January 3, 2011
What are Press Brake Tooling and Dies?
A press brake is a specific machine tool to bend sheet or plate material. Press brake tooling can come in all different shapes and sizes. Each machine has different ways of applying force. Some use a hydraulic force, servo-electric, pneumatic, or mechanical force. Depending on which force is used, will also determine the speed or impact that is pushed into the metal creating the right angle or shape. Computers have increased the technology of today; the mechanical press is the most commonly used. It is the most accurate, as well as creates the most power. The mechanical press along with the back gauge can accurately position the material so the press brake will bend at the right place, and the right angle.
Press brake dies are used, too, and they’re all different so that different jobs can be performed easily and accurately. The 90-degree press brake dies, for example, are used for bottoming operations, with the type of press brake die used specific to the angle the metal worker needs to produce. The air bending you use will depend on how you adjust the ram for the type of angle you desire.
Press Brake Tooling Dies Used
You can use a number of different dies with the press brake so that you can fashion the exact design you want. There are a number of press brake tooling dies you can use, and they include: hemming, tube and pipe-forming, acute angle, beading, curling, channel-forming, rotary bending, offset, v-dies, multiple-bend, radius dies, U-bend, goose neck, 90 degree, four-way die blocks, corrugating, box forming, seaming, and rocker-type.
Press brake tooling dies called hemming dies are used for certain jobs, and the process takes two stages. The first part of the process will use an acute angle die, and then a flattening process will ensue thereafter. Curling dies are used for those items that need to have coiling around the edges. Similar to tube and pipe dies, they differ in that they have larger tubes formed because a mandrel is used to shape them.
A box can be made through press brake tooling. In this case, you will use the punch in different sections to get the right angles that will make a rectangular box. The punch that is used during this process will need to be high enough that will accommodate the height of the sides you would like the box to have.
Although there are so many different press brake dies, the V-dies are the die that is most often used. They come in all different sizes and openings. This will give you the right angle and shape depending on the metal you will be using to bend.
Press brake tooling is often used in metalworking, and this is one of the most ubiquitous tools in the industry; it’s very, very common, and it’s especially prevalent for someone who’s always working on something in metal. You use the proper press brake to get the proper result, and you also need to make sure that using the right tool for the job you’re undertaking. The proper press brake will get the job done right.
W. Fearnehough Africa are a Press Brake Die and Tooling Manufacturer based in Benoni, South Africa. For more information, click on Press Brake Die and Tooling
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