Bending Tech Cell - Articles
Bending Articles
Results: 50
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Bending Basics: Why do die angles change?
In air forming, the bend angle does not depend exclusively on the angle of the die. So why does the die angle change? There are two separate but overlapping answers; one relates to narrow die openings, and the other pertains to larger dies.
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Plate-rolling out the weakest links
Over the past few years, North Shore Steel has transformed its plate processing division into a provider of highly engineered, precision-cut and rolled components.
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Sick of setup time at the press brake
Alto-Shaam, Menomonee Falls, Wis., needed to find a way to reduce setup times for its low-volume, high-mix work associated with fabricating parts for food service equipment. The company found its answer with a panel bender that management had seen...
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How automation makes best use of talent
A high-product-mix manufacturer chooses robotized bending not
because it lacked a skilled workforce, but because it wanted to make
the best use of the talented workforce it already had.
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Tooling changeover can be a pressing issue
Press brake manufacturers have responded to industry’s need to produce small batches of parts that require frequent tooling changes by designing options and systems to reduce setup time by managing, storing, and automatically changing upper and...
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Finding the perfect die opening
By choosing a die opening as close to perfect as possible, your
consistency will improve, your setup and run times will get shorter,
and the risks of running into problems will be greatly reduced.
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Bending Basics: How the inside bend radius forms
Press brake guru Steve Benson describes how the method of
bending—coining, bottom bending, or air forming—is very influential
on how an inside bend radius is achieved.
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The basics of applying bend functions
Why calculate values such as bend allowance, outside setback, and bend deductions? Because sometimes you will need to work your way around a bend on a print, and you may not have all the information you need to complete a flat pattern.
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A plate rolling primer
The FABRICATOR talks with Jeff Visser, production managers at Avon, Mass.-based BEPeterson, about the basics of plate rolling operation. Plate rolling is part art, part science. It requires skill, and not just anyone can do the job right.
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Bending for the internal customer
Freeing a bending bottleneck can backfire if it simply creates a severe bottleneck downstream. Bending throughput may increase, but overall throughput--the metric that really matters--may not. That’s why the best bending automation considers not...
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Bending basics: Dissecting bend deductions and die openings
Changing the die opening can dramatically change results during air forming. In precision sheet metal fabrication, choosing the correct die opening should not be a guessing game.
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Remote fabricating
Iowa-based Co-Line Welding hasn't let its remote location harm its chances of success. In fact, it has embraced the challenge and has emerged as a growing business, even as it faces challenges such as rural power distribution.
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Plate rolling rolls on
Advanced controls make a highly variable process more predictable
Abstract: Experience still is important when it comes to plate rolling. But the more knowledge industry has gained about the materials being rolled, the more “intelligent” plate...
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Big bending jobs lead to high-tonnage press brake
When a fabricating operation serves customers in the defense, heavy equipment, mining, and power generation industries, you know they are working with really thick and high- strength material. It's a big job and requires big equipment. It's also...
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Justifying a robotic press brake
Robotic press brakes may offer higher productivity and better profitability--much of which is achieved by running the press brake lights-out at top speed. In some cases, robotic press brakes can reduce per-piece costs by almost half. Still,...
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Material selection for rotary draw bend tooling
Understanding substrates and coatings, and how the coated surface interacts with tube or pipe during the bending process, is necessary to finding a cost-effective, capable combination.
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Bending software streamlines press brake department
Ben endured the same frustrations many press brake department supervisors face. Operators get a print that doesn’t take the proper bend deductions into account. They fudge it, performing test bend after test bend. Productivity suffers, and the...
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Press brake tooling strategies: Go with the flow
CAM software have made it easier and more affordable for job shops to increase efficiency and productivity without sacrificing quality. Staged bending combined with offline programming offers strategies for reducing downtime, improving part flow,...
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Retrofit and ready for better bending
Kysor/Warren, Columbus, Ga., cutomizes the refrigerated display cases and refrigeration systems for its customers. Unfortunately, it didn't have a very efficient bending operation to keep up with the production demands related to its diverse...
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Electric press brakes bend fast--and safely
Within electric brakes, bending force is distributed differently. Also optoelectronic safeguards integrate closely with the control, so much so that a light curtain or similar device has no effect on the bending cycle time. In fact, in the...
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Concentrating on little things leads to big success
An electric press brake is not typically found in a metal fabricating operation, but that is changing as more companies realize the accuracy, speed, and energy savings that
this type of device offers.
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Induction key to complex beam rolling job
Shop rolls beams for a unique place of worship--using an unusual process
Abstract: Hardwick Co., a rolling shop in Birmingham, Ala., used its unusual induction beam rolling process to form beams into complex shapes involving multiple radii....
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Plate rolls keep rolling heavier plate
These days, plate rolls are forming plate 6 and 7 inches thick--and even thicker. Vessel designs that would have been forged just a decade ago are now being sent to fabrication houses. The variable-geometry plate roll system, which really operates...
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The big job of high-tonnage bending
Bending heavy plate and high-strength steel used to require multiple workers, a large amount of bending experience, and lots of time. That's not the case anymore.
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The science of bending perforated sheet and tread plate
Tread plate and perforated sheet present significant bending challenges. To help matters, fabricators may need to look beyond typical air bending with a punch and V die. Though bending alternatives vary, they have one commonality: They clamp down...
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Automated bending keeps the pieces flowing
Emerson Network Power's Liebert Precision Cooling facility wanted to implement the idea of one-piece flow on its shop floor in Columbus, Ohio, but the only way that was going to happen effectively was with the introduction of an automated bending...
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Processing AHSS with rotary bending technology
The increased use of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) have caused many fabricators to rethink the way they bend metal. AHSS have a relatively high springback associated with it, so much larger overbend angles are generally required. Rotary...
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The fundamentals of press brake maintenance
By regularly checking the four key areas of a press brake—hydraulic circuits, mechanical systems, electrical systems, and tooling—the operator can help to ensure that the brake is always ready to tackle the next bending job.
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Press brake operators: The next generation
It's a given that a skilled press brake operator is tough to find. But for entry level workers, what should shop managers be looking for?
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Maximize bending throughput on a budget
Increasing press brake productivity isn’t as costly as you might think, as new and old press brake equipment can both be utilized to their maximum potential.
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All-electric, multisense tube benders enhance design freedom for OEMs, add flexibility for job shops
Challenged with shorter product life cycles and increased global competition, OEMs and job shops are looking for more flexible design and production equipment. All-electric, multisense tube benders are designed to meet their needs.
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A rundown on rolling machines
A metal fabricator needs to know what it will
be bending before truly being able to specify
what type of plate or sheet roll bending
machine it needs.
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Streamlining press brake setups help transform a business
Streamlining bending operations at a Chicago area fabricator was instrumental in the company's lean manufacturing efforts. Batch sizes and lead-times both have plummeted in recent years.
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New press brake, new production philosophy
A new press brake and tooling purchase leads to a new way of
thinking about manufacturing, including the reduction of batch sizes and work-in-process.
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A safer way to bend bar stock in a press brake
The lack of communication about metal fabricating practices and formal documentation of those processes is a real shame. Metal fabricators may be engaging in shop floor practices that just don't make sense from an efficiency and safety standpoint,...
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Older than Oscar® — Part II
While it may seem as though movies and popcorn have always co-existed, the automatic popcorn machine actually was invented by Charles Cretor in 1893—before the first motion picture premiered. A century and a quarter-century later,...
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Rolling for wind
Wind tower production requires intensive use of the rolling machine. Because of this, selecting the right rolling machine is paramount.
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Bending perforated weathering steel: Not a pedestrian challenge
Sure Iron works takes on a fabricating challenge: bump-bending perforated weathering steel plate sections with edges that aren't designed to be perfectly square.
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Reclaiming the disappearing press brake knowledge in your shop
Expensive options on a press brake won't guarantee knowledge transfer from a veteran press brake operator to a shop floor rookie. For knowledge transfer to occur, a shop needs experienced workers that can communicate and a younger work force eager...
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One safeguard (not) for all
No one press brake safeguard works fore all applications.
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A giant among machines
Greiner specializes in structural steel and heavy plate fabrication. It does work for power plants and the mining industry. In the 33 years the company has been in business, it has done structural steel jobs in an industry where the work always...
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Thinking outside the press brake
Automating bending with a press brake tied to a robot isn't the only option. Panel benders and folding technologies have evolved to handle more parts and various lot sizes.
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Unique brake setup streamlines thick plate bending
A heavy-equipment OEM's forming department develops a unique tooling setup for bending extremely thick, high-strength plate--designed for one application and one application only.
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Rolling it just so
Contract manufacturer BEPeterson takes tight roll-bend tolerancing to the extreme: some cans are rolled to +/-1/32 inch on the circumference.
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Tooling up to bend hard
Different high-tensile-strength metals bend—and spring back—in starkly different ways, so developing a bending strategy takes some serious planning.
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Bending with kid gloves
Polyurethane film, inserts, pads, and bottom dies can help prevent marring and, in some cases, allow the die to take on a variety of materials and gauges, including perforated metal and diamond tread plate.
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Bending outside the box
For the best, most cost-effective parts, designers should consider fabrication from the get-go. This article shows examples of what those parts look like.
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Green machines
Electric and hybrid electric-hydraulic press brakes give fabricators an energy-saving bending alternative.
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Getting close, bending safe
Press brake operators work under some unique conditions that call for unique considerations in safeguarding.
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Reasons for a press brake upgrade
Modern press brakes add intelligence to the machine control and bring programming offline.
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