Make CI the Single-Source Provider for All Your Press Brake Tooling
CINCINNATI makes some of the finest press brakes in the world. That being said, if you don’t have tooling to put into the machine, no metal is going to be formed today. It’s like a drill without a drill bit – pretty much useless. For that reason, we make sure the reputation of our press brake tooling matches that of our machines.
We Wrote the Book
Seriously. Ben L. Rapien, a long-time CI employee, was a press brake tooling Yoda. His book, Fundamentals of Press Brake Tooling, is a classic on the subject. Ben knew the history and studied the theory behind bending and dove deep into the science of metal fabrication. He personally trained many a fabrication Padawan in our company, and this tribal knowledge has been passed down to our current engineering, designing and manufacturing teams. That’s how we provide tooling consultations at a level of knowledge and expertise our competition just can’t match.
The Long and Short of It
Mike Crossland, our After Sales Engineering Manager, spends his day looking at part prints and identifying tooling for particular processes and applications. “We want our customers to have a one-stop shop for machines and tooling, including applications support,” he said.
We still make long-stick tooling in-house at CI, which is made by using a planer and runs from 2’ up to 20’. It works best in large press brakes that are forming the same parts made of the same material over and over. Boat hulls, tank (vessel) forming, electrical enclosures and even light poles are perfect examples.
However, we also recognize that many manufacturers today are looking for the enhanced accuracy that comes from precision ground tooling. This usually comes in shorter sizes ranging from 36” to 42”. Made using a CNC surface grinder, with wheels that have a specific profile, this tooling can be made with tighter tolerances, right down to four decimal points.
“To meet our customers’ demands for precision ground tooling and further our application know-how, we went looking for third-party partners that insist on maintaining the same level of quality and integrity of product that we do, and share our philosophy of giving the customer the best bang for the buck,” Mike said.
Meet Our Tooling Partners
Wilson Tool
With over 50 years of offering press brake tooling designed to help customers resolve their most challenging fabrication issues, Wilson offers nitrate-coated tooling with great price points. Their turnaround time is simply amazing.
WILA
With 85 years experience, WILA provides tooling with an exceptionally long life span. Their chromoly-based tooling systems are CNC-Deephardened® to 56-60 HRC on all surfaces that engage the material and provide maximum wear resistance and long-term accuracy retention.
Rolleri Innovative Tools
Established in 1987 as a family-owned company, Rolleri has become a global leader in sheet metal fabrication. They are known for providing custom tools with CNC deep hardened chromoly base material for OEM equipment manufacturers.
What About 3D Printed Tooling?
While not really ready for the high-volume production line, 3D printed press brake tooling is great for prototype tooling or experimentation, which can help fine-tune the design of the final tool. If you want to have that capability in-house, we’ve got you covered with our SAAM and SAAM HT 3D printers.
Tooling for Versatility
Customers often start out with a tooling package when they buy one of our press brake machines and add new tooling for special projects. “The trend in fabrication is to have multiple setups on one press brake for stage bending or to minimize setup time between projects for maximum productivity,” Mike said. “Our application engineering support team is well-prepared to help you identify the tooling you need for your unique shop setup, whatever it may entail.”
If having one point of contact for all your press brake tooling needs sounds like a winning strategy to you, click or call so we can discuss your needs in detail.
