Press Brake – Machine Tool Programming

Press Brake

Press brake is a machine tool that will take your material, you clamp it between a punch and a die and it will form your material into which ever specific angle you need. The Trumpf press brakes we have range from model C120, also a Trumpf V130, then we have the Trumpfs 5085 series, we also have a smaller press brake which is Trumpf 7036.

Press Brake Models

The newest press brake which is scheduled to be delivered next week is Trumpfs 3000 series press brake and that will be our newest machine. The difference in the models range from bed size, so our 7036 is a 36 inch bed so that is the max length of work we can bend.  It also ranges it depends per model on the access that the fingers have. So if you have a very complex part that needs to be put into a machine and bent to a geometry that is not conducive to parallel fingers, we have 6 axis back cages on certain models.

The 5085 is a fairly new machine, the 7036 is one of the state of the art machines that they make.  It is actually all electric sever machine it does not use hydraulics like our other machines which is very, very fast and very accurate. When we say finger we are referencing the back gauge, which is where you put the part in. What you are going up against to determine what your distance is or where your bend is going to be. You can program them to be where ever you want, you can make them move in and out, you can have them closer to you so you get a shorter distance on your bend.

Bend Tolerance

Typically our bend tolerance on our brake presses, we can hold anywhere between a half a degree to a degree per bend. When we bend a part and it calls for a 90 degree bend, based on the thick form and function as we talked about before that may or may not be able to be held just due to the material chemistry. So we may bend that part at a 90 degree and only achieve an 89 degree, if our tolerance is less than a 1 degree tolerance.  That is when you have to go back through and hit things multiple time and check things.  Which can be done but it’s not as cost effective to the customer. Again Trumpf is a worldwide leader in the industry in press brakess and lasers and the repetition, the reputation rather is far seen in our opinions, some of the other OEMs on the market when it comes to lasers and press brakes.

I think one of our most challenging jobs was for the 5085, which is a 6 axis brake press for an agricultural company. We were making parts that looked like cones, so you are doing multiple bends on angles that are tapered. To try to make sure when you are done with that part that it is coming out to the size that it needs to be, that is a little difficult.