Content tagged with "punching"
Results: 37
Article
February 9, 2010
Reinvigorating your ironworker
Adding accessories to an ironworker can increase the productivity of metal fabricating activities, while eliminating the need to move parts to larger fabricating machines or possibly purchase a much more expensive piece of equipment. Photo courtesy of Peddinghaus Corp.
What is the... Read more...
Article
February 9, 2010
Bright lights, big opportunity
Figure 1 Aluminum is used for the frame of Orion Energy Systems' lighting products because it conducts heat five times better than steel. Photos courtesy of Prima Finn-Power North America Inc. Orion Energy Systems is a company that doesn't take its business lightly. A Plymouth, Wis.,... Read more...
Article
December 4, 2009
Punching holes in aerospace manufacturing theories
Figure 1 A TRUMPF TruMatic 3000 punch-laser combination, like this one, is helping Unison Industries accomplish fabricating tasks, such as quickly making holes 0.125-in. thick in INCONEL, which wouldn't have been possible with the company's other tools. Tin banging is not a term commonly... Read more...
Article
October 1, 2009
Tapping into new capabilities on punching machines
By having their precision punch presses put taps in sheet metal parts, fabricators are saving time and money because they no longer need an operator to transfer parts from the punch to a manual tapping unit. Photo courtesy of Prima Finn-Power North America Inc. Three years ago Sureway... Read more...
Article
August 6, 2009
Rotary punching revisited
New ways to increase production, reduce labor costs, and maximize floor space may be found by revisiting a 50-year-old technology—rotary punching.
Many part features and patterns can be punched and formed (see Figure 1 ) using pull-through rotary units at up to 300 feet per minute... Read more...
Article
March 10, 2009
Article
December 15, 2008
Laser cutting for the first time
For many shops in the metal fabricating world, laser cutting capability was never a prerequisite to success. M&L Industries, Rogers, Minn., knew that firsthand; it had been doing just fine without lasers for the last 30 years. The company had relied on its two turret machines for its metal... Read more...
Article
November 25, 2008
Getting it there yesterday
Figure 1
A combination laser-punch machine speeds products through Greenheck Fan’s shop floor.
In the building business, timing is everything. All may not go exactly as planned, and measurements for this duct hole or that wall may be slightly off the blueprint callouts. The... Read more...
Article
November 25, 2008
Punching on demand
Dean Wilson has never been afraid of taking on a challenge. As executive vice president of manufacturing for King Electrical Mfg. Co., the heating products company that his father founded in 1958, he has tackled his share. But none has been greater than transforming the company's... Read more...
Article
May 13, 2008
Evaluating a CAM system
Figure 1 Free-form nesting allows a fabricator to fit as many parts as possible on one sheet. Imagine this: You have a race car with the leanest, lightest chassis available and the world's fastest engine powering the vehicle, but instead of proper tires you have wheels from a shopping... Read more...
Article
May 13, 2008
Pushing nesting efficiency for the punch press
Nesting for the punch press should take into account not only the part boundary, but the tool boundary as well. Lean principles advocate a flexible manufacturing environment that theoretically can produce a batch quantity of one just as efficiently as a batch of 10,000. Kitting, single-piece... Read more...
Article
April 29, 2008
Getting the most from your cutting punches: Part II
Many factors influence tool steel selection. Part I of this article focused on selecting the right cutting clearance. Part II discusses properties to look for in tool steel and the importance of heat treating, preparation for production, coatings, lubricants, and the press on which the tool... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2008
Getting creative with punch tooling
Many fabricators are adopting lean manufacturing techniques to gain a competitive advantage in today's global marketplace. A central element of the lean philosophy is the relentless, systematic, and continuing elimination of waste. The key word is continuing. Starting down the lean... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2008
Of cars, this specialty vehicle manufacturer can do it
M&M Vehicle President Chris Miller stands in front of a cart of fabricated aluminum parts that help change a golf car into "anything other than a golf car." When you first hear Chris Miller describe his company as a fabricator that customizes parts to turn used golf cars into "anything... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2008
Better tool management, better punching
As part of its tool management program, McQuay International sharpens its turret punches with automated punch and die grinders. Source: DCM Tech Corp. At McQuay Manufacturing, turret press operators follow a standard procedure. Once they observe parts with burrs or other signs of tooling... Read more...
Article
February 12, 2008
Getting the most from your cutting punches: Part I
Figure 1 Image courtesy of Dayton Progress. It seems as though stamping challenges run in cycles or groups. A few weeks ago, I spent a great deal of time helping solve formability problems. You know… splits, wrinkles, springback—typical issues. More recently I have been... Read more...
Article
December 11, 2007
Getting into the thick of high-powered lasers
Figure 1 High-powered resonators have made laser cutting a suitable technology choice for processing thick plate. Laser cutting originated for processing of sheet materials, but new, high-powered lasers, capable of processing heavier-gauge and plate materials, are moving lasers into the... Read more...
Spanish
November 6, 2007
Article
October 23, 2007
Not your average job shop
Figure 1 Sargent Metal Fabricators, Anderson, S.C. The route from Atlanta to Sargent Metal Fabricators in Anderson, S.C., is a scenic drive, especially after you exit I-85. You drive over beautiful Lake Hartwell and through pastoral country with little to interrupt the red-clay,... Read more...
Article
August 8, 2007
Organizing your tooling
Are you busy putting out fires? Is management by crisis preventing you from being proactive and establishing a preventive maintenance system for your tooling? Does your tooling gather more dust than uptime? Do you think you know your tooling needs, or do you collect data that shows your... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2007
Evaluating film lubricants for stamping
In today's stamping plants, dry film lubricant (DFL) is gaining acceptance for its uniform application on the material surface and the possible elimination of washing operations after forming.
Figure 1
Center for Precision Forming (CPF) of The Ohio State University conducted... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2007
Tube fabricator, machine tool builder automates to accelerate
Stealth Manufacturing Inc. fabricated its own tube unloader for its cutoff line. Instead of relying on special Allen wrenches to adjust the unloader each time a different-sized tube is switched out, the operator just turns the hand cranks for quicker changeovers. Editor's Note: This feature... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2007
Die Basics 101: Part XIII
Figure 1 Pinch trimming die design Various specialty metal cutting methods are used in stamping operations. Among them are pinch, breakout, and shimmy. Pinch Trimming Pinch trimming is a special method in which the vertical walls of a drawn or stretched vessel are cut by pinching... Read more...
Article
February 13, 2007
Die Basics 101: Part XII
Slug pulling, which occurs when scrap metal—the slug—sticks to the punch face upon withdrawal and comes out of the button, or lower matrix, is a serious problem that can damage parts and dies. Various methods can help reduce the occurrence of slug pulling. Air Vents Putting air... Read more...
Article
January 9, 2007
Punching through complacency to win a bid
Anderson Metals, Greenwood, S.C., had a chance to win a large job from Eaton Electrical, but it needed new tooling for its turret presses to turn around a weekend job. Fortunately, the company found a tooling source that didn't need weeks for the delivery. Sometimes a new business prospect... Read more...
Article
December 12, 2006
Die Basics 101: Part XI
Slug pulling is a serious problem in a stamping operation. Addressing the issue requires first understanding why the slugs are pulling. What Is Slug Pulling? When a pierce punch creates a hole, it also produces scrap, usually referred to as a slug. Slug pulling occurs when the slug sticks to... Read more...
Article
October 10, 2006
Die Basics 101: Part X
Cutting is the most severe metalworking process that takes place in a die and shouldn't be taken lightly. Cutting Basics Cutting metal requires great force. For example, it takes approximately 78,000 lbs. of pressure to cut a 10-in.-diameter blank from 0.100-in.-thick mild steel. Consequently,... Read more...
Article
August 8, 2006
The formula for successful punching
Maximizing productivity and efficiency of a fabrication operation is usually a matter of taking a series of small steps as opposed to one giant leap. In Good to Great, author Jim Collins highlights the experiences of several Fortune 500 companies that have achieved spectacular success by... Read more...
Article
July 11, 2006
Euros zoned in on competing
Ilinox's Express Bender panel bending machine, which features automated load and unload of sheet metal blanks, is fed by its large Night Train storage system. A strong independent streak exists in the American psyche. It helped forge an industrialized nation out of the wilderness and... Read more...
Article
July 11, 2006
The process of fineblanking
Figure 1 When a punch makes contact with the sheet, the metal begins to deform and bulge around the point of the punch. Image courtesy of Dayton Progress. Fineblanking is a specialty type of metal stamping that can achieve part characteristics such as flatness and a full sheared... Read more...
Article
July 11, 2006
Powering up with a punch
For 45 years Generac Power Systems has helped homeowners and businesses withstand the unpredictable forces of Mother Nature with standby power-generation equipment. So when the company's Eagle, Wis., metal fabrication facility needed to power up the productivity of its punch press... Read more...
Article
January 10, 2006
Organizing your chaos
Image courtesy of Wilson Tool Intl., White Bear Lake, Minn. Storage cabinets run the gamut in terms of expense. On one end of the spectrum are expensive cabinets that have large, high-capacity drawers with features such as high-quality slides and drawer lockouts. At the other end of... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2005
In the loop on closed-loop roll forming?
In roll forming, nonstop punching and shear systems typically deliver the highest output. Although these systems traditionally have employed open-loop control methods, closed-loop (also called servo-based) systems can yield high line speeds while helping to decrease downtime and reduce... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2005
A change by design
A Great Dane just happens to watch over the entrance of Great Dane Trailers. You don't become a big dog in manufacturing without knowing about technology and innovation. For the last 100 years, Great Dane Trailers has followed that strategy and is now the largest trailer company in the... Read more...
Article
August 9, 2005
Punch Tooling, aka ...
Figure 1 This special-purpose tool punches self-locking, spring-loaded tabs that snap into prepunched holes, thereby eliminating the need to weld connecting joints. The concept of design for manufacturability (DFM) has been around for more than a decade, but recent advances in punch... Read more...
Article
July 13, 2004
Getting more punch life
Augur Metal Products, a custom fabricator in Independence Ken., performs a variety of processes for manufacturers. While the company's capabilities include shearing, cutting, forming, welding, and finishing, chief among them is sheet metal punching. One of its processes involves punching... Read more...
Article
May 16, 2002
Using punching and forming plates
Figure 1: A punching and forming plate is similar in function to a hydraulic press. A typical setup is several forming units mounted to a tooling plate. Fabricating tubular components often requires multiple operations such as bending, forming, flattening, piercing, notching,... Read more...
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