I have an opportunity to get into supplying U shaped saddles for deck beams and posts. The material is 3/16" mild steel, four different sizes to fit 4x4 and 6x6 lumber. One short style bracket with 4 nail holes per side and one tall with two 1/2" bolt holes (short and tall for each post size). I have made a few prototypes doing three pieces and welding the tab ears, and while this does not take long, I would like to speed it up by doing one piece bent up. I do not have bending capabilities as of yet but am considering purchasing/ building a shop press and custom dies to press these in one stoke. Blanks are cut out on the cnc plasma table, holes included. Press brake will probably be in the distant future, but takes up too much space in the current shop. Which is why I'm leaning towards a shop press and custom dies. I did a quick die prototype that I tested on a shop press at my day job, would work well with some tweaking.
So I'm looking for press recommendations. Or help building one but I think what I want is pretty complicated. I would like some kind of stroke limiting to be able to bend consistent 90 degree bends. The only presses I have found that have this built in are Iroquois Iron (just limit switches I think) and Edwards (electronic PLC control). Has anybody added something like this to a shop press? Kind of leaning towards buying something due to already being slammed busy but it would be a neat project to learn on. The frame and welding would be simple for me, the hydraulics a little less so, but PLC programming I know very little about.
Really digging the Edwards press but its $11,000 plus a nearly $4,000 power unit. This is not totally out of the budget but it's definitely higher end. Found another press brake style shop press called Prolinemax but can't find any info on it. Seems odd that the website selling it sells everything from industrial tools to couch cushions and tactical clothing. Probably junk but who knows
Things to keep in mind:
these brackets would likely invoice around 20K/ year
don't require tight tolerances
one man show
part time business (not exactly tiny, did 100K in invoices this year)
in AK, shipping gets spendy
240V single phase available
7.5hp air compressor on site
480v 3 phase generator (for the plasma, easily switchable to 240v)
would most likely get into some heavier bending, probably no more than 1/2"
So I'm looking for press recommendations. Or help building one but I think what I want is pretty complicated. I would like some kind of stroke limiting to be able to bend consistent 90 degree bends. The only presses I have found that have this built in are Iroquois Iron (just limit switches I think) and Edwards (electronic PLC control). Has anybody added something like this to a shop press? Kind of leaning towards buying something due to already being slammed busy but it would be a neat project to learn on. The frame and welding would be simple for me, the hydraulics a little less so, but PLC programming I know very little about.
Really digging the Edwards press but its $11,000 plus a nearly $4,000 power unit. This is not totally out of the budget but it's definitely higher end. Found another press brake style shop press called Prolinemax but can't find any info on it. Seems odd that the website selling it sells everything from industrial tools to couch cushions and tactical clothing. Probably junk but who knows
Things to keep in mind:
these brackets would likely invoice around 20K/ year
don't require tight tolerances
one man show
part time business (not exactly tiny, did 100K in invoices this year)
in AK, shipping gets spendy
240V single phase available
7.5hp air compressor on site
480v 3 phase generator (for the plasma, easily switchable to 240v)
would most likely get into some heavier bending, probably no more than 1/2"