Bending Machines: Types And Tips For Choosing

2023 Author: Douglas Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 20:16

• Press brakes with a punch and a matrix
• Rotary sheet benders with bending beam (traverse)
• Rotary bending machines with different number of rolls

Sheet bending machines are a type of press designed for cold shaping of metal sheet blanks. As a workpiece, a rolled or sheet galvanized sheet with a thickness of 0.5 to 1.5 mm is most often used, less often a steel sheet with a thickness of up to 2.5–3 mm. With the help of listogibs, ebbs, corners, pipes, boxes and other products that are in demand during construction are made. For the convenience of the operator, the machine can have the function of cutting metal to measured lengths.

Depending on the power, the machine can use human muscle power, hydraulics, pneumatics as a drive, and an electromechanical drive can be used. Currently, most of the produced machine tools for cold working of metal use three versions of the press mechanism:

• press with a punch and a matrix;
• rotary with a bending beam;
• rotary with two, three and four rolls.

Machine control can be performed manually or using an integrated microcontroller with automation elements (CNC), which maximizes the efficiency of the equipment in medium-batch production.

Press brakes with a punch and a matrix

This type of machine allows you to give a workpiece a complex shape due to the use of dies and punches of various shapes.

In these machines, the die and the punch can be either integral or composite, which makes it possible to increase their working life and the ability to give the workpiece the desired shape.

The principle of the machine is simple:

• a blank is placed over the matrix;
• the punch performs a force movement, during which the shape of the metal changes.

Rotary sheet benders with bending beam (traverse)

The principle of the machine is simple:

1. The sheet metal is placed on the support beam under the clamp.
2. The part of the metal to be bent is extended to the level of the swing beam.
3. The pressure beam fixes the metal in the machine.
4. With the help of a lever, the swing beam is moved to the desired angle, during which the metal takes on the desired shape.

Some models of bending machines can be additionally equipped with a bending beam free travel stop and devices for controlling the bending angle of the workpiece.

Many machines support compatibility with special metal shears, with which you can easily cut a sheet of metal along the entire length of the working part of the bending machine.

Rotary bending machines with different number of rolls

These machines are used exclusively for rounding sheet blanks, including a circle.

For work, they can use both a manual drive and a combination of hydraulic clamping systems with an electromechanical drive for rotating the roll.

Placement of work rolls can be performed according to one of the following schemes:

To increase the possibilities for processing thick metal, additional backup rolls can be used in the design of the machine, increasing the value of the ultimate pressure on the metal being processed.

The principle of operation of such a machine is simple:

• the metal is placed between the rolls;
• using the clamping mechanism, the working force is set;
• by rotating one or more rolls, the metal moves between them and acquires the required amount of bending.

Listogibs are equipment that is usually made to order, so it is difficult to say the exact cost, you can only announce the run-up of prices "from" and "to".

Approximate prices for bending machines

Machine type Metal processing width Maximum metal thickness Price range, rub. Press brakes with punch from 1000 to 3000 mm from 0.5 to 8 mm 180,000 and more, depending on automation and performance Rotary sheet benders with bending beam from 1000 to 3000 mm from 0.5 to 2.5 mm 50,000-180,000, depending on metal processing capabilities. Rotary bending machines from 1000 to 3000 mm from 0.5 to 4 mm 50,000 and more, depending on the configuration.

The choice of a specific listogib model depends solely on the needs of the finished product. To solve most problems, you can make a do-it-yourself listogib or purchase a manual machine made on the basis of a bending beam. This machine has a minimal cost and a simple, reliable design, which makes it easy to recoup the purchase costs by saving on energy and consumables.

Small-scale production of products is advisable to produce on CNC machines, made on the basis of press benders with a punch and a matrix. This type of machine tool allows, in the shortest possible time, to reconfigure the system for a different working profile and to increase the efficiency of the equipment as a whole by minimizing manual labor.