Making an aluminum console

[Bill Gibson]

Here's a link to one of my youtube videos. It is demonstrating making an unusual profile when making a console for a Chevelle SS. I'm re-creating one out of .063 aluminum to replace the stock plastic one. It's all done on the Brake... It also shows a trick for the layout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEQgh...ature=youtu.be

I will post some pix after I get it all welded together....

I should warn you, the video is seventeen minutes long.....

[captainkirk]

Very nice work and the video turned out first class also.

It makes so much more sense when you see it done and can go back and forth and watch things more than once.

Thanks for taking the time to post your work....I'm always learning something new from you Mr. Bill

Kirk

[3 Chiefs]

I watched it all. That looks like it was kind of complicated to figure out but you obviously know what you are doing. Looking forward to the finished console. Will it be covered in vinyl?

[Hotrod1932]

Nice Bill thanks for showing that! Very slick work.

[Bill Gibson]

It will be metal finished and painted. With 40 years of practice, things get easier.......learning what your machines are capable of takes a while.
Different brakes can do different things... When I was still at the real job, I had a box and pan brake that would do 6" deep boxes, but it had to be done from the front of the brake.... If you tried to bend it with the pan laying in the back, you could only make it an inch and a half deep..... This brake will only do 3" deep boxes, but you can do a 2 1/2 from the inside. Also with the fingers on an angle like they are, they will reach inside of a tight reverse bend like what I was doing here...... I couldn't have done this on the other brake....or on a straight brake.

[oldgoaly]

Bill
Nice job on the video showing how a break can make a rounded corners! An overhead camera would be nice! I bet in a day or two I can have you editing your videos, I'll send you and email and walk you thru Windows Movie Maker, it is already on you windows based computer. Thanks for sharing with us! tt

[Bill Gibson]

Thanks guys.....tt, I will take you up on the video lesson...Thanks!!

[Bill Gibson]

For those that didn't see the videos, Here's a few still pix of the console and the pieces that were fabricated.
I used the blue tape to transfer the marks to the aluminum so I could bend them. The curved section was bumped into a continuous curve and then bent again in the middle of the curve. and the reverse bend is about 5/16". It has to be "teased" up because my brakes bending leaf is 1/2"...
In the video, I say something about keeping the piece as flat as possible.... What I mean by that is, when you are planning which bend to do first, you generally want to do the bend in a sequence that keeps the sheet in a flat profile for as long as possible( of course there are always exceptions) so generally you would make all your hems first and then if you have bends that are jogs like the ones on the inside of the console here, you would do those next. Then I bumped the roll which brought the shape up to about a 45deg. At that point I bent the lower most bend which brought the sheet back to a flatter profile.(meaning that the opposite edges of the sheet were on the same plane) then I made the bend that is in the middle of the roll, and that brought the ends of the sheet to 90deg. from each other....

[larry mullen]

Bill, great work on the aluminum console. been using a brake for several years but learned something new from the u tub e video .
Thanks larry

[Bill Gibson]

Here's more pix.... I still have some sanding and metal finishing to do on the sides... Should get it all done today....
These show making the pattern for trimming the bottom to fit the floor. and the welds on the inside. And the finished top section. This is all just fabrication... no real "metal shaping" involved, but don't tell anyone....