How do I choose a good press brake tool?

No matter whether it’s a manual, hydraulic, or CNC brake, a press brake always relies on top tools and bottom tools – punches and dies. Usually made of steel themselves, they are what actually touches the metal to be bent and they force the material to conform to the bend desired by utilizing a toolset of opposing features. This article will focus on how to make a good choice when selecting press brake tooling.

The Content list:

1/ What tools do you need?

2/ Punch selection

3/ Die selection

4/ Other features you need to consider

What tools do you need?

You should always think about what products you are manufacturing at first. A maintenance shop will need and use different press brake tools than a customer fabricator will.

This will come down to the type of metal you are using. Different thicknesses will need different tools as the die opening, angle, and punch radius will change. You also need to factor in the length of the sheet metal you are working with to determine how much tooling you need. Additionally, you might need tools to shorten setup times. You might follow lean manufacturing principles and recognize the benefits of having a separate tool library for each press brake and hence, be willing to duplicate sets of tools stored at machines.

Punch selection

Punches are the top tooling of the press brake and the commonly used varieties are:

1/ The standard punch. Standard punch is the most common bit of press brake tooling. It is used for air bending blunt corners or bottoming 90-degree ones. Standard punches are characteristically strong and stocky, making them ideal for thicker materials, higher loads, and lengthy bending lines. They are a versatile, heavily relied upon, and essential piece of kit.

2/ The Acute punch. If you require sharper, more acute angles then the Acute Punch is the punch to choose. Acute punch is generally used to bend angles between approximately 25 degrees and 60 degrees. Much like the standard punch they are stocky though more pointed at their tips and still capable of handling larger forces when combined with the correct die.

3/ The narrow punch. The narrow punch is the master of tight spaces, in essence, it fulfills much the same role as its standard and acute companions, but with one important difference, it is much narrower along its entire length.

4/ The gooseneck punch. The gooseneck punch is used for your ‘U’ bend-shaped brackets. Therefore, it is a highly utilized tool but one has to understand the limitations.

You should also use material thickness to determine the minimum number of upper punches.

Die selection

Dies are the bottom tools. Unless you are calculating the exact values for the die opening, you should always use an amount equal to eight times the material thickness-and never less than six times the material thickness. Some of the most commonly used varieties are:

1/ 1V Die. Single Vee dies are the most commonly used, as their name suggests they possess a single ’V’ shaped groove of varying angles with the minimum distance from the middle of the vee to the back of the tool to allow the minimum joggle available.

2/ 2V Die. Two-way Vee Dies have two successive grooves which give the operator the convenient potential of working continuously without any need for retooling if your workpiece has different bend requirements. Additionally, with two grooves they are much closer to the sides of the die making shorter flanges a possibility.

3/ Multi V Die. Multi-Vee dies come in a wide variety of exotic shapes. This gives impressive variety in terms of radii and material thickness you can work with.

Other features you need to consider

Always calculate the tonnage requirements for the tools you select. In general applications, the following formula is accurate. If you’re bending robust materials like high-strength steel or very soft materials, you should replace this formula with one that is more appropriate.

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