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Press Brake Alignment

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:56 pm
by mcman56
I made a press brake and use in the basic Grizzly 30 ton shop press. See picks. Lately, while bending some 3/16" 5052, I noticed that it does not bend the metal evenly. The part coming down from the top will be off by several degrees and will sometime jam on the guide bars at the bottom. (There is not a huge amount of play)The plate was about 12" wide and I expected the bending resistance to keep it straight. So......
1. Am I expecting too much from a crude press brake
2. Would work on the press make it push down more evenly?
3. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Dan

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Re: Press Brake Alignment

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 3:09 pm
by whateg0
Could be that there is just enough play for it to bind. It has been my experience that the guides must be very close or very loose. I have also found that the taller the contact area on the guides, the better. It has less chance of wracking that way.

Dave

Re: Press Brake Alignment

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 6:17 pm
by loughnut
when i built mine i used no guides or springs. mine has large Coupling Nuts welded to each side with bolts that i can adjust up to the upper brace. this way i can level it for most bends and i can tweak it if i am bending a transition like a cone. i like not having the guides because i make some shorter dies with large and small radius's for bar stock that work well with the bottom die. i will take some pics and post them someday