3D Printing Press Brake Tooling 4

[bjlasota]

I'm in a new business that manufactures lots of parts with Press Brakes. In my previous career, we prototyped a lot of functional parts with 3D printers, but in my new business, we're looking at the possibility of 3D printing the tooling for usage in a brake press. We're looking at capabilities up to 300 tons and maybe a 12" x 12" part size capability. What has been your experience with creating tooling for PBs by 3D printing? Any specific printers or companies you'd recommend?

Brandon LaSota
CAD Engineer
Modineer

http://www.Modineer.com

 

[hendersdc]

Why do you want to go with 3D printing? Press break tooling is usually hardened steel of relatively simple geometry that is much easier to make with other manufacturing methods. Do you have an example of a tool you think would be easier to make with 3D printing?

I would also be worried about all the finish machining needed on a 3D printed part to get the surface smooth enough to make good parts.

 

[swimfar]

This is an application that I find interesting and have thought about playing around with it myself. Obviously it's not the right tool if you're making 100(0)+ parts. But for prototyping or low volume fabrication I think there's a lot of potential. Do a Google search. There's a lot of information out there (videos, articles, blogs, etc.) of people doing this successfully. 12"x12" is pretty big. And you didn't mention material or thickness, which is going to make a huge difference on your answer.

 

[itsmoked]

Just seems like '300 tons' and 'plastic' don't belong in the same sentence nor even paragraph unless it's about injection molding.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[itsmoked]

swimfar I took you up on that:

3D printed tooling for a press brake.

Indeed this looks cool. I can believe it now and am tempted to use it myself.

Still unclear where it would work in a 300T application rather than these 100 lb apps.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[kjoiner]

Hello,

I do a lot of small sheet metal prototyping and for many years the tools I have access to at my company consisted of a pan brake and a small vise brake. I kept running into issues when trying to bend parts on the vise brake where another flange ran into the die. I decided to try out the concept on a small scale. I printed up a couple of small gooseneck dies on my Prusa MK3S and was pleasantly surprised how well they work. I added a pocket for a magnet so it would stick to the vise jaws.

Granted, this is on a very small scale, but the video Keith Cress posted was the one that gave me the inspiration to try it.

Kyle

 

[itsmoked]

Wow. So neat Kyle! I'll have to look into vice brakes! Thanks for sharing that.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[EdStainless]

It may take some trial and error because the plastics will deflect more than steel tooling.
You can get Nylon, ABS, and PLA that are filled (chopped glass fiber), you will want the added toughness and stiffness of a filled resin.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[hendersdc]

I was assuming metal 3D printing and 6 ft long tools. I am impressed how well that worked Kyle!

Also, how many parts do you need the tool to last for?

 

[BrianPetersen]

I am on board with "whatever gets the job done" ... and that was a good idea for a special tool!

 

[kjoiner]

Hello,

Thanks for the compliments and encouragement!

To answer some questions:
1. I made several prototypes but the tool would most likely last for quite a while in my application. For that process, I create models and flat patterns in Solid Edge, then I create the G code in V Carve Pro and run the flat patterns on my Camaster Stinger CNC router. I'm typically bending smaller gages of 5052 aluminum and my vise is 5" wide so I'm not really running into high clamping forces. I do now have a 20ton press so I might see what I can cook up for that.

2. One of tricks I learned from the video is to set up the 3D print with a larger number of perimeters (thicker skin on the tool) and also increase the infill. I typically run about 15% infill for small parts but for the tool I think I ran it up to 40%.

3. I imagine someone out there is trying out 3D metal printing and it might be possible to make them so they key together on the press brake.

4. Markforged makes 3D printers that have carbon fiber reinforcement and I bet it can create even stronger parts.


Here is another cool video where 3D prints are used to form a shoe for a sawzall. I like it because he goes through the iterations needed to come up with his final idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuY2-OrT9ig

Another thought I had was to use 3D prints to create forming tools for screen type or expanded metal parts - (like speaker grills or microphones). It would take some work to deal with springback etc. but could be a fun project. I've seen people do something similar with forming tools made from wood.



Kyle

 

[MintJulep]

That is pretty cool!

Isn't the old-school way to mill, carve, or the combination a tool out of oak or maple?

3D CNC routers are competitively priced with 3D printers.

 

[EdStainless]

If surface wear or local pressure is an issue steal a page from the propeller industry and make a sheet metal skin for the plastic tool.
Use something like 17-4PH so that you can form it soft and then age harden it.
If you design the tool correctly it should be seeing mostly compressive forces and very little bending.
And you will need to make the mounting points much more robust, maybe using metal inserts to help spread the load.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[itsmoked]

Ed; A one sentence tutorial on "Age Hardening" please.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[3DDave]

Let the old guy do it.

 

[CWB1]

I saw a demonstration of 3d printed AL press brake tooling being used at IMTS a few years ago, and given that we have both a AL 3d printer and press brakes, I suppose I need to ask if our shops haven't done so.

 

[kjoiner]

Hello,

I ran across some more interesting videos for forming sheet metal with 3D printed tooling:

Sort of stamping sheet metal parts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxzqkhmcRlY

Dimple dies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nVLj9px_tk

Bead rolling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7WkcK3R3I

More press brake tooling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxjF-Nym8EQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-fTY5L5uu0

I like the second press brake video because they also came up with a simple concept for back stops


Kyle

 

[EdStainless]

You buy these SS grades in the annealed condition and do any required forming, machining ans welding. Then you age them at fairly low temps (~1000F) x 4hr and they develop high strength (UTS ~190ksi hardness ~40HRC). There is a very small size change on aging and usually no distortion.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed