Press brake tooling and sequencing: methods and worked application

Two lanes. Press brake lane, steps 1 to 8: pick the die near 8 t, check the flange, estimate the radius, check tonnage, plan the sequence, test bend and measure, run and inspect, remake any bad part. AFS folder lane, steps 9 to 13: FlashDraft profile, limits check, OK, review or blocked, sent to the folder, inspect the piece.

1

Pick the die: start near 8 t (typical, The Fabricator)

2

Check every flange is at least about 0.7 V

3

Estimate the inside radius as a share of V for the metal

4

Tonnage per inch x length x factors, against machine and tooling limits

5

Plan an order that keeps the part gaugeable and collision-free (Benson starts inside out on his example)

6

Test bend; measure the angle at both ends and the center; adjust the overbend

7

Run and inspect

8

A bad part: remake it from a new blank (Steve Benson, The Fabricator)

9

The profile drawn in FlashDraft: legs to the mold line, angles, hems as features

10

AFS limits: girth up to 48 in, standard piece 10 ft and maximum 126 in, end flange 0.5 in, leg 0.75 in, hem return 0.375 in

11

The result: OK, shop review, or blocked

12

Sent through PathfinderEdge to AFS's folder

13

The formed piece inspected against the drawing