UHMW Sled Building - Home bending methods??

Hello there.

I am looking to build a 10' CrossFox style sled. I have built one of these in a smaller length, using a hydraulic brake to make 3x 45* bends an inch apart to make a 90 when the plastics memory causes some rebound.

Locally I only have access to an 8' bed brake. That's not long enough for the 10' project. I have seen tidbits of home made benders that people have used and I'm wondering if anybody here may have made one or of angle steel? I have made a smaller one for sheet metal that works very well, but this would be something of much larger scale.

I appreciate any info or photos of how you may have made these bends without hydraulics.

I've not made an actual sled by bending sheets, but I put strips of UHMW on the bottom of my sleds to run on to keep from wearing holes in the sleds. I get the UHMW from a local paper mill in chunks that are about 6" square by five feet long (they are scraps from their building of stuff). I rip them on a table saw into strips approximately 7/8" by 2" and drill and bolt them to the bottom of my sleds. I use a heat gun to heat the UHMW to facilitate bending it to conform to the bottom of the sled. Whatever you use to bend it, the more heat you apply the easier it will bend.

Will the heat harden or make brittle the UHMW?

I have seen heat lamps used to heat and bend into a plywood form with C clamps.

I messed with it a little bit using heat and have not noticed it becoming brittle. I have used heat guns and even a propane torch with no change.

No, I've never had an issue with it becoming brittle. I generally use a heat gun, although first time I did it I didn't have one and used a propane torch. You can melt it with a torch, but it takes a LOT of heat to do so.

The hood of old vehicles works great for moving anything and it's easy and quick. Just hook a chain to it and your good! Whether your trying to move a round bale of hay or a 60 Ib Bobcat it'll get er done!!

There used to be a thread here some place that Family Trapper had done when he made some sleds. There are others who have made their own UHMW sleds on here as well.

-TJ

Go to Youtube and search "UHMW sled building", lots of good stuff.

Where did you get the UHMW? Was it locally? I was looking into doing the same but the cost for sheets down here on the island is astronomical.

Here's a place that I have found, I took a screen shot of a quote for 4'x8'x0.25"
The reprocessed material is usually cheaper.

Then there is freight.

^^^^
Yes, and I see that the OP is from the other side of the planet practically.

The screen shot I posted is just an example of what's out there, I'm not really even sure where they are located. However, I did find similar prices on the recycled UHMW sheets near Seattle a year or so ago.

I’ve heated and bent some for dog sleds and never had any issues with it getting brittle.

I built an awesome 10 foot cross fox style sleigh. .

The material is super tough and resilient and I have found very little replacement for a proper hydraulic brake. The material had great long term memory, and will relax a lot. When I bent my sides, I did a 3 stage bend, and went to 90 degrees with all three bends, maybe a half inch away from each other. The result was a soft corner that eventually relaxed to 90 degrees.

I used heat to bend the runners and that worked very well, but still required going well past the bend curve I needed. My runners are 2" wide, and 2.5" high though, so almost a lifetime of wear.

I bet I will give that sleigh to my kids. Totally indestructible and ultimately durable.

Do you have any pics of your sled Hutchy?

Ive built a few for myself and also built some with friends. Pretty straightforward figure out what size you want it, make your cuts for the front and back, 4.5"- 5" apart seem to ring a bell. Then have it bent on a ig sheetmetal brake( I had 3 bends done per side, and over bend them) The hardest part is drilling your holes and getting it to line up. Clamps, ratchet straps, and a box of beer are pretty much a necessity