New press brake

Date 01-13-2013 05:33 Edited 01-13-2013 05:45

Hello everyone, I mentioned in another recent post that I hadn't had much involvement on the forum as of late. I am including a few pics. of a recent acquisition of our welding program, this is a part of a substantial upgrade that we have been involved in for the past 6 to 7 months. We were fortunate enough to qualify for a size-able sum of money to make a lot of important additions. We had been using an older mechanical press brake to instruct and fabricate a great number of items for our program and the benefit of our students. It is a 10 foot Chicago mechanical brake, not looked upon too highly by anyone with safety in mind, yet it had allowed us to cover such items as safety, operation, capabilities, and other associated points. We have upgraded to an Accurpress 8' 175 ton hydraulic brake now and been able to tool it up considerably well. Four-way bottom die(1,2,3, and 4" openings), lg. and sm. radius top punches, a goose neck punch and two different bottom dies specifically designed to be used with the goose neck punch. Later I hope to include photos of this machine in action. Best regards, Allan

By leterburn (**)

Date 01-13-2013 14:33

Just what I need..... way nice, and brand spanking new! What a great learning tool!!!
DL

By aevald

Date 01-13-2013 17:48

Thanks Darren, yes, to say that we are excited would probably be an understatement. Regards, Allan

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 01-13-2013 15:38

That's great Allan. I know you and your students will put that to good use, both to further their education and to build some very worthwhile projects.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By aevald

Date 01-13-2013 17:57

Thanks Brent, we have a lot of other irons in the fire. We have finally gotten a truck to start our build on(bed, portable welder, air compressor, generator, plasma cutter, etc). We hope to possibly build some side boxes and a whole host of other amenities for it with the assistance of this new tool. The students are excited too right along with us. It's arrival was a good demonstration for the students as they got a taste of a real world rigging/unloading scenario. Spotters, a single individual calling out directions, safe distance zones, discussion of rigging component limits, differences of load capabilities based on straightline vs. basket type hook-ups, etc. all of this was discussed and shown. This machine is right at #17,000. Hope all is well with you and your family.

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 01-14-2013 18:03

I hope you will get us pics of work in progress on the truck. That would be interesting to watch.

As to the family, let's just say the past four months have not been on our list of top favorites. But, overall, we cannot complain and know without a doubt who is in control. Just praying we are learning the intended lessons.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By Blaster (***)

Date 01-15-2013 01:56

That is sweet Allan.

By Dualie

Date 01-15-2013 05:10

I been eying a 300 ton accupress to replace my aging 250 ton pacific please let us know how the unit works out for you. which set of controls did you go with?

Its between accupress, atlantic, and bystronic

By aevald

Date 01-15-2013 06:08

Hello again Dualie, I'll have to look a bit closer to answer the controls question. Right off the top of my head I seem to remember that we got the "levelling kit", I believe they refer to it as, supposed to provide even bending anywhere on the bed if you are forming off-center. Also got the supposedly deluxe CNC backgage unit. As to performance, ease of use, accuracy, I'll have to let you know a bit later about that. It's going to be just a bit before we're able to fire it up. I do know that there are possibly 5 to 6 shops that have gone with Accurpress units and of the ones that I have spoken to they appear to be reasonably satisfied. Still, I'll try to let you know. Best regards, Allan

By Dualie

Date 01-16-2013 08:52

Thanks,I'mIm still on the fence.

For 100K i dont know if reasonably satisfied is a rousing endorsement.

By aevald

Date 01-16-2013 14:14

Hello Dualie, a 100K IS a lot of "change" and from anyone's perspective I can see the need to be more than convinced that it is the way to go. I'll see how it performs here in the near future and give everyone a report. Best regards, Allan

By TAC

Date 01-16-2013 14:22 Edited 01-16-2013 14:25

A shop I used to work in had several accupresses of different sizes. They're a great unit in my opinion and I don't recall any problems with them.

ETA: Allan, I don't see it on yours and don't recall if it came with the 8 footer at the above mentioned shop. We had a plate attached to the ram that could be swung onto big pins on the four-way. Ram up and rotating the four-way is a breeze.

By aevald

Date 01-16-2013 15:41

Hello TAC, yes it does have that feature. I have also used similar attachments for rotating the bottom dies on other machines. Thanks for bringing that up, I used to work with a very talented press operator. We parted ways when I moved onto a different shop and he eventually did the same, unfortunately he went to work for a shop that used "short cable slings" to lift and rotate the bottom 4-way. I was told later that one day he went to roll the die and one of the slings broke, he lost 4 fingers on one hand, very unfortunate. Thanks for sharing your input. Best regards, Allan

By TAC

Date 01-16-2013 15:49

I see the pins now. That is great! That goose neck is going to be handy as well.

I've been pushing for a good press at our Community College for years. We are definitely jealous!