I have what may be a really silly question, but I’m asking because we’re dealing with lots of tonnage and steel parts being bent.
From a safety perspective, having to bend a large part that will require the use of both 4-way dies, will a small difference of about 0.03” +/- 0.01” in height matter?
I’m thinking no, and it may not be enough to affect my bends even, but thought I’d ask since we’re dealing with precision now.
To spare the thread from lots of pictures, I’ll share what I’ve measured.
The 4-way die (16” and 8”) was measured using two sets of calipers at each end, Pretty consistent at 2.610” on both dies so it’s not a manufacturing issue on those. Maybe I’ll measure again tomorrow on a new day.
The 6” holders have been repeatedly swapped from left to right, as well as being turned 180, and no matter what holder is where, the 8” die sits approximately 0.02” to 0.03” higher than the 16” die even if the 8” die is on the left side or right side of the larger die.
Kind of weird for it to be consistently off, even though I played with the three variables I can think of (the dies, and the holders, as well as placement on the brake).
It’s most likely the part of me that overthinks things as I’m anxiously waiting for my replacement wood panel to arrive before I can assemble it and use it.
Both dies measure the same height, using both my digital calipers (Harbor Freight) as well as my dial calipers (Etalon) within a hair.
I just found it odd that moving or flipping the holders (I have 4 of them) in any which way has no effect. And placing the 8” die on either side of the 16” die has no effect either. Neither does turning the dies so a different end is butted up against the other.
So I will try again once more tomorrow as a fresh start, but I played with this about 5 different times to make sure I wasn’t crazy.
Also the die holders and the channel they sit in were brushed off with a painters brush as well as shot with compressed air. Not to mention the holders themselves cleaned off and the dies fully wiped down.
But maybe I am crazy and just need to measure everything again tomorrow; my back is killing me.
Maybe I measured the height difference wrong or something because the difference between both dies is between 0.002’“ to 0.0015”. At least the difference in the dies isn’t a full 0.003” or more.
Does this pose a safety risk? My gut is telling me no.
Does this pose an issue on metal parts such as odd marks, deformation, etc?
I guess I’ll have to wait to answer the second question myself once it’s up and running for wider length but thought I’d ask because my mind never stops racing.
On another note, bending material (test bend) yesterday was pretty fun. While I found it weird to delete a program and stuff, overall I enjoyed the UI.
And I followed another member’s video here for proper shut down so I appreciate that. His username escapes me though!
Since you bought your 4-way die segments months apart, I think there is a tiny drift in the width of the die, but not enough to cause serious problems by itself. I think the main culprit to the more significant shift you were seeing on the machine is how that tiny change is causing a bigger difference in height when put into the 4-way die holder.
I think the die corners are catching on the inner edges of the 4-way die holder, which have a very small bevel. Normally that isn’t an issue when the 4-way dies are perfectly matching since they are lifted up the same amount, but now this effect is amplifying the very tiny width difference in your tooling.
If you take a triangular file and gently grind down the inner corner of your 4-way die holders so that each of your 4-way dies are properly resting on the very bottom, that should drastically alleviate your issue to a point where it will not cause you any issues with production.
Going from 0.03” +/- 0.01” we’ve brought it down to 0.007” difference measuring the largest deviation.
If I spend a little more time on slight burrs, or maybe even swapping the die position, it should be smaller. I did measure less than 0.004” on the other end just to see if the difference was the same at both ends or not.
Adding pictures since I’m always telling others to do the same
There’s reason why I emphasized needing to come back the next day to double check
My back flared up like crazy and I’ve been in pain for the last few days.
Sucks being disabled.
Your backgauge, I assume you purchased it right away with your brake? I’m contemplating adding it sooner than later as I see the benefits it offers. I guess the desire isn’t as strong since it’s still on the pallet.
Absolutely love them already. I was playing with some bends only to realize that I need to figure out the whole ram height thing.
I don’t get any clamping at all until it bends, and I have large underbent compensation values only to run into a video of the procedure. As you know, Langmuir already covers doing this but as ‘optional’. I’ll definitely do it tomorrow though.
But for the test bends earlier today, these levers are great.
I got them from McMaster Carr and after tightening them, it allows for freely swiveling out if the way (once you pull the lever out towards you).
MAYBE they can get in the way of a particular bend? But not with my tests when facing upward.
