PythonX structural steel fabrication beam line

Pearl Equipment now offers PythonX CNC Robotic Plasma beam line. PythonX instantly automates the growing fabrication shop, giving it a level of CNC sophistication that takes years and millions of dollars to acquire with conventional fabrication equipment. Shops as small as 10,000 ft2 and 10 – 20 employees are using PythonX as the foundation of their growth. The PythonX not only produces features and holes of very high quality, it also places them precisely where they need to be, even if the workpiece has a slight bend or imperfection that might make it unusable with traditional fabricating machines.

Direction of metalforming industry?

Where is the Metal Forming Industry headed from the machinery standpoint?

I have noticed a trend toward very large transfer presses and also the use of multiple gap frame machines in the 100-150 ton range using high speed linear transfer devices.  I know of one company that saved about 1 million dollars by using 8 smaller gap frame presses to run a transfer part instead of purchasing the typical 800 ton transfer press.  What do you think?  Is the market declining in the 300-1000 ton straight side press market?

How to check your die space to determine the best possible operational condition.

Most people check the (4) corners of the slide to the top of the bolster to determine the condition of the die space parallelism.  Let me suggest a different approach that will show what you really need to know.

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  1. Place the slide on bottom dead center.
  2. Measure the die space on the center line of the slide front to rear and left to right taking measurements every 6-12”.  This will show the condition of the slide were the tooling mounts.
  3. Shim and adjust the tool to off set any slide or bolster distortion, thus making the tooling believe that it is running in a perfectly square box. 

As long as the tooling sees a perfectly square condition, it will run at optimum condition even in a machine that may not be perfect. 

Jeff Fredline

Counterbalances

Counterbalance cylinders are often overlooked.  The counterbalance cylinders contribute greatly to the overall life of the machine.  There are (5) basic functions for the counterbalance cylinders

• 1. Hide the vertical lift clearances in the machine.
  2. Counterbalance the weight of the slide assembly and upper die assembly.
  3. Reduce the excessive backlash in the gearing as wear occurs.
  4. Assist the slide adjusting mechanism by lifting the weight of the slide and upper die.
  5. Improves safety by preventing the slide from falling due to a mechanical failure in the connection assemblies.

How often should the counterbalance air pressure be adjusted?  Every time there is a die change as each die weighs a different amount.  How do you adjust the counterbalance cylinders?  There are (2) basic methods;

• 1. Place the slide at the 90 degree position in the stroke, release the brake and adjust the air pressure until the slide dwells at 90 degrees.
  2. Place the press in the continuous mode of operation with a amp meter attached to one of the main motor leads.  Adjust the air pressure while the press is running until you obtain the minimum amperage draw on the meter.

Remember the counterbalance system is critical to increasing the productive life and out put of your machine.
Press Safety is always an important consideration.  All metal stamping presses require a mechanical safety inspection on a periodic basis.  We recommend that annual press inspections be performed on a regular basis with a formal record keeping system.  If you use a formal inspection format you can use it to generate work orders and track the condition of each press thus leading your organization toward predictive maintenance which should be the goal of any great organization.

Jeff Fredline

Press and Die (Squareness)

By design a Metal Stamping Press is designed to provide (3) important functions.

1^st A completely square environment for the tool to function in. (See Theory of the Box)

2^nd The rated tonnage of the machine.

3^rd Finally, a repeatable die space with the proper rated tonnage and a perfectly square environment.

There are very simple methods of maintaining the square condition of the machine.  As long as there is no distortion we can inspect and adjust the level of the press bed. Once the press bed is level, place the slide at the bottom dead center position, check and adjust the level of the slide left to right and front to back.  Always check the parallelism on the centerline of the press left to right and front to rear as well as the four corners of the slide.  The die seats on the center lines of the press, thus you can have one corner of the slide that may be out of square with the bed, but if the tool is inboard of the damaged area you can operate in a somewhat trouble free condition.  Remember that the most important condition is squareness!

Jeff Fedline

Maintenance Tip of the Month!

The proper operation of Metal Stamping and Forging Presses is dependent upon the maintaining a totally square environment.  We call this the “Theory of the Box”.  All presses are made up of a series of square boxes.  For example, a straight side metal stamping press consists of (5) different boxes.  The bed is a box and must be totally square, the columns or side frames are boxes and must be square, the crown and slide assembly are boxes also and must be square.  Only when all of the boxes are square and aligned with each other do we have a perfectly square environment for the tool.  Almost any problem that you run into during operation can be contributed to a loss of the square condition.  Bring it back to square and your problems will disappear. 

Jeff Fredline