K-zell Metals is your contract manufacturing source for CNC Press Brake bending and forming. Our state-of-the-art CNC machines combined with the OEM software package will repeatably produce highly accurate parts resulting in lower production costs and reduce downstream assembly and / or welding time.
We have an extensive tooling list of precision ground segmented air bending tooling to accommodate even the most complex sheet metal parts.
CNC Press Brake Air Bending is a method used to bend sheet metal and plate. This process requires use of a V-shaped or U-shaped bottom die (Bottom Tool) in conjunction with a radius punch (Top Tool) in order to bend the sheet or plate material to a specific angle. The press brake machine operates using a vertically orientated ram with a specific tool combination (top tool – punch & bottom tool – die) selected for the material being processed. An operator will slide the sheet or plate material over the top of the bottom tool – die and align using the CNC back gauge stops, the ram of the machine will then press down over the center of the die using the specified top tool – punch to create the desired bend angle. This process is known as Air Bending due to the unsupported area under the flat sheet material (air space) created by the V-shaped or U-shaped bottom tool – die.
Benefits of CNC Press Brake Air Bending:
- Precision bend angle and bend location control for tight tolerance parts.
- Significant decrease of per part processing time when compared to manual machines.
- 6 axis CNC controlled back gauging means part are near identical.
- High part volume processing capable.
The Ideal Part for Press Brake Air Bending Processing:
- Volumes of 10 or more parts per lot run or parts with complex bending sequences.
- Parts requiring tighter dimensional tolerance control.
- Parts that are difficult for manual brakes to make consistently.
- Parts that require precise bend angle and location control.
- Parts used in Robotic Welding processes.
- Sub-assemblies where stack up tolerances are a concern.
- Parts without cutouts & holes in close proximity of bend lines.
Our Process:
- 3D Model development of part
- Discussion of critical features and specific dimensional tolerances to be incorporated into the CNC program
- Tooling development (As required)
- First article development and inspection
- CNC program adjustment
- Initial production run and verification of CNC program
- Full scale production run
