Bending Tech Cell - Articles
Bending Articles
Results: 50
View this Issue |
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,...
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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....
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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?
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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,...
|
View this Issue |
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,...
|
|
View this Issue |
Rolling for wind
Wind tower production requires intensive use of the rolling machine. Because of this, selecting the right rolling machine is paramount.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
View this Issue |
One safeguard (not) for all
No one press brake safeguard works fore all applications.
|
View this Issue |
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...
|
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
View this Issue |
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.
|
|
View this Issue |
Green machines
Electric and hybrid electric-hydraulic press brakes give fabricators an energy-saving bending alternative.
|
View this Issue |
Getting close, bending safe
Press brake operators work under some unique conditions that call for unique considerations in safeguarding.
|
View this Issue |
Reasons for a press brake upgrade
Modern press brakes add intelligence to the machine control and bring programming offline.
|
View this Issue |
The evolution of precision bending
Three decades ago bottoming with penetration, or coining, was the only way to achieve high accuracies on press brakes, and this meant fabricators endured high tooling costs. Over the years precision air bending with CNC hydraulic press brakes...
|
|
View this Issue |
Setting the stage for press brake productivity
Tooling manufacturers have introduced tooling designed to overcome the longstanding problems associated with staged bending.
|
View this Issue |
New roll bender 'bales' out farm implement manufacturer
Powder River, a Provo, Utah-based fabricator of farm implements, turned to KNUTH Machine Tools USA for a three-roll bender the company uses to make its round bale feeders for horses.
|
View this Issue |
Specials simplify the complex, speed productivity
Standardized press brake tooling, absolutely necessary for a lean organization, keeps a shop flexible, but at the same time, ignoring specials would be a big mistake. If their slightly longer setup times also lead to a drastic increase in...
|
View this Issue |
2 strategies for optimizing bending operations
Fabricators typically encounter bottlenecks during setup and production in their press brake bending operations—obstacles that lead to downtime and fewer operators actually processing material. Representatives from Amada, LVD Strippit,...
|
View this Issue |
Automatic or manual?
While automation can increase throughput and reduce labor, it doesn't solve manufacturing problems. A manual process that produces poor-quality or inconsistent parts will simply do so at a faster rate if automated. Understanding the process and...
|
View this Issue |
Dealing with Mother Nature's wrath
Protecting a two-mile-long, 10-lane bridge from earthquake damage is not an easy task. Replacing the eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge requires the talent and time of numerous design firms and fabricators and tens of...
|
View this Issue |
Toro trims waste with press brake tooling upgrade
Outdoor equipment manufacturer Toro Co. regularly sends out bids for parts, forcing its own manufacturing plants to compete with outside vendors. Toro's manufacturing plants face the same competitive pressures as any other manufacturer, so its...
|
View this Issue |
The tao of forming order
Is the starting position of the flat part facing the wrong way or upside down to your natural flow? Are you working from left to right when your natural motion is right to left? If you are, you're fighting the current rather than letting the...
|
View this Issue |
Pipe fabricator saves big time with big bends
Universal Pipe and Steel Supply, Fort Myers, Fla., needed a roll bender with greater capacity to capitalize on the market for larger pipe sections. The company found its answer with a four-roll bender from Bertsch.
|
View this Issue |
Bending the new breeds of high-strength steel
Several new breeds of high strength steels have arrived that bring with them a host of new opportunities. However, these new breeds also bring with them special challenges not common to bending mild steel, and with them, the need for new tools and...
|
View this Issue |
Are you dedicated to manual bending?
At a time when automated equipment is the most popular and well-known method for bending tubes, there is still a demand for dedicated manual tube bending (DMTB) units to help fill a void that the use of CNC equipment sometimes creates.
|
View this Issue |
Safety still pressing for press brakes
The leading trend in press brakes safety is to ensure safety without sacrificing speed or hampering operators' ability to work efficiently, say press brakes manufacturers. This starts with tooling, including segmented or sectionalized tooling that...
|
View this Issue |
Avoiding common bending problems with common sense
Tooling determines the outcome of a bending operation. Whether an application is simple or complex, matching the right tooling with the bending equipment and method will save both time and money.
|
View this Issue |
Manufacturing evolution in the job shop
Gardner Manufacturing, Horicon, Wis., needed automation and flexibility to keep up with more challenging customer demands. The contract manufacturer found its answer with two laser cutting devices with automated material handling and three...
|
View this Issue |
Leaning on press brake tooling
Press brake tooling can play a significant role in minimizing setup, reducing WIP, increasing throughput, and minimizing waste—the goals of lean manufacturing. Some new developments are staged bending, push-button loading, sectionalized...
|
View this Issue |
Fabricator puts the brake on bend inconsistency
Well-known for agriculture, Nebraska also has a strong manufacturing base. OEMs include Kawasaki, Husqvarna, Eaton, Thermo King, Claas, and Case New Holland. Standard Iron & Wire, a Minnesota-based fabricator, opened a manufacturing facility in...
|
