ak flat bending question

[mdj21]

i'm curious to know why everybody seems to bend these reciever flats with a special jig instead of using a brake press.

is there something i am missing here? isn't it better to spend your money on a brake press that can be used for other things than to buy a specalized jig that can only be used for one thing only?

how did they build these things back in Russia?

[Quarterbore]

In mother Russia, Pollang, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslovia, China, and plenty of other places they would use MONSTER presses that do just what the jigs to...

If you are REALLY good you might be able to build one using a brake press but remember that you only have a small amount of metal between some of your bends and openings and the steel will try to bend where it wants which may not be where you want it to.

Also, teh vadious dimples and such would cause some issues with bending as well using a brake press but I think that is a minor concern.

Just the same, guys have built these up in lots of different ways so see what you can do... the worst is you end up with a brake press and a messed up flat.

[mdj21]

very interesting......

thanks for the info.

[ShuckersFan]

If you buy a flat bending jig chances are you'll be able to resell it an recoup most of what you put into it. Don't know if you say the same about a press brake. Some of the prebent flats are done with a press brake, but those have no holes, no dimples. Then you end up making tooling to make the dimples.

[Davidfxs]

I rented Quarterbores jig, He was kind enough to give detailed instructions on it's correct use. Using wood to push the folded receiver out worked very well. further save the jig any abuse. Bending the blanks was a breeze. I will admit I was kind of dreading doing this, but can tell you all that the rivets are much harder to get out than bending perfect receivers.

Now on to pressing out the barrel and pin. He gave me good advice on that point as well. I am now planning to build a couple more AK's as I have extra receivers. Any deals on kits anyone knows of let me know.

Thank you Quarterbore I will be returning your Jig in a few days.

P.S. Harbor Freight is selling a 12 ton press for 79.00 works very well for this and wheel bearings.

[Quarterbore]

Glad it worked out so well! Now the fun really begins!