Above 1200 Sq/FT Eastern Washington Workshop
- Thread starter slodat
- Start date
Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
bugnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Congratulations, I love seeing your growth and expansion! Tis the thing of dreams!!
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
At least he had the telehandler. I've helped move aWhat clearance?? There was barely enough room for vaseline!
Thanks for cheering us on guys! With regard to the rigging, I’ve rigged every machine I have. One of my guys is a career millwright, and we’ve know one another for over a decade. The other is a machinist and knows how to be helpful and contribute to anything we’re doing. As a team, we just work really well together. It was a fun day and a lot of work.
Next up was getting the brake off the cribbing and slid into position. The front of the new brake doesn’t have lifting pockets like it does on the rear of each side. One of the guys suggested a tab and the leveling bolt. This is where I feel like plasma shines- cutting thick material on a somewhat less expensive machine.
The PowerMax 85 does a pretty good job on the 1/2” plate. I cleaned the hole up in the drill press.
This photo is after I had sat the brake on floor. This is how I got it off the cribbing.
The 1/2 plate tabs did bend a little. Not enough to be of concern. From here we put a skate on each side of the front beam and one in the center of the rear cross support. Three skates is the way to go when the load has good provisions for it. The brake rolled a few inches with us just pushing. The last couple of inches we used the rigging bars. Once it was where I wanted it with regard to the wall, we used to bars on opposite corners to rotate it square. Went really well.
If you’re going to be playing with anything over a ton, I highly recommend some good rigging equipment. Once I made that investment everything got a lot easier with moving and setting machines. I have and recommend: a pair of quality purpose built riggings bars, skates, toe jack (I got away with one until now. It was too low of tonnage for this one), high capacity come along, straps, slings, and a lot of cribbing.
Now that it’s in place I need to get the Phase Perfect setup to power the brake. I ordered some wire yesterday. Shouldn’t be too long.
Next up was getting the brake off the cribbing and slid into position. The front of the new brake doesn’t have lifting pockets like it does on the rear of each side. One of the guys suggested a tab and the leveling bolt. This is where I feel like plasma shines- cutting thick material on a somewhat less expensive machine.
The PowerMax 85 does a pretty good job on the 1/2” plate. I cleaned the hole up in the drill press.
This photo is after I had sat the brake on floor. This is how I got it off the cribbing.
The 1/2 plate tabs did bend a little. Not enough to be of concern. From here we put a skate on each side of the front beam and one in the center of the rear cross support. Three skates is the way to go when the load has good provisions for it. The brake rolled a few inches with us just pushing. The last couple of inches we used the rigging bars. Once it was where I wanted it with regard to the wall, we used to bars on opposite corners to rotate it square. Went really well.
If you’re going to be playing with anything over a ton, I highly recommend some good rigging equipment. Once I made that investment everything got a lot easier with moving and setting machines. I have and recommend: a pair of quality purpose built riggings bars, skates, toe jack (I got away with one until now. It was too low of tonnage for this one), high capacity come along, straps, slings, and a lot of cribbing.
Now that it’s in place I need to get the Phase Perfect setup to power the brake. I ordered some wire yesterday. Shouldn’t be too long.
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GeddyT
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Quite the opposite of a hot dog down a hallway!
What most stands out to me from all this is that some day in the mid-future there will be a few PhasePerfects for sale?...
What most stands out to me from all this is that some day in the mid-future there will be a few PhasePerfects for sale?...
@GeddyT Tom- I only have the one Phase Perfect. While the plan is to relocated things, I don't know when at this point. Bldg 2 will be where these machines live until HQ is ready for us to move in. There's a lot of steps, work, and money between now and then. I suspect when that happens the Phase Perfect will replace the rotary phase converter in the main shop. It will be my workshop and prototyping space for a long long time.
GeddyT
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Super happy for you, man. What a rapid expansion!
Thank you!!
It has been a wild ride for sure. Bldg 2 wasn't even fully painted a year ago. I finished painting Memorial Day weekend last year. There are a lot of compromises in the current equipment lineup and buildout. That's what it has taken to get here. Getting the bigger press brake and laser online in the next week is going to be huge! I am excited!
Laser technician arrived today to commission the new fiber laser.
I had it ready for when he arrived.
The source comes setup with the head. He got it all laced through the cable chain and setup in short order.
Needless to say this is going to be a complete game changer for the company! This is the first cuts on the laser. 14ga CRS. This part is about 1” square. 3mm holes.
First pass fly cutting:
Result:
This is cutting on 15bar compressed air. Training and dialing in parameters tomorrow.
I had it ready for when he arrived.
The source comes setup with the head. He got it all laced through the cable chain and setup in short order.
Needless to say this is going to be a complete game changer for the company! This is the first cuts on the laser. 14ga CRS. This part is about 1” square. 3mm holes.
First pass fly cutting:
Result:
This is cutting on 15bar compressed air. Training and dialing in parameters tomorrow.
4 FN 27
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Steven with a little practice...
4 FN 27
ALLIANCE MEMBER
By all means it is crazy.
My experience with Lasers goes back to 1978-79 when my Dad bought the first Combination Turret Laser in the country. A Strippit 30 ton Frabri-Center with a 500 watt CO2 Photon Laser attached. It was a game changer.
I joined his company in 1980 working in Shipping, you had to be 18 to run equipment. I spent every spare minute watching these machines run. When I turned 18 I learned how to write M & G Code for the Punch Laser Combo. Wasn't long after that I convinced my ol'Man to spend $141k on a CADCAM system that tied directly to the machines. Went from 14 guys doing Sheet Metal Layout and 3 Inspectors checking the First Part from every new program to 2 of us laying out parts and 1 inspector.
With the shift in technology, the Layout guys with ambition learned CADCAM system we put in play and the company doubled in size within a few years.
For Inspection we bought a Stirppit Accu-Center, a manual "probing type" Inspection Machine. This was a game changer cutting First Part Inspection by 60%. Last time I was at the Strippit Manufacturing and Assembly facility in Buffalo NY they were still using a Accu-Center verifying the accuracy of the new machines being built.
One of my favorite things to do is visit the Factory when they are getting one of our machines ready to be delivered.
The really cool part is, Strippit-LVD's US Headquarters is the old Buffalo Arms Manufacturing Building where they built M1919's and M2 50 Cals for the War Effort. The Machine Guns were test fired from where their Welding Department is located today.
I have a piece of that history. A Buffalo Arms M1919 produced in the same plant in 1942.
Punching holes in metal has been done for a thousand years. The only thing that has change is the technology of creating the hole.
Keep the hammer down Steven!!! Love watching your progress and passion!!!
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Pat! Thank you so much for your continued support and contributions on and offline! You have such an inspiring story!
Day two of commissioning.. actually training was really incredible. The guy I bought the machine from was a perfect fit for the team and I. One of those rare things where he is everything he said he was. Zero complaints. Just a great experience.
Laser vs plasma is no comparison. This is such a profound understatement it just feels.. silly. We literally giggled as we watched the laser do its thing. The tech dialed in parameters for each material on nitrogen, compressed air, and oxygen. His approach was methodical and made sense.
This is a part we make cut in 16ga galvanized.
It was crazy how well it turned out. This was about 60 seconds cut time. Then we cut this out of 14ga CRS. It was 6 minutes vs 90 with plasma.
Comparison with plasma on the bottom:
The laser parts had one pass through the belt sander on each side with 180 grit. Same with these parts:
This is all on compressed air.
Last sample:
Top and bottom. This is a complete game changer. Laser is cutting 2-3x cut speed, and touch off is nearly zero compared to plasma. Edge quality, hole size/shape is night and day better. Couldn’t be happier.
Tomorrow we get the phase perfect started up and the new brake.
Thanks for following along!
Day two of commissioning.. actually training was really incredible. The guy I bought the machine from was a perfect fit for the team and I. One of those rare things where he is everything he said he was. Zero complaints. Just a great experience.
Laser vs plasma is no comparison. This is such a profound understatement it just feels.. silly. We literally giggled as we watched the laser do its thing. The tech dialed in parameters for each material on nitrogen, compressed air, and oxygen. His approach was methodical and made sense.
This is a part we make cut in 16ga galvanized.
It was crazy how well it turned out. This was about 60 seconds cut time. Then we cut this out of 14ga CRS. It was 6 minutes vs 90 with plasma.
Comparison with plasma on the bottom:
The laser parts had one pass through the belt sander on each side with 180 grit. Same with these parts:
This is all on compressed air.
Last sample:
Top and bottom. This is a complete game changer. Laser is cutting 2-3x cut speed, and touch off is nearly zero compared to plasma. Edge quality, hole size/shape is night and day better. Couldn’t be happier.
Tomorrow we get the phase perfect started up and the new brake.
Thanks for following along!
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Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I found myself smiling as I watched the first video. Soooooo nice! 
rattle_snake
Well-known member
Jealous.
My plasma just isn't as cool now.....
My plasma just isn't as cool now.....
It’s really satisfying!I found myself smiling as I watched the first video. Soooooo nice!
I don’t think that’s the case! Being able to cut sheet and plate IS cool! The “as cool” aspect… I suppose that’s a subjective thing.
I ran a full sheet nest yesterday. It’s satisfying! Laser leaves a tiny burr vs the more substantial dross from plasma. The burr sands of with the wide belt and leaves a very finish. The hole quality is what really stands out. It is on another level. The learning curve of a new control is always a hill to climb. So far so good. I’m sure it will kick my *** at the worst possible time. Seems to be how it goes with new machines.
I ordered a duplicate set of the tools we use at the press brake- ground square, digital protractor, 6 & 12” calipers, squaring arms, etc. As I was working through how we do things in the main shop, I needed a good solution for cutting coupons for test bends.
We cut drops into strips and store them by the brake. In the main shop we shear these strips to length on the iron worker. This is what I came up with for the second brake in Bldg2:
I’ve gotten to know Erik at Ready Saw over the last couple of months. Great guy with a really cool porta band mount he has come up with. Until now, I didn’t have a use for it, so it was just part of the conversation.. The other day it hit me. The post in Bldg 2 was the perfect location. His portable bandsaw mount is perfect for what we need. So, I ordered one! It uses some delrin pucks to slide the mount on and off so it could be used in different locations, or maybe in a trailer or something.
The puck mount is really slick.
The porta band drops in place and is really stable.
The coolest part by far is the trigger lever. It’s pure genius.
A quick flip and it holds the trigger in position. Easy on and off. He puts some time into getting it just right and it just works.
I bought one of the first Swag Offroad bench top porta band tables around 15 years ago. The band saw has lived in it since. We use it in the fab room all the time. This is a different approach and perfect for what we need in Bldg 2.
We got the new press brake oil loaded in. All 50 gallons. Should have it powered up in the next couple days.
Outstanding. Always nice to see mom and pop type operations coming up with real world solutions that fill a need and actually work great.
Congratulations on all your expansion, nice to see you shift into a higher gear.
Ron
Congratulations on all your expansion, nice to see you shift into a higher gear.
Ron
BORING HOP YARD
Well-known member
Thank you for posting the ready saw. I built a mount for my saw to be placed in a vice but it's been a pain to use the vice.
I think the mount would be a great solution for me.
I think the mount would be a great solution for me.
Spent the day yesterday getting the Phase Perfect installed. Started with a pencil sketch for a stand to support it.
I've never had nor developed fine art skills. This was really satisfying. And, enough to get it made. I ended up flipping it.
Idea is for the stand to support it. I did secure to the wall with two anchors. Once it was powered up all looked good.
The output is connected to a 3 phase panel. That turned out nice.
From there I powered up the step up transformer on the brake to check secondary voltage. Gary had let me know if it's too high I would need the other transformer. All checked out on the high end of in spec. At that point I powered up the brake. It homed as it should.
From there I made some test coupons of my material workup part. This went really well. It looks like the laser kerf is 0.002 - 0.0025". For the parts I'm making it's not worth chasing. The brake is a significant upgrade over the first brake. A lot of refinements in the hydraulics and controls. The pump is on demand only. No more constantly running pump. All in all for the first bends, it is great.
I need to buy a 120mm tall 12mm T/pillar die for the parts I'm making. Press brake tooling is not cheap. I'm going to reach out to Wilson tomorrow. I have a feeling they won't cost much if any more than the other suppliers.
Bldg 2 is online and ready to make parts. We have a couple of orders to get out this week using the laser and new brake. Should be fun!
I've never had nor developed fine art skills. This was really satisfying. And, enough to get it made. I ended up flipping it.
Idea is for the stand to support it. I did secure to the wall with two anchors. Once it was powered up all looked good.
The output is connected to a 3 phase panel. That turned out nice.
From there I powered up the step up transformer on the brake to check secondary voltage. Gary had let me know if it's too high I would need the other transformer. All checked out on the high end of in spec. At that point I powered up the brake. It homed as it should.
From there I made some test coupons of my material workup part. This went really well. It looks like the laser kerf is 0.002 - 0.0025". For the parts I'm making it's not worth chasing. The brake is a significant upgrade over the first brake. A lot of refinements in the hydraulics and controls. The pump is on demand only. No more constantly running pump. All in all for the first bends, it is great.
I need to buy a 120mm tall 12mm T/pillar die for the parts I'm making. Press brake tooling is not cheap. I'm going to reach out to Wilson tomorrow. I have a feeling they won't cost much if any more than the other suppliers.
Bldg 2 is online and ready to make parts. We have a couple of orders to get out this week using the laser and new brake. Should be fun!
Yesterday was the first day of operations with Bldg 2 up and running the whole new sheet metal process. It went well. The new brake has a lot of power! 145T is no joke. The laser continues to blow my mind and make some very nice parts. It’s holding +/- 0.003 on all features and overall size. Well within anything our clients will ask for.
The sander with the 180 grit belt produces a very nice powder coat ready finish. The new brake has an on-demand hydraulic system. This results in a very quiet machine when idle. And the results from the brake are very nice.
That is all 10ga HRPO. The two large parts get gussets welded on before coating.
This FedEx driver delivered this guy:
The packaging is at least as good as the X1C. Overall looks like a great machine.
I didn’t get to setup yet. Maybe later today.
The sander with the 180 grit belt produces a very nice powder coat ready finish. The new brake has an on-demand hydraulic system. This results in a very quiet machine when idle. And the results from the brake are very nice.
That is all 10ga HRPO. The two large parts get gussets welded on before coating.
This FedEx driver delivered this guy:
The packaging is at least as good as the X1C. Overall looks like a great machine.
I didn’t get to setup yet. Maybe later today.
GeddyT
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Can you machine your own press dies? Or just not worth it?
Yes and folks do. Typically laminated punches/dies cut out of plate. This is particularly useful for a one off or something special in low quantity. I wouldn’t want to make 2500mm of the die I need using this method. Aside from laminated dies, I’m not really setup to make proper machined and ground press brake tooling. Additionally what I need is readily available. I wouldn’t make any money making tooling.
The new Bambu H2D arrived this week. While it’s a large machine, I think they packed a lot in the machine for the volume it takes up. Setup was at least as simple and straightforward as the X1C.
The reason I bought it was the additional build volume and the heated chamber. I print a lot of ABS and the X1C has done well, but I knew the heated chamber would help. There are other refinements that looked interesting as well. I sliced the hardware box and sent it to the printer.
The print quality is as good, if not better. It’s very quiet.
Overall happy with it thus far. The laser and new press brake are a complete level up in speed, throughput, and part quality. I’m holding much tighter tolerances.
Having everything in Bldg 2 with a much leaner workflow is really satisfying. The machines are just what I needed for the next phase of sheet metal work.
The laser is profoundly better than plasma. It’s really jarring how good, and fast it is. This is only a 2kw source. Quite small by today’s standards. I’m very happy to have it. I ran five sheets of parts yesterday afternoon in a few hours all told. Ready for forming. Including the vented/perforated covers that had been such a challenge in the past. The fly cutting is so fast!
A sheet like this is about 13 minutes.
The stack of parts ready for a trip through the wide belt sander:
The reason I bought it was the additional build volume and the heated chamber. I print a lot of ABS and the X1C has done well, but I knew the heated chamber would help. There are other refinements that looked interesting as well. I sliced the hardware box and sent it to the printer.
The print quality is as good, if not better. It’s very quiet.
Overall happy with it thus far. The laser and new press brake are a complete level up in speed, throughput, and part quality. I’m holding much tighter tolerances.
Having everything in Bldg 2 with a much leaner workflow is really satisfying. The machines are just what I needed for the next phase of sheet metal work.
The laser is profoundly better than plasma. It’s really jarring how good, and fast it is. This is only a 2kw source. Quite small by today’s standards. I’m very happy to have it. I ran five sheets of parts yesterday afternoon in a few hours all told. Ready for forming. Including the vented/perforated covers that had been such a challenge in the past. The fly cutting is so fast!
A sheet like this is about 13 minutes.
The stack of parts ready for a trip through the wide belt sander:
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Had some downtime in the shop this weekend. A couple of quality of life projects. First was a tray for the press brake control:
I made enough of a model of the control panel to design the tray. It's a 25 hour print on the H2D. Hopefully I got the design right! It has a few hours left. So far so good..
The fiber laser keyboard tray is rather small.
And I wanted USB ports in these knockouts:
I used the knockouts and drilled holes for the panel mount USB ports.
I wanted to mount them on the backside of the panel, but it wasn't going to work out. This was a good compromise and will work fine. The new tray is 10ga steel.
Quick trip through the sander and a few bends..
The new brake is really nice. Especially on the higher tonnage bends. I used a lighter gray powder I had on hand.
Over the years I have accumulated a lot of keyboard and mouse setups. Had this Dell wireless setup from one of the computers in the shop. It's going to be a nice update to the laser.
These little projects really add up over time in the flow aspect of using the machines.
I made enough of a model of the control panel to design the tray. It's a 25 hour print on the H2D. Hopefully I got the design right! It has a few hours left. So far so good..
The fiber laser keyboard tray is rather small.
And I wanted USB ports in these knockouts:
I used the knockouts and drilled holes for the panel mount USB ports.
I wanted to mount them on the backside of the panel, but it wasn't going to work out. This was a good compromise and will work fine. The new tray is 10ga steel.
Quick trip through the sander and a few bends..
The new brake is really nice. Especially on the higher tonnage bends. I used a lighter gray powder I had on hand.
Over the years I have accumulated a lot of keyboard and mouse setups. Had this Dell wireless setup from one of the computers in the shop. It's going to be a nice update to the laser.
These little projects really add up over time in the flow aspect of using the machines.
First full order with laser cut steel going out this morning. It is so cool to see the quality of the parts increase this much. These vented doors really tell the story.
Off the brake they lay flat with no visible stress or distortion.
There's slight oil canning that is gone after the fourth flange is turned.
Our powder coating continues to get better. At this point the parts are at the quality level I've been shooting for. I need a 10mm and 12mm die to tighten up the bend radius a little. But, that's more me driving that than the client.
And, a LOT of bus on this job. Much deeper switchboards.
These turned out nice, even with the holes so close to the edge of the part.
I get keys to the new(third) building at the end of the month!
Off the brake they lay flat with no visible stress or distortion.
There's slight oil canning that is gone after the fourth flange is turned.
Our powder coating continues to get better. At this point the parts are at the quality level I've been shooting for. I need a 10mm and 12mm die to tighten up the bend radius a little. But, that's more me driving that than the client.
And, a LOT of bus on this job. Much deeper switchboards.
These turned out nice, even with the holes so close to the edge of the part.
I get keys to the new(third) building at the end of the month!
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Those panels look fantastic!
BORING HOP YARD
Well-known member
Parts look great and to think your expanding to a third building "way cool"
Thank you for letting us tag along and I wish you much success.
Thank you for letting us tag along and I wish you much success.
xtremek
Well-known member
3rd building. Impressive.
Starting to make a little traction on the third building. New to me forklift was delivered yesterday morning. It’s. 2005 with rebuild engine, 8000 hours, a fresh paint touch up, new tires, and an overall going over. It’s perfect for my needs at the new shop. The side shift is a welcome addition.
I restocked the foam we use for the cases. Pallet was a touch under 8’ tall.
The next day an order came in for 20 cases with foam. The driver must have loved us this day..
I got to work on it yesterday while doing some other stuff in the shop.
The big cases use a new sheet per layer.
Then the drop makes a layer for the next smaller sized case. We trick those drops down and use them for packing parts for shipping. We waste very little. This process has worked out well.
In progress on these cases..
I restocked the foam we use for the cases. Pallet was a touch under 8’ tall.
The next day an order came in for 20 cases with foam. The driver must have loved us this day..
I got to work on it yesterday while doing some other stuff in the shop.
The big cases use a new sheet per layer.
Then the drop makes a layer for the next smaller sized case. We trick those drops down and use them for packing parts for shipping. We waste very little. This process has worked out well.
In progress on these cases..
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A really cool addition to the shop arrived yesterday. This has been on my radar the whole time.. a way to mark the aluminum and copper bus parts. Stickers are unacceptable. I looked at marking presses and other stuff. I settled on this guy a while back.
Once I got past the sticker shock, I put on the CapX budget.
This is a German made handheld dot peen marking machine. I bought their stationary bench top stand with it. It’s a little CNC dot matrix punch marking machine. It is very configurable.
This is a short clip of the first test I did with it this morning.
I 3d printed an alignment fence. This worked really well. I have a similar fence for along the Y axis printing now. It still amazes me how useful 3d printing is in the shop.
I’ve had an issue with the Prusa XL since shortly after adding the enclosure. It stops extruding after an hour or so and doesn’t detect it. Super annoying and I haven’t put time on it until last weekend. I ordered the PCCF upgraded parts from Prusa. I’d like to get it running again. It’s the biggest envelope printer and that comes in handy.
I had an issue with the H2D under extruding for a while as well. Finally took a look at it over the weekend. Nozzle was clogged. Super simple to swap it out. I didn’t waste time trying to save the clogged nozzle. Installed the spare that came with it. Prints have been great since. I have all three Bambu printers running around the clock on various parts for my tooling kits. It’s crazy how fast the parts can stack up when I keep them fed and running.
Once I got past the sticker shock, I put on the CapX budget.
This is a German made handheld dot peen marking machine. I bought their stationary bench top stand with it. It’s a little CNC dot matrix punch marking machine. It is very configurable.
This is a short clip of the first test I did with it this morning.
I 3d printed an alignment fence. This worked really well. I have a similar fence for along the Y axis printing now. It still amazes me how useful 3d printing is in the shop.
I’ve had an issue with the Prusa XL since shortly after adding the enclosure. It stops extruding after an hour or so and doesn’t detect it. Super annoying and I haven’t put time on it until last weekend. I ordered the PCCF upgraded parts from Prusa. I’d like to get it running again. It’s the biggest envelope printer and that comes in handy.
I had an issue with the H2D under extruding for a while as well. Finally took a look at it over the weekend. Nozzle was clogged. Super simple to swap it out. I didn’t waste time trying to save the clogged nozzle. Installed the spare that came with it. Prints have been great since. I have all three Bambu printers running around the clock on various parts for my tooling kits. It’s crazy how fast the parts can stack up when I keep them fed and running.
I’m liking the dot peen marking machine. We call it the Laser Pecker. These additions always take some time to get dialed in to existing processes. The marking has to be on a flat area of the part. If we only go by features and not the part drawing I am certain we will have plenty of marking in the bends:
This is going to work well. The bus fabrication is rather manual with CAD driving the layout. I can not wait for the Boschert bus processing line to get here! I cut the PO. 9-12 month lead time.
I bought three sets of 120mm tall pillar dies for the new brake - 12, 16, and 20mm. It’s a lot of tooling and should have me in good shape for the vast majority of the parts I make. The tall pillar dies give me some flexibility on making the somewhat challenging parts these guys send our way. I finally got to getting it all out of the shipping packaging last night. I bought the import tooling cabinet with the most recent press brake. The cabinet leaves a lot to be desired. It’s definitely better than it all sitting on a Rubbermaid cart like the tooling does for the first brake.
This is the original configuration:
A small amount of effort would have gone a long way in making this adaptable to my actual needs. The die drawers have small strips to keep quick change and 4v style dies from sliding around. Well.. this is in the way for my solid base 60mm wide tooling. They are made of stainless and welded in place. Drilling the welds did not work on even really good drill bits. So.. make due for now. I removed two of the punch drawers and moved up the die drawers to make room for the tall dies.
This is going to work well. The bus fabrication is rather manual with CAD driving the layout. I can not wait for the Boschert bus processing line to get here! I cut the PO. 9-12 month lead time.
I bought three sets of 120mm tall pillar dies for the new brake - 12, 16, and 20mm. It’s a lot of tooling and should have me in good shape for the vast majority of the parts I make. The tall pillar dies give me some flexibility on making the somewhat challenging parts these guys send our way. I finally got to getting it all out of the shipping packaging last night. I bought the import tooling cabinet with the most recent press brake. The cabinet leaves a lot to be desired. It’s definitely better than it all sitting on a Rubbermaid cart like the tooling does for the first brake.
This is the original configuration:
A small amount of effort would have gone a long way in making this adaptable to my actual needs. The die drawers have small strips to keep quick change and 4v style dies from sliding around. Well.. this is in the way for my solid base 60mm wide tooling. They are made of stainless and welded in place. Drilling the welds did not work on even really good drill bits. So.. make due for now. I removed two of the punch drawers and moved up the die drawers to make room for the tall dies.