Ironton 30in Portable Sheet Metal Bending Brake - Heavy Duty Metal Bender for DIY Projects, HVAC, and Metal Fabrication

This bending brake was a bit of a surprise because it was so inexpensive, but once I got it I understood why. This is literally... the most (((BASIC))) bender you could get hold of, but is ALSO possibly one of the most USEFUL & DURABLE!! It has SOLID construction and so is a bit heavy - which is GOOD! It comes with a solid steel bar insert "the brake"? - and THAT'S ALL!! You screw the handles in, drop the sheet metal in and just start bending.But I very quickly ran into problems...1). There's NO guidelines by which to set your sheet to ensure an EVEN 90deg bend 100% parallel with the edge of the sheet. So I had to make my own with a tape measure & metal engraver - which actually WORKED!!2). There's no "Locking Mechanism" that holds the rotating "bender" at a 90deg angle. I had to use my body as a "blocker" to keep the bender-handles up so I could hammer the "brake" INTO the sheet metal for a sharper crease - which worked! It's not a sharp enough bend on it's own, you gotta beat the holy hell out of it to get it nice & crisp! Even then it's not a SCISSOR-EDGE-SHARP BEND which is OK, you rarely need that in a metal sheet; and if you do you'd probably need one of those $2,000 pro-level machines.3). There's nothing to "lock" the brake-bar into place. I know you need C-Clamps, but I'm talking about just getting the bar in place on the sheet metal BEFORE you clamp it. It COULD be a little crooked and often moves a bit out of place during clamping - resulting in a "slanted" bend. It needs some kind of mechanism to lock it in PERFECT alignment with the bending-crease until we can get it clamped.So without any of the Xtra bells & whistles I listed above it was quite tricky to get the bends EXACTLY how I wanted them. I got within about 85-90% of what I wanted on my first attempt, but by my 5th sheet I was hitting up around 95-98% range of what I wanted and my speed & efficiency at getting it had doubled.So yeah, IT WORKS.... but you gotta get REALLY CREATIVE & MANLY with it to get what you want out of it. (HINT: keep a HQ rubber mallet within reach) ?‍?