Another brilliant application of 3D printed parts. And even if it just lasted for 200 parts, just print another for $2.38. Thermo plastics keep getting better and better too. Great video.
2.38? plus the time you expend to modeling, print, electricity...lets say thhis dude make $20 per hour and the print cost 2.38 (lol) so 22.30 after 1000 parts? after 10000? proper die last foverer and this size is really cheap, thats the line between professionals and kids.
@@CopyleftBR This is meant for pretty small-scale jobs; It's less about making 1 part 10,000 times, than it is about making 100 different parts 100 times.
@@CopyleftBR 1. The time spent on modelling such a simple part is less the the time spent searching and ordering the part - it's just trivial. Also the 3d model lasts forever too - you don't have to remodel the part after each 3d print unless you want to customize the design for a particular job, so the modelling time is not even relevant. 2. The 3d printed part is ready for use in minutes to couple of hours and the time is predictable while shipping can take days to weeks and it's unpredictable. The 3d printing process only needs human interaction in the beginning (to setup and start the printing) and after a certain time you just take the finished part. The printing itself can go on unattended. 3. Also, as the video mentioned, the printed dies produced higher quality parts than metal ones and they showed no signs of wear during the testing period. 4. As Eldritch appropriately pointed out, this is meant for small scale jobs. So, yeah, being able to see the value in rapidly making custom tooling that is perfect for the job VS always buying whatever is available and wasting time to wait for the delivery does indeed show the line between professionals and kids.
@@CopyleftBR honestly ... modeling these dies for someone who knows how to use a CAD program is a matter of minutes as they are such simple shapes. The print setup part is quite easy on their Zortrax as they are using the whole Zortrax ecosystem, which is idiot-proof especially on simple shapes like this. Also a matter of a few minutes. Electricity ? A typical 3D printer this size barely draw more than 100-150W, the heated bed (printing surface) being the most consuming. Also, the peak consumption is at the start, when it heats up from room temp to operating temp, after that it's cycling on and off the heating elements just to keep it in range. So, basically, in their application, all of your points are complete nonsense.
@@CopyleftBR if you print a die and it works you can always let made in metal, you got the stl file so a shop can make it for you in metal en send it to you.
Just bought an Press Brake with long chuck of blade that is impossible for us to bend small parts. Just a right application tutorial. Thanks a million ~! Great video
Thank you for sharing. I am planning to do something similar with 3D printed press-brake dies, so I’m watching and reading as much as I can from others who’ve done it. The 1/4 20 back stop is genius.
Hi I am also a sheet metal fabricator we deal in pharmaceutical machines. Thank you for sharing such information it's really very useful for cost cutting.
Many thanks for sharing! I have been lately using 3d printed parts for electric motor assembly jigs and production tooling, I used to machine the parts out of nylon, aluminum, or acetal, and would recover the jigs for reuse because of the cost. Now, the jigs are so inexpensive I designed them to become part of the motor, yet it still works out lower cost when the original ones were depreciated out over wear. It is so easy to try out new concepts for production tooling as well, the technology really has come so far! I may have to purchase the HF press/roll/shear now. Been wanting a brake press and roller for so many years, and the lack of tooling has always made me hesitant. Since I will be bending lightweight alloy like you have shown, it give me confidence that it won't be a machine that sits idle!
Yeah. I think the whole idea of using the 3D printer as a tool for making jigging is so overlooked. We literally can't get away without that capability. How quickly new technology takes over things. Thanks for the feedback.
Fascinating. You call them dies, here, in the UK, we call them 'top tools'. The die we call the female (bottom) former. Nice job, well explained. Thanks for posting (many decades on those machines). Just love the repeatability of CNC.
To print those dies instead of trying to get someone and get into their long queuing system to have it made only to pay loads for it, well by the time it arrives its likely you dont need it anymore. This system of yours is perfect.
This is really neat. Your videos are consistently among the most informative, inventive, and intriguing I see. Thank you very much for doing these videos.
Brian, that was very interesting! How far the technology has advanced to a point that a 3D printer can make bending dies! Thanks for taking the time to share this knowledge, it's really interesting.
When my engineers made a bend fixture for stainless parts and it kept marring the metal and the parts would stick in the fixture i redesigned part of it for them to use delrin instead in key areas, worked great. Plastic in the right places is just as useful as steel.
you can also take a flat piece of steel, drill 2 holes and then bolt blocks in the shape of your die cut in half to each the side. that way you have a strong center where most of the force is and the sides can form the shape.
GENIUS! I have a task and need a custom profile punch and die but making it out of steel when I don't know the springback for sure would be a pain. I know the first would be wrong. This way I could make tooling that I can test until I get it right with far less effort!
Great video! I knew nothing about you guys prior to this, but I can see you are innovative and successful. I think that your creative thinking is fantastic! The recent technology of the internet is/will promote vast knowledge sharing and we are seeing so much in the world that is positive as a result. I'm actually surprised that you shared this technique! Typically, a small business would keep this creative process secret so that you would have an 'edge' over your competitors. I'm glad that you are not just about making money! Sending Love, Pat Vulk
fun fact... but you dont need all that infill. most of the strength is in the 3d printed shell. you could achieve much better results with more perimeters & it would be quicker to print.
infill doesn't affect strength that much unless it's 100%. try doing more perimeters which will result in a much stronger shell which is really what matters most. you could get away with 10 perimeters and probably 40% infill.
Since your tools are not very delicate you could switch to a 1mm nozzle or even bigger. With that you can reduce the print time quite a bit. you can get even more speed from the machine with an E3D volcano hotend which allows really high print speeds. Also just a few minutes ago I saw a video of a guy bending 10 gauge 3.4 mm thick steel with 3D printed tools with no significant wear after many dozens of pieces.
I've been looking at getting a 3 in 1 bender for a while but was put off since I would rarely have the tool I wanted. This opens up so many options. One question have you though about adding to the part? Steel rod at the bend, steel plate ether side screwed through to spread the load down? Magnets to hold it in place for quick changing?
another example of how a 3d printer is just another shop tool. Doesn't usually produce finished parts, but neither does a drill press or a band saw. Cheers
This was interesting. Could you use the printer and the plastic to make a traditional two piece die for forming more intricate parts similar to your hydroforming video?
Great question, unfortunately I don't have an answer for you. You never know until you try it. I will add this to my list of new projects. I think the big advantage of the method that we used in the video is that we are distributing the load over a very large area, therefore the actual load on the die is relatively small. I suspect that if you're not careful you would end up with overloading a localized area within the 3D printed die. That would probably be its downfall. But hey who knows. Will give it a try when we get a chance.
Very much I like it. I am slowly getting there with having my own press brake. I have the hydraulic cylinders. 2 in fact rated at 100 tonnes each. I have the pump for it and also the 40 inch press brake jaws from US. You weld it all together. So now just need the frame. Then I can start playing around with squashing and hydro forming stuff. Awesome. Anyway, can you tell me. Whats the name of your 3d printer and model number?
Why not to print two different part, one that wears off and other the main body? Then you can print much faster tip of the tool, that is actually wearing off, so reducing the cost?
Sure, you can do this but I question its sag/yield resistance. You can machine one out of AISI O1, heat treat it at home for less than $300.00. In any event, how did it hold up after a couple hundred cycles?
Great comment. I totally agree with you that machining a steel die would be the preferred method. The thing will last virtually forever. However, much of the video work that we do as well as the articles that we write for Sport Aviation magazine is geared towards the experimental aircraft market. Most of the time our biggest dilemma is how to make professional parts, but doing it on a very low volume basis. Oh yeah, and keeping the cost down. While $300.00 dollars for a press brake die seems normal for the average machinist. Those of us trying to build airplanes on a budget will take a double take at those kinds of prices. The 3D printed press brake die used on the CNC press brake and shown in this video, [I went back and checked] cost $2.38. And interestingly. Even after 200+ cycles on the black die shown in the video, there is no wear, and it still continues to function as if it was new. No apparent sign of yeild, sag, or distortion. Don't get me wrong, had I anticipated that I would need to bend even two hundred parts I probably would've just made one from steel. It will be interesting to see when we reach the limit of this type of plastic. Anyway, thanks for the comment and thanks for watching.
Okay. Here you go. We have a complete open source google drive. We will post them there. Might as well everything else is on that drive. Keep in mind that these files were specifically generated for our specific project. I would think that you would want to design your own based on your needs. But maybe these will help you in designing yours. I've given you the link to the chapter 1 folder, there are several other subfolders, two folders containing the files that we used in this video. Cheers. drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/0B6fcluqN5u3oOGtnc0llamZORmM
Okay Bob. I got lazy though. I just dumped everything from my folders in both the harbor freight and the regular press brake dies into the Google Drive. You have to sort them out and figure out which ones you can work with.
I have been on the fence about buying one of the harbor freight press brakes for a while because of your mentioned limitations for homebuilt construction. I think this just got me off the fence.
Why not simply mill some steel or even just aluminium to size? As simple as the shape is, that would've been an easy task even on a manual mill, would probably not have been (much) more expensive than the 3D-printed part, and would have been a lot more rigid & tough… I mean, I understand the draw to 3D printing, I use it a lot as well, I just think there would've been better alternatives in _this_ case.
@@haydo8373 Do you have a link to that video? i have been looking to bend 1/8 aluminum (about 9 inch long) for a small production run. Taking it to a local bender is too expensive
Another brilliant application of 3D printed parts. And even if it just lasted for 200 parts, just print another for $2.38. Thermo plastics keep getting better and better too. Great video.
Another brilliant application of 3D printed parts. And even if it just lasted for 200 parts, just print another for $2.38. Thermo plastics keep getting better and better too. Great video.
2.38? plus the time you expend to modeling, print, electricity...lets say thhis dude make $20 per hour and the print cost 2.38 (lol) so 22.30 after 1000 parts? after 10000? proper die last foverer and this size is really cheap, thats the line between professionals and kids.
@@CopyleftBR This is meant for pretty small-scale jobs; It's less about making 1 part 10,000 times, than it is about making 100 different parts 100 times.
@@CopyleftBR
1. The time spent on modelling such a simple part is less the the time spent searching and ordering the part - it's just trivial. Also the 3d model lasts forever too - you don't have to remodel the part after each 3d print unless you want to customize the design for a particular job, so the modelling time is not even relevant.
2. The 3d printed part is ready for use in minutes to couple of hours and the time is predictable while shipping can take days to weeks and it's unpredictable. The 3d printing process only needs human interaction in the beginning (to setup and start the printing) and after a certain time you just take the finished part. The printing itself can go on unattended.
3. Also, as the video mentioned, the printed dies produced higher quality parts than metal ones and they showed no signs of wear during the testing period.
4. As Eldritch appropriately pointed out, this is meant for small scale jobs.
So, yeah, being able to see the value in rapidly making custom tooling that is perfect for the job VS always buying whatever is available and wasting time to wait for the delivery does indeed show the line between professionals and kids.
@@CopyleftBR honestly ... modeling these dies for someone who knows how to use a CAD program is a matter of minutes as they are such simple shapes.
The print setup part is quite easy on their Zortrax as they are using the whole Zortrax ecosystem, which is idiot-proof especially on simple shapes like this. Also a matter of a few minutes.
Electricity ? A typical 3D printer this size barely draw more than 100-150W, the heated bed (printing surface) being the most consuming.
Also, the peak consumption is at the start, when it heats up from room temp to operating temp, after that it's cycling on and off the heating elements just to keep it in range. So, basically, in their application, all of your points are complete nonsense.
@@CopyleftBR if you print a die and it works you can always let made in metal, you got the stl file so a shop can make it for you in metal en send it to you.
I was sitting at my desk this morning and thought... 3D PRINTED DIES! - Google search brought me here. Bravo sir!
This is exacly the thing 3d printers should be used.
Great to see someone who adapts rather than bitches, moans, and complains. The world would be a better place with more people like you.
Just bought an Press Brake with long chuck of blade that is impossible for us to bend small parts. Just a right application tutorial. Thanks a million ~! Great video
Thank you for sharing. I am planning to do something similar with 3D printed press-brake dies, so I’m watching and reading as much as I can from others who’ve done it. The 1/4 20 back stop is genius.
Hi I am also a sheet metal fabricator we deal in pharmaceutical machines.
Thank you for sharing such information it's really very useful for cost cutting.
That is awesome. It’s amazing what people are building with 3d printers.
Many thanks for sharing! I have been lately using 3d printed parts for electric motor assembly jigs and production tooling, I used to machine the parts out of nylon, aluminum, or acetal, and would recover the jigs for reuse because of the cost. Now, the jigs are so inexpensive I designed them to become part of the motor, yet it still works out lower cost when the original ones were depreciated out over wear. It is so easy to try out new concepts for production tooling as well, the technology really has come so far!
I may have to purchase the HF press/roll/shear now. Been wanting a brake press and roller for so many years, and the lack of tooling has always made me hesitant. Since I will be bending lightweight alloy like you have shown, it give me confidence that it won't be a machine that sits idle!
Yeah. I think the whole idea of using the 3D printer as a tool for making jigging is so overlooked. We literally can't get away without that capability. How quickly new technology takes over things. Thanks for the feedback.
Fascinating. You call them dies, here, in the UK, we call them 'top tools'. The die we call the female (bottom) former. Nice job, well explained. Thanks for posting (many decades on those machines). Just love the repeatability of CNC.
To print those dies instead of trying to get someone and get into their long queuing system to have it made only to pay loads for it, well by the time it arrives its likely you dont need it anymore. This system of yours is perfect.
This is really neat. Your videos are consistently among the most informative, inventive, and intriguing I see. Thank you very much for doing these videos.
This is why I 3D print. Thanks for sharing. That's awesome.
This is impressive, in addition if the 3D printed tool didn't hold up well enough you could use it to create a mold and do resin cast.
or send the stl file (or other desired file) to a metal shop and let it made.
I am amazed that works. Brilliant thinking. I have press brakes and a 3d printer. I'll try it.
Brian, that was very interesting! How far the technology has advanced to a point that a 3D printer can make bending dies! Thanks for taking the time to share this knowledge, it's really interesting.
Very clever ! Love the backstops
Ingenuity at it's finest! Loved the idea, and the video. Ciao, Marco.
When my engineers made a bend fixture for stainless parts and it kept marring the metal and the parts would stick in the fixture i redesigned part of it for them to use delrin instead in key areas, worked great. Plastic in the right places is just as useful as steel.
Great video! Yet another example of how 3D printing changes manufacturing in unconventional ways.
you can also take a flat piece of steel, drill 2 holes and then bolt blocks in the shape of your die cut in half to each the side. that way you have a strong center where most of the force is and the sides can form the shape.
Love your work Brian! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences.
Well, I'm not into "building," but I sure do like and appreciate your high-quality videos. Keep up the good work, Carol & Brian!
My friend! Thanks a lot for sharing your experience! Super super valuable information. Congratulations.
Nice vídeo! Muito obrigado! I'm from Brazil
Sweet. I think I found a project for the next weekend.
These segments have great information.
Very good idea
GENIUS! I have a task and need a custom profile punch and die but making it out of steel when I don't know the springback for sure would be a pain. I know the first would be wrong. This way I could make tooling that I can test until I get it right with far less effort!
Who knew!! Great job
Great video! I knew nothing about you guys prior to this, but I can see you are innovative and successful. I think that your creative thinking is fantastic!
The recent technology of the internet is/will promote vast knowledge sharing and we are seeing so much in the world that is positive as a result.
I'm actually surprised that you shared this technique! Typically, a small business would keep this creative process secret so that you would have an 'edge' over your competitors. I'm glad that you are not just about making money!
Sending Love,
Pat Vulk
Given the simplicity of the anvil, it costs less to mill in a steel bar drop ! And it's more solid in use.
a 3d printer is a valuable tool in any shop.
Great video, thank you for sharing your process
Really appreciate you sharing this info. Thank you!
Great idea!👍
have to love 3d printing. i own 4 printers 2 fdm and 2 resin printers. love them.
Beautiful work. First video I’ve seen of yours and I’m an instant subscriber.
fun fact... but you dont need all that infill. most of the strength is in the 3d printed shell. you could achieve much better results with more perimeters & it would be quicker to print.
infill doesn't affect strength that much unless it's 100%. try doing more perimeters which will result in a much stronger shell which is really what matters most. you could get away with 10 perimeters and probably 40% infill.
Wrong. This is compression. 100 infill is crucial
I love it! thanks for sharing
Great video, thanks a lot, gave me quite a few ideas.
That is so awesome! thanks for sharing your work. looks like i'll be building a press brake now. :D
This is fantastic!
very interesting enjoyed.
this is great, something useful from a 3d printer
Awesome work!! That looks like a centrifugal press brake, not CNC?
Since your tools are not very delicate you could switch to a 1mm nozzle or even bigger. With that you can reduce the print time quite a bit. you can get even more speed from the machine with an E3D volcano hotend which allows really high print speeds. Also just a few minutes ago I saw a video of a guy bending 10 gauge 3.4 mm thick steel with 3D printed tools with no significant wear after many dozens of pieces.
I've been looking at getting a 3 in 1 bender for a while but was put off since I would rarely have the tool I wanted. This opens up so many options. One question have you though about adding to the part? Steel rod at the bend, steel plate ether side screwed through to spread the load down? Magnets to hold it in place for quick changing?
another example of how a 3d printer is just another shop tool. Doesn't usually produce finished parts, but neither does a drill press or a band saw. Cheers
Thank you for this!
I wonder if 3d printer could be used to make embossing dies up to 1/16" thick aluminum sheet
This was interesting. Could you use the printer and the plastic to make a traditional two piece die for forming more intricate parts similar to your hydroforming video?
Great question, unfortunately I don't have an answer for you. You never know until you try it. I will add this to my list of new projects. I think the big advantage of the method that we used in the video is that we are distributing the load over a very large area, therefore the actual load on the die is relatively small. I suspect that if you're not careful you would end up with overloading a localized area within the 3D printed die. That would probably be its downfall. But hey who knows. Will give it a try when we get a chance.
Awesome!
Very much I like it. I am slowly getting there with having my own press brake. I have the hydraulic cylinders. 2 in fact rated at 100 tonnes each. I have the pump for it and also the 40 inch press brake jaws from US. You weld it all together. So now just need the frame. Then I can start playing around with squashing and hydro forming stuff. Awesome. Anyway, can you tell me. Whats the name of your 3d printer and model number?
That's awwsome
Holding the piece not right while press. Watch your fingers.
Why not to print two different part, one that wears off and other the main body? Then you can print much faster tip of the tool, that is actually wearing off, so reducing the cost?
Is there a press brake the size of harbor freight but with automation. Cnc press brakes are simply too large for bending small parts.
I really would like that print in polymaker
what the press brake brand?
genius.
whats a the fuzzy stuff on the aluminium sheet?
Wow!
What is that noise in the background? Is it the shop or is Skrillex having a stroke?
Top tool is called a punch. Die is the bottom tool . Well In the UK anyway
Sure, you can do this but I question its sag/yield resistance. You can machine one out of AISI O1, heat treat it at home for less than $300.00. In any event, how did it hold up after a couple hundred cycles?
Great comment. I totally agree with you that machining a steel die would be the preferred method. The thing will last virtually forever. However, much of the video work that we do as well as the articles that we write for Sport Aviation magazine is geared towards the experimental aircraft market. Most of the time our biggest dilemma is how to make professional parts, but doing it on a very low volume basis. Oh yeah, and keeping the cost down. While $300.00 dollars for a press brake die seems normal for the average machinist. Those of us trying to build airplanes on a budget will take a double take at those kinds of prices. The 3D printed press brake die used on the CNC press brake and shown in this video, [I went back and checked] cost $2.38. And interestingly. Even after 200+ cycles on the black die shown in the video, there is no wear, and it still continues to function as if it was new. No apparent sign of yeild, sag, or distortion. Don't get me wrong, had I anticipated that I would need to bend even two hundred parts I probably would've just made one from steel. It will be interesting to see when we reach the limit of this type of plastic. Anyway, thanks for the comment and thanks for watching.
Gotcha, hey if it works, it works. Be interesting to hear back after a few more cycles to see how it holds up.
is it really the quality and precision that aviation business requires ?? I mean the aluminium parts , not the printed dies...
you could have machined nylon for this, cheaper and faster production, with much longer life use product
Any chance of sharing the cad files for the printed parts? Possibly on grabcad or some where else?
Okay. Here you go. We have a complete open source google drive. We will post them there. Might as well everything else is on that drive. Keep in mind that these files were specifically generated for our specific project. I would think that you would want to design your own based on your needs. But maybe these will help you in designing yours. I've given you the link to the chapter 1 folder, there are several other subfolders, two folders containing the files that we used in this video. Cheers.
drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/0B6fcluqN5u3oOGtnc0llamZORmM
Excellent! Are the solidworks files for the HF press brake dies available for download?
drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/0B6fcluqN5u3oOGtnc0llamZORmM?pageId=111432934969316601083
Can I trouble you to upload the .sldprt files? STL's are a pain to work with in Solidworks.
Okay Bob. I got lazy though. I just dumped everything from my folders in both the harbor freight and the regular press brake dies into the Google Drive. You have to sort them out and figure out which ones you can work with.
Thanks Brian! I'll start printing some dies today. Just have to figure out the height of the 1/4" plate.
I have been on the fence about buying one of the harbor freight press brakes for a while because of your mentioned limitations for homebuilt construction. I think this just got me off the fence.
"We can consistently achieve tolerances of a couple thousands of an inch" Pulls out steel ruler marked in 1/16" increments to check.9:29
That was not a ruler for measuring distanses. In that case they have measured 90° angle.
Why not simply mill some steel or even just aluminium to size? As simple as the shape is, that would've been an easy task even on a manual mill, would probably not have been (much) more expensive than the 3D-printed part, and would have been a lot more rigid & tough…
I mean, I understand the draw to 3D printing, I use it a lot as well, I just think there would've been better alternatives in _this_ case.
.020" thou is about the thickness of my fingernail
In another video a guy bends 3.4mm mild steel repeatedly without any issues
@@haydo8373 Do you have a link to that video? i have been looking to bend 1/8 aluminum (about 9 inch long) for a small production run. Taking it to a local bender is too expensive
Brilliant!
WWG1WGA
wheres the latest update?
A "Male die" is referred to as a punch.
I came here to say the same thing, we also refer to them as punches; the dies are on the bed.
“Everything would be easier if we had the budget of NASA”
You picked a bad example for a government organization with a high budget :(
Yea or you can mill a die out of stainless steel.
I was sitting at my desk this morning and thought... 3D PRINTED DIES! - Google search brought me here. Bravo sir!
Another brilliant application of 3D printed parts. And even if it just lasted for 200 parts, just print another for $2.38. Thermo plastics keep getting better and better too. Great video.
Awesome!