K-zell Metals is your contract manufacturing source for CNC Press Brake air 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.
What is CNC Press Brake Air Bending?
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.
K-zell's Press Brake Air Bending 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
