You can't finalize your design before you choose your material but you will need at least a basic idea of what your final pieces will look like and the requirements for strength and durability they need to meet. The number of bends, need for welding, weight they will hold, and the environment they will be used in should all be considered.
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For my application I needed four bends per piece, had to do some welding to join secondary components, needed them to support a very heavy, 8ft long, solid oak desk top, and it will be kept inside the house. This drove the use of the more expensive and harder to manipulate steel over aluminum because of the higher strength, better weldability, and not being overly concerned about corrosion. Specifically I chose A36 hot rolled steel which is a mild (low-carbon) steel that is abundant (i.e. cheaper) and considered easy to work with. The raw flat bars lack precise dimensional control but for my use that wasn't a big concern.
To minimize weight and cost, and increase work-ability, I chose 3/16"(.188) x 1-1/2" (1.5) flat bar. This was definitely on the thinner side given the weight of the table top but with essentially eight legs taking the force I felt confident enough to risk it over something like a full 1/4" that would be much harder to bend.
Be aware that for consistent bends, the width of the bar should not exceed the distance on your vice from the outer edge of the jaw to the closest edge of the central bar. (i.e. the full width of the work piece should be gripped by the vice when held vertically and extending past the bottom of the vice.) We will work out the needed length for the raw material in the next step. Additionally, the thicker your material, the larger the minimum allowable bend radius, or you risk developing cracks. Typically for steel the minimum radius is equal to the thickness of the part.
Optionally if you really want/need a bend radius below the minimum you can cut a shallow notch on the inside of the piece at the bend centerline. This will effectively reduce the thickness just at the bend and can help prevent cracks from forming. Depending on your application it may be advisable to then weld the inside of the bend to re-strengthen the area thinned by the notch.
The Panel bending machine has been around for almost 40 years and has accelerated the development of the sheet metal manufacturing industry. It is labor-saving, fast and able to bend a sheet to a specific angle with precision.
The high investment cost may be a deterrent for many sheet metal fabricators, but the high productivity of the panel bender makes it an ideal choice for many industries.
What is a panel bending machine?
A panel bander is a machine used to bend sheet metal by applying pressure to the sheet through an upper and lower die to bend the metal into a specific geometric shape. The V-angle of the lower die is always adjusted according to the thickness of the sheet.
Types of Panel bending machine
Panel bending machines can be categorized into plate and tube bending machines. For the panel bending machines discussed in this article, we can categorize them into mechanical and hydraulic drive bending machines.
Structure of a panel bending machine
Panel bending machine usually consists of the following parts:
In short, the structure of the panel bending machine is complex, but through the synergistic effect of the various components, it can realize efficient and accurate metal sheet processing.
Features of Panel bending machine
Advantages:
Standardized design of all parts and no need to change dies saves maintenance costs.
The top-down bending die greatly improves the appearance of the bent part.
Panel bender adopts numerical control system and hydraulic system control, which can realize high-precision metal plate processing and ensure the precision and quality of finished products.
Rapid processing of metal sheets of various shapes and sizes, with high adaptability and flexibility, as well as time and cost savings
Conventional plate bending requires skilled workers with specific experience and the ability to track and control the bending stages. In contrast, a plate bending machine can operate by a single person without any specific skills: the machine performs all the bending stages automatically. This reduces personnel costs (hiring unqualified people) and increases production flexibility (more than one person can use the machine).
In conclusion, panel bending machines are characterized by high precision, versatility, high efficiency, ease of operation, safety, reliability and maintenance. They are widely used in the field of sheet metal processing.
Disadvantages:
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The biggest and only disadvantage of this kind of sheet metal bending machine is that it is expensive. For some companies, the one-time investment needs to be bigger.
Panel bending machine applications
Metal processing: panel bending machine can process all kinds of metal plates, such as steel plate, aluminum plate, copper plate and so on. You can also use it to manufacture various vehicles, such as automobiles, airplanes, trains and ships, and parts and components in construction, machinery and electronics.
Furniture Manufacturing: Processing metal sheets of various shapes can be used to manufacture frames, brackets, and other parts of furniture.
Apparatus manufacturing: various apparatus shells, brackets, and other components are required to assist in the production of bending machines.
Pipeline manufacturing: elbow, flare, shrinkage, and other components of various pipelines.
Where is the market for panel bending machines?
The market's geographic location for panel bending machines varies by supplier and buyer, but in general, this equipment is more common in the manufacturing and construction industries. You can find markets for plate bending machines at industrial or construction equipment suppliers. In addition, you can also search for information via the Internet in order to find additional sales channels and suppliers.
Common Bending Methods
Free Bending:
Free bending, also known as air bending, is simpler than other methods. The depth of the upper mold controls the bending angle into the V-groove of the lower mold.
The accuracy of a bent part depends on various factors, such as Y1, Y2, V-axis upper and lower molds, and plate.
However, it is widely used due to its versatility and wide processing range. It is suitable for simple, large or less productive structures.
Three-point bending:
Three-point bending, also known as mold bending (bottoming), has a bending angle determined by the height of the wedge in the lower mold.
The upper die provides only sufficient bending force and eliminates non-parallelism between the dies using hydraulic pads on the ram.
This method allows the production of high-precision parts, i.e., with low angular and straightness errors. It is used for complex structures, small sizes and batch processing.
Corrective bending:
Corrective bending is formed in the cavity formed by the upper and lower molds, which can obtain the desired cross-section shape. However, it requires a larger bending force and repeated mold repair, and the generality of the mold could be better. When special requirements or cross-section shapes can not be realized by free bending, often use this bending method.
Things to consider when buying a panel bending machine
The following factors need to be considered when buying a panel bending machine:
Bending machine type: there are many different types of bending machines, including manual bending machines, semi-automatic bending machines and fully automatic bending machines. It would help to choose the type that suits your needs and budget.
Final Thoughts
Panel bending machine is an advanced and modern bending machine that completely separates the product's quality from the worker's skill level, ensuring the production of high-quality products.
At the same time, the panel bending machine greatly reduces the labor intensity of workers. In addition, it provides new design ideas for sub-engineers, which has significant advantages for developing new products, enabling enterprises to take the lead in the rapidly changing product market.
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