Shop-Made Press Brake Dies, Laminated

Cannonmn · Jan 12, 2022

We acquired many press-brake dies recently and in putting them in the custom-made rack that came with them, we noticed a number of die sets made by stacking steel cutouts, then joining with weld beads. Some had job numbers welded on. The company that made and used them said they cut multiple cross-sections from 1/8” plate using a cnc waterjet, with two dowel holes each. Long dowels were inserted to retain alignment when the sections were welded. The company did this to save money since they found custom-made solid dies were very expensive. If anyone wants better photos of the custom-made die storage rack, ask and I’ll post some. Maybe laminated dies are common, I don’t know, I’ve just never seen any before.

John Morris has shared 7 photos with you! | Flickr

Scruffy887 · Jan 12, 2022

I have seen plenty of them. Some plasma cut too. Sometimes the profile is made smaller by a thickness of sheet material that will get wrapped around the punch or die to smooth it out, or change radius of a bend.

dana gear · Jan 12, 2022

Yes, I have seen laminated dies as well. my family has been in the manufacturing business for over 100 years.
We probably have over 50 shop made dies sitting around here from different projects over the years.

gbent · Jan 13, 2022

Some folks are even making dies by 3d printing.

Garwood · Jan 14, 2022

Some folks even use a milling machine and/or WEDM and whittle out their own from solid.

Milland · Jan 14, 2022

Garwood said:
Some folks even use a milling machine and/or WEDM and whittle out their own from solid.

Stop with your crazy talk!

DDoug · Jan 14, 2022

Milland said:
Stop with your crazy talk!

Next you'll be advocating people using shapers & planers.....

Strostkovy · Jan 18, 2022

We made some very large radius dies this way. Very affordable.

Even made a Wila style punch that clips into our hydraulic tool holder and accepts many different radii of nose.

dkmc · Jan 19, 2022

Some pics of that would be fun.

Strostkovy said:
We made some very large radius dies this way. Very affordable.

Even made a Wila style punch that clips into our hydraulic tool holder and accepts many different radii of nose.

rj1939 · Jan 19, 2022

I need to make a lower press brake die.................and yes, it will be a good project for one of the shapers

Strostkovy · Jan 19, 2022

These don't show the click mechanism but they're the pictures I had.

Kalispel · Jan 19, 2022

We build up all kinds of crazy bending fixtures.

Garwood · Jan 19, 2022

Kalispel said:
We build up all kinds of crazy bending fixtures.

Did that work? What did it bend? The way the punch and die are cantilevered out and the press's guides are inboard for such a width look very problematic to me.

Kalispel · Jan 19, 2022

Garwood said:
Did that work? What did it bend? The way the punch and die are cantilevered out and the press's guides are inboard for such a width look very problematic to me.

Yes it works. This picture was just as it was tacked up. It was made for a dedicated cell that we use to make rolled and welded cylinders. We roll them in a four-roll pinch roller machine. Still, the beginning and ends have a small flat. This bender pre-bends the beginning and end to get a more round tube. It is only 14 gage stainless and we don’t need to tie up a bend brake. Just a cheap surplus hydraulic C frame. The pump is variable displacement with pressure limits. Something left over from an auto plant. Overkill but cheap and it won’t break when someone abuses it.

We plasma weld the tube seam on a Jetline seamer. We deep draw two different ends and TIG weld them in this simple weld lathe fixture.

I guess my point is we make a lot of cheap dedicated tooling with some surplus machines, plasma table, welder and a mill.

BT Fabrication · Jan 20, 2022

Garwood said:
Some folks even use a milling machine and/or WEDM and whittle out their own from solid.

i have done that, from a piece of hardened 4140 2x2 stock

M. Moore · Jan 31, 2022

Could not get the photos on the OP's flicker link.
I really like those stacked assemblies, I would not have thought of that solution. I think it may come in handy some day.
Great posts, thanks all for sharing the info.

scollins · Jan 31, 2022

Strostkovy said:
These don't show the click mechanism but they're the pictures I had.

I worked in a company with extensive laser cutting facilities and that enabled us to make many pressbrake and flypress tools and formers using this technique; profiles cut from 10mm plate, alignment holes/pins and then welded together. Very cost effective for low quantity or special/ emergency jobs compared to buying commercial tooling.

Cannonmn · Jan 31, 2022

M. Moore said:
Could not get the photos on the OP's flicker link.
I really like those stacked assemblies, I would not have thought of that solution. I think it may come in handy some day.
Great posts, thanks all for sharing the info.

Replacement Link: John Morris has shared 7 photos with you! | Flickr

DDoug · Jan 31, 2022

Cannonmn said:
We acquired many press-brake dies recently and in putting them in the custom-made rack that came with them, we noticed a number of die sets made by stacking steel cutouts, then joining with weld beads. Some had job numbers welded on. The company that made and used them said they cut multiple cross-sections from 1/8” plate using a cnc waterjet, with two dowel holes each. Long dowels were inserted to retain alignment when the sections were welded. The company did this to save money since they found custom-made solid dies were very expensive. If anyone wants better photos of the custom-made die storage rack, ask and I’ll post some. Maybe laminated dies are common, I don’t know, I’ve just never seen any before.

John Morris has shared 7 photos with you! | Flickr

Those look to be short sections, is there a horizontal bender to go along with it ?
SIMASV T22 Hydraulic Horizontal Bending Press | Selmach™

Cannonmn · Jan 31, 2022

digger doug said:
Those look to be short sections, is there a horizontal bender to go along with it ?
SIMASV T22 Hydraulic Horizontal Bending Press | Selmach™

Looks like a neat machine in that ad. These were made for use in a 25-ton 6-ft. Di-Acro hydraulic press brake. The long dies are in separate racks.

Shop-Made Press Brake Dies, Laminated

Stainless

Titanium

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Titanium

Diamond

Stainless

Titanium

Attachments

Aluminum

Attachments

Diamond

Aluminum

Attachments

Titanium

Titanium

Aluminum

Stainless

Diamond

Stainless

Attachments

Similar threads