The introduction to press brake tooling

When operating press brakes, you may see operators using a single set of tools, while on others you see people set up multiple sets of tools across the machine. Tooling both enables and limits production. If you make something out of the ordinary, there is a good chance that special tooling is needed or it cannot be manufactured. Fortunately, this article will introduce you to press brake tooling.

The Content list:

1/ What is press brake tooling?

2/ Types of press brake punches

3/ Types of press brake dies

What is press brake tooling?

The importance of tooling to the press brake tooling process can never be overstated. Like the tires on the race car, press brake tools are the only parts of the machine that ever touch the finished products being informed. The best precision CNC press brake cannot produce good products with poor tooling. Bad tooling makes all the good hardware in the process useless

The industry’s tools are classified in several general categories, including American tools, European-style tools, New Standard tools, and others. One difference between them is how the tools mount to the press brake, as well as how bending force flows through them. The various tool types have their own pros and cons.

Top tools and bottom tools (punches and dies respectively) work in unison at the business end of your press brake. They work by folding your workpiece between a matching punch and die and applying force to bend the material into a pre-determined shape. That principle is more or less the same across manual, hydraulic, and CNC press brakes although each type of machine varies in terms of factors such as accuracy, automation, cost, and power. They all rely on punches and dies or more specifically.

Types of press brake punches

Press brake punches come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, which one you choose for any given job, will depend on the job itself. Knowing the types of sheet metal bending punches is the first step to understanding what can be manufactured.

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.

Types of press brake dies

Dies make up the second part of press brake tooling. Although from the outset, it is mostly just V-grooves, there is still some variety here as well.

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.

There are also other types like the rotary die and hemming die which will not be discussed here.

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