of rod; due to its rotation, the product will be bent;
Using bolts, connect the reduction gearbox and the engine. The steering wheel rim is equipped with a chain;
The structure is covered with a steel casing.

As a result of these actions, a machine with two blocks is obtained - movable and stationary.

It is not difficult to make a sheet metal bending machine with your own hands, but so far few home craftsmen and specialists who use bent sheet steel products in their activities are engaged in the manufacture of such equipment for their own needs. Meanwhile, such a device, which has fairly high reliability and ease of operation, will help you save a lot.

One of the most affordable sheet benders is the domestic LGS-26, the price is about 38 thousand rubles. We will make it cheaper and optimize it to suit your needs

The manufacture and use of a sheet bending machine is especially important for those who need to perform technological bending operations sheet material It is necessary not daily and in large volumes, but periodically.

Types of sheet benders and their design

Before you start making a homemade manual sheet bender, you should clearly define the list of tasks for which it is needed. The main purpose of such a device will depend on what scheme it will be implemented according to.

The simplest is a device in which sheet metal is bent using a special traverse. Using such a device, you can easily bend a sheet of metal at an angle of 90 degrees, using only hand strength without additional devices, if the width of the sheet does not exceed 0.5 meters. The base of the sheet is secured with clamps or in a vice, and its bending is carried out due to the pressure exerted by the traverse. In some cases, to obtain a bend angle of exactly 90 degrees, you may need an embedded spacer (in the picture on the right), which is an ordinary strip of metal that will help compensate for the elasticity of the sheet.

A more complex design is the press brake, which consists of a die and a punch. The sheet metal in such a device is located on a matrix, and the punch is lowered onto the workpiece from above, giving it the required profile. At home, a press brake is unlikely to be used, since it is quite complicated and unsafe to use.

A version of a homemade press brake working in tandem with. If you already have a press, then supplementing it with devices for bending narrow sheets of metal will not be difficult. You'll get something like this:

A sheet bending machine is much more advanced, in which metal is bent by the action of three shafts. Such equipment is called pass-through. One of its main advantages is that its adjustable rollers allow different bending radii. Such a tool for bending metal can be manually or electrically driven, and its rollers can have a different design.

Rollers with smooth work surface are designed to perform most sheet metal work, which involves bending blanks, manufacturing pipe sections with large diameters, etc.
Profiled rollers are necessary for bending elements of roofing structures (ridges, valleys, gutters, flanges, etc.).
The broaching sheet bending machine can be additionally equipped with a support, a clamp and a traverse, which allows it to be used for manual bending of workpieces.

Such machines are equipped with a set of shafts of various profiles, which can also be purchased additionally to make the equipment more versatile.

Where to start making a sheet bending machine

To make a machine for bending sheet metal, you will need a drawing of such a device or its detailed photos. In addition, a number of important factors should be taken into account, such as the force that will need to be applied to use the sheet bending machine, its weight and dimensions (on which mobility depends), cost and availability of components. As a result, we obtain the following initial parameters.

The maximum width of the sheet that will need to be bent is 1 m.
Maximum thickness of sheet material: galvanized – 0.6 mm, aluminum – 0.7 mm, copper – 1 mm.
The number of operating cycles that will be carried out without readjustment or repair is 1200.
The maximum bend angle of a metal profile, obtained without manual finishing, is 120 degrees.
It is highly undesirable to use workpieces made of special steels (for example, stainless steel).
In the design of a sheet bending machine, welded joints that do not withstand alternating loads should be avoided.
You should limit as much as possible the number of sheet bending machine parts that you will need to order externally, using turners or millers.

It is very difficult to find a drawing of a device that would satisfy all these requirements, but the most successful one can be modified.

The most popular sheet bending design and its improvement

The design of a manual sheet bending machine, shown in drawing No. 1, can be easily improved. From the above drawing it can be seen that the device for bending sheet metal consists of the following elements:

Drawing No. 1: To build our sheet bending machine we will use this diagram

pillow made of wood;
support beam made of channel 100–120 mm;
cheek, for the manufacture of which a sheet 6–8 mm thick is used;
sheet of material to be processed;
a pressure beam made of 60–80 mm corners connected by welding;
an axis for rotating the traverse (made from a metal rod with a diameter of 10 mm);
the traverse itself is a corner with dimensions of 80–100 mm;
the handle of the device is made of a rod with a diameter of 10 mm.

The sheet bending traverse (item 7), which according to the original drawing is supposed to be made from a corner, is conventionally shown as a version made from a channel. Such modernization will significantly increase the endurance of the traverse, which, when using a corner, at a certain moment will inevitably bend in the middle and will no longer create a high-quality bend in the sheet in this place. Replacing with a channel will allow you to do not 200 bends without straightening or replacing this element (which is quite a bit for more or less active work), but more than 1300.

The design of such a sheet bending machine, made at home, can be further improved, which will make it more efficient and versatile.

Drawing No. 2: Main elements of a sheet bending machine

Drawing No. 2 allows you to understand in more detail the design of a homemade sheet bender:

a homemade clamp made from a suitable angle (40-60 millimeters) and a screw with a heel and a knob;
cheek;
channel acting as a support beam for the machine;
a clamping beam bracket made from a 110 mm angle;
the pressing beam of the sheet bender itself;
axis of rotation of the traverse;
the traverse itself.

Strengthening the pressure beam

Below we will look at the clamping bar reinforcement scheme. However, if you initially have a fairly massive corner as a clamp, and you do not plan to bend excessively thick sheets on your sheet bending machine, then it is quite possible to do without reinforcing the clamping bar in the described way.

To extend the service life of the pressure beam and make it comparable to the service life of the traverse, this structural element, which was originally made from an angle according to the drawing, should be supplemented with a base made of a metal strip with dimensions of 16x80 mm. The front edge of this base should be given an angle of 45 degrees in order to align its plane with the plane of the clamping angle itself, and the working edge of this element should be chamfered about 2 millimeters.

In drawing No. 2, the resulting part is shown in section in the additional figure at the top right. These measures will allow the clamp metal to work not in bending (which is extremely undesirable), but in compression, thereby greatly increasing the service life without repair.

An additional 60 angle welded to the rear flange of the main clamping angle will keep it from bending upward. Drawing No. 2 shows this in more detail in the additional figure at the top left.

You should also take care of milling the lower plane of the pressure beam, which forms the bend. The unevenness of this plane, according to generally accepted rules, should not exceed half the thickness of the workpiece being bent. Otherwise, it will not be possible to bend the workpiece evenly, without a swollen fold line. It should be borne in mind that a beam should be submitted for milling only when it already has all the welds, since their implementation leads to a change in the geometric parameters of the structure.

We increase the reliability of machine mounts

There is another big drawback in the sheet bending machine - the way it is attached to the work table. The clamps provided in this device are a very unreliable fastening option, especially considering the rapid fatigue of welds. Such fasteners can be completely abandoned, which will also avoid the need to use welded joints and jaws. The following actions can solve this problem:

making a support beam that will protrude beyond the desktop;
making U-shaped eyes at the ends of the support beam;
fastening the support beam to the work table using bolts (M10) and shaped nuts with claws.

If the improved sheet bending machine no longer has jaws, how can a crossbeam be attached to it? This issue can be solved quite simply: use butterfly door hinges for this purpose, which are usually used for hanging heavy metal doors. Such hinges, which ensure fairly high accuracy, can be secured using countersunk screws. This is further illustrated in drawing No. 2 at the bottom right.

You can bend a lot of workpieces on a sheet bending machine with a traverse attached to butterfly hinges, since these hinges are very reliable.

Complete structure

After assembly, the improved device for producing a metal profile looks like this:

reinforced support beam;
flywheel – threaded element;
a beam that provides clamping of the workpiece;
clamp for attaching the device to the desktop;
a traverse, with the help of which, in fact, you can bend the workpiece being processed.

The drawings show pressure flywheels, which in practice few people have. More often, ordinary screws with welded collars are used. After welding the knobs, it is necessary to remove the threads on them, since welding can have an extremely negative effect on it.

Drawings of another version of the sheet bender

Detailed drawings of a sheet bending machine, very similar in design, but differing in the traverse fastening. The diagrams show dimensions, which, of course, can be changed depending on the intended use of the machine.

Support beam Drawing of support beam End of cross beam Drawing of cross beam
Pressure beam Drawing of pressure beam General form assembled Clamp mount

What is a zig machine and how to make one

A zig machine (or creasing device) allows you to bend stiffeners on sheet metal products, which are called zigs. Such machines belong to the category special equipment and can be made with electric or manual drive. Manual zig machines, also secured with a clamp, can be quite compact in size and can be carried in a regular bag for working tools.

Such devices allow you to make high-quality flanging in one pass not only on round products (the same shells of metal containers), but also on straight metal sheets. These devices are simply irreplaceable in the manufacture of individual parts of roofing structures.

The working elements of the zig machine are rollers, and its use allows you to significantly save on the purchase of roofing structural elements produced in the factory. If you watch a video that shows the operation of such a device, it becomes clear that it can be used even at the site of direct installation of the roof structure.

To choose the right tool for manufacturing bent elements made of sheet metal, you can adhere to the following recommendations.

For home handyman who periodically needs a sheet bending machine, a simple device made from improvised materials is quite suitable.
Those who occasionally carry out roofing installation orders will need manual machine for bending sheet metal and a simple zig machine.
Specialists who are constantly engaged in the production of elements for roofing structures and tin work need a factory device for bending sheet metal.
Manual is useful for those who professionally manufacture elements of roofing structures. The best option for such specialists is professional equipment, characterized by higher reliability and durability.

Russian-made sheet bender SKS-2v1, price 64 thousand rubles

If your plans nevertheless include the active use of a homemade sheet bending machine to work on a more or less large flow, then be prepared for the fact that at some point your production may stop due to a breakdown. Since the steel used by home craftsmen for the production of sheet bending machines with their own hands, most likely will not withstand high loads, will quickly get tired and simply float.

But for household, not particularly loaded applications, a home sheet bending machine will be an excellent assistant and will save a lot of money. You need to take this point into account and not expect miracles of endurance and performance from a simple homemade machine.

Before making a sheet bending machine with your own hands, you can not only study numerous drawings of similar devices posted on the Internet, but also watch a training video. Perhaps the size of the described sheet bender may seem too small to some, then you can consider the option of a homemade sheet bender of a larger format. Of course, this is no longer a mobile machine; it is suitable for a small private workshop:

Advantages of a homemade sheet bender

Making a sheet bending machine with your own hands or purchasing a manual walk-through sheet bender is often of interest to those who want to save a lot on purchasing mass-produced corrugated sheets. Simple theoretical arithmetic shows: if you bend corrugated sheets yourself using such a device, then the cost of the latter will be 40% lower compared to the cost of factory products. But it's not that simple.

If you purchase a factory pass-through machine for corrugated sheets manual type with an eye to small own production, then it will cost about 60 thousand rubles. Meanwhile, such a manual sheet bending machine does not guarantee the stable quality of the corrugated sheets obtained with its help. The problem is that rolling in one pass with a large share will most likely lead to the appearance of overtightened corners, which may subsequently lead to cracks. And rolling one sheet repeatedly, gradually changing the degree of pressure, is too long, labor-intensive and ultimately unprofitable. But more simple details It is quite convenient to make from sheet steel using it.

For a full-fledged Chinese-made rolling line for corrugated sheeting, you will have to pay about $20,000. Of course, it consumes quite a lot of electricity (from 12 kW) and its installation requires a large area, which clearly does not fit into the plans and budget of most home craftsmen.

The most important thing to consider when purchasing a sheet metal bending machine is the possibility of a quick payback. It is quite difficult for a master who uses such a device privately to achieve this. In this case, it is more advisable to use a homemade sheet bending machine, which is suitable for the manufacture of bent sheet products of any type. With the help of such equipment you can bend both sheets with standard sizes, as well as non-standard products, which are in great demand during roofing works, as well as many others.

How does a sheet bending machine work?

Before asking yourself the question of how to make a sheet bending machine, you should understand the design features of such equipment. First of all, such devices differ in the type of their drive. Thus, there are devices with mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and manual drive.

In sheet bending machines with mechanical drive a flywheel with a clutch and crank or a system of blocks, levers and cables with a falling weight can be used. Such devices, characterized by a shock pulse at the beginning of the working stroke, which then gradually weakens, are far from ideal in terms of the quality of the result due to the mechanics of their work and are used less and less often.

The efficiency of equipment for bending sheet metal, on which an electric drive is installed, drops noticeably with increasing load in the form of a decrease in the size of the workpiece or an increase in its strength. If you try to bend a workpiece made of hard metal (for example, stainless steel) on such a sheet bending machine, you may encounter the fact that the electric motor rotor will begin to slip, reducing torque and increasing electricity consumption.

Equipment with a hydraulic drive allows you to precisely adjust the developed force to the resistance of the workpiece, but it is not cheap. A conventional hydraulic jack, which can also be used as a drive for bending sheet metal, does not ensure uniform distribution of force along the entire length of the bend.

To summarize all of the above, it turns out that a manual sheet bender is the best option for home craftsmen. It can be manufactured in various designs.

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Admiring the beauty of an openwork metal fence or admiring the incredible twisted pattern on the railing iron stairs, few people think about the fact that they are made by cold forging. You can learn to embody beauty in metal without much effort. To do this, it is enough to have minimal skills in working with metal and have special machines for cold forging.
What is cold forging? What machines are needed for it? What can be made on these machines? You will find answers to these questions in our article.

It would be more correct to call cold forging - mechanical bending of a metal rod on specialized machines to give it the shape intended by the manufacturer. Bending rods in the machine can be done either manually using levers or using electric motors. In addition to metal rods, cold forging can be used to bend small-diameter pipes, narrow iron strips and fittings. Using the cold forging method the following are produced:

Twisted fences.
Decorations for residential buildings.
Patterned gate.
Railings for balconies and stairs.
Metal garden benches.
Decorations for gazebos and lanterns.
A large number of grating options.

Elements made by cold forging
Having mastered the cold forging method, you can easily start your own business producing metal products. At the same time, the initial financial investments you will only need to purchase machines, and if you make the machines yourself, you can get by with minimal costs.

Below we provide you with instructions for self-assembly machines for cold forging.

Machine "snail"

Making a snail machine is one example of independent design, and it makes no sense to give advice with an exact indication of the dimensions of all parts. You need to be guided by your idea of the operation of the machine, how and what will bend, how many turns of the spiral will be enough for quality work, what size will the lever with the tabletop be? If you understand the essence of the machine manufacturing process, then the assembly itself will not cause any particular difficulties.

Machine “snail”

Manufacturing of main machine components

Frame.

The process of bending an iron rod exposes the machine to heavy loads, so when making the frame for the “snail”, only a metal corner, channel or thick-walled pipe is used. Don't make a frame out of wooden beams, such a table cannot withstand prolonged loads and collapses.

Tabletop.

The tabletop for the “snail” is made of a metal plate cut in the shape of a circle, at least 4 mm thick. From the same slab, a second tabletop is cut out, repeating the shape of the first. The snail segments will be placed on the second tabletop and the products will be bent. During the cold forging process, the tabletop takes on the bulk of the load, so there is no need to save money and make it from a thinner sheet of iron.

Main shaft and lever.

The main shaft is placed centrally between the tabletops and is attached to the base using four right triangles. The shaft can be made from a thick-walled pipe of the required diameter.
The lever is attached to the shaft using a ring and rotates around it; in addition, a roller is installed on the lever for bending the rods on the upper tabletop.

Machine diagram

Marking and installation of attachments

Depending on whether you want to produce only the same type of samples or you need more artistic products, there are three options for the snail device.
Option #1.
This is the simplest of three options, its essence is that the outline of a spiral is drawn on the tabletop.

Drawing of the snail segments
At its core, this is a drawing of future products that you will produce on the machine. After applying the diagram, it is enough to cut out thick strips of iron different widths, several segments repeating the line of the drawing and weld them according to the markings to the tabletop. With such a static “snail” you can make simple bends.
Option #2.
The second option is the most popular among homemade machines; it involves making a collapsible snail from removable parts. Holes are drilled along the contours of the markings into which threads are cut. Next, templates for the stop segments are made from cardboard or plywood and metal overlays are made from them. Finally, holes are drilled in the pads, which should coincide with the mounting sockets on the tabletop. To secure the segments, bolts are mainly used, but you can also make cylindrical stops. This design“snail” will allow the production of spiral-shaped blanks with different radii on one machine.

“Snail” made of metal strips
Option #3.
In the third option, instead of collapsible stop segments, several removable modules with different options snails that change as needed. The module is made of a piece of iron onto which segments repeating parts of the spiral are welded.

Snail modules
Machine assembly.

Install the frame in a place where you will have easy access to the machine from all sides.
Concrete the legs of the frame in the floor or secure the frame in another accessible way.
Weld the main table top to the frame.
Install the main shaft by welding it to the tabletop and strengthening it with triangles.
Place the rotating lever onto the shaft.
Install the top tabletop by welding it to the main shaft.
Place the snail segments on the tabletop.

After assembly, test bend the rod.
To learn more about assembling a snail cold forging machine, watch the video:

Torsion bar machine

This machine is designed for uniaxial longitudinal twisting of a workpiece from a transverse or square shape.

Torsion bar machine
A channel or I-beam is used for the base of the torsion bar machine. A thick iron strip is attached to it by welding, onto which a vice is installed to clamp the stationary part of the rod. The vice is secured with four bolts with a diameter of M16 or more. To increase the clamping strength of the bar, corrugated sheet steel plates are welded onto the vice. On the opposite side of the base, guide rollers are installed, to which a clamping unit for the movable part of the workpiece is attached. It is made of a steel bushing, in which it is necessary to provide holes for clamping bolts located at an angle of 120 degrees. The bolts must have a flat end and be made of high quality steel. Both clamping devices must be positioned coaxially; to do this, they must be checked using a level, a plumber's square and a caliper.

Types of machines
Next, you need to make a handle for turning the moving part of the clamp. Its lever should hit as long as possible to reduce the applied force. It is better to make the handle itself with a rubber bushing to prevent the hand from slipping during operation.
After the machine is fully assembled, it is checked for the reliability of the moving elements and the accuracy of the deformation of the bar. After checking, the machine is attached to the support frame.

Simple model torsion bar machine
How to make a torsion bar machine with your own hands, watch the video:

Machine "gnitik"

To qualitatively form a corner in a product produced by cold forging, you will need a machine called a “bend”. It consists of a steel plate with a movable stop on which there are two support shafts and a lever.

Machine “gnutik”
The workpiece is placed between the wedge and the support shafts. After this, with the help of a lever, the wedge is shifted towards the shafts, which leads to bending of the workpiece.

Computer model of the machine
Making such a machine is quite simple, the main thing is to follow the given drawing and use tool steel, since during operation a large load is placed on part of the device.
You can also watch how to make a “gnitik” machine in the video:

Wave machine

It would be more correct to call this machine a controlled wave. The equipment of the machine consists of a pair of steel disks with a diameter of 140 mm, which are bolted to the worktop. The axis of rotation of the universal wrench is fixed to the drive disk.

Machine “wave”
Wave control occurs as a result of changing the distance between the disks. When the bar is rolled around the drive disk with a knob, a pattern is formed, after which the bar is removed from the conductor and a pattern is formed on the other side.
You can watch the machine in action in the video:

Press machine

A press is needed to form the ends of the rods. This machine works on the principle of a flywheel; first, by rotating the bar with weights, the screw striker is pulled back until it stops. After this, a replacement stamp is inserted into the slot and the workpiece is placed. Next, quickly spin the bar in the opposite direction and leave it to rotate freely. Finally, the striker hits the stamp shank strongly, due to this, a force sufficient for stamping is developed.

Rolling press
As for the manual rolling mill, you can make it yourself, but you still have to order special steel rolls, bearing bushings and shafts, and buy gears in the store. Only “crow’s foot” and “leaf” tips can be produced on such a machine.

Connecting and painting parts

Elements produced by cold forging are connected in two ways:

Welding - the parts are welded to each other, and the scale is ground off with a grinder or other grinding machine.
Clamps - this type of connection looks much more beautiful. For clamps, stamped strips of metal with a thickness of 1.5 mm or more are used.

Painting finished products produced using blacksmith enamels or acrylic-based metal paints.

Connecting parts using welding

Products produced by cold forging

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the options for products that you can make using the cold forging method:

As can be seen from all of the above, the cold forging method does not require large financial costs and is quite easy to learn, so if you decide to start learning blacksmithing with this method, then you did the right thing.