Resources

Best practices for maximizing tooling life as costs rise 8/21/2026 The rising cost of carbide, premium tool steels, and other raw materials has changed the economics of punch tooling. What has traditionally been considered a consumable is...

Choosing the right sheet metal forming process depends on tooling, part design, and downstream operations 6/29/2026 For years, many fabricators chose to retire their turret or rail-type punch press and opted instead for a laser cutting machine. It...

9/18/2025 In an uncertain manufacturing climate, punching technology is holding its own as a competitive choice in sheet metal fabrication. In certain applications, punches can outpace press brakes and laser cutting systems. Read the full article in...

6 questions drive a press brake tooling investment strategy 5/20/2025 What press brake tool should you use? Wow. What a simple question. In an ideal world, where every problem has a simple solution, you might think, I just need to make a 90-degree...

Punching AHSS requires specific practices in tool design and material selection, and strategic wear-reduction techniques. 3/29/2025 The automotive, aerospace and construction industries increasingly are shifting to the use of advanced high-strength...

How metal fabrication shops can better streamline a common constraint in bending 2/6/2025 Imagine you notice some efficiency metrics in the press brake department that aren’t up to snuff. A bending bottleneck seems to be pushing jobs across the...

Forget the set screws and consider something to make the job easier and quicker 7/13/2024 Press brake setup has a way of meaning different things to different people. For certain operators, setup was the time it took to put the punches and dies on...

Automated punch/laser combos stand apart from other blanking technology. The machines can punch, form, tap, and laser cut, but they also offer a plethora of options for part, slug, and internal cutout removal. 6/6/2024 This article has been...

3/29/2024 A project for Precision Machine Fabrication required a piece-part volume of 12,000 parts/yr. Each part, a face panel for electronic enclosures, requires six tapped holes. The shop fabricates these parts in 16 different size and shape...

Overcome Application Challenges with the Latest Machine and Tooling Features 10/16/2023 This article originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of Canadian Fabricating & Metalworking. October 16, 2023

Actions manufacturing company owners can take when the experienced retire 10/2/2023 During his early days working in a fabricator’s forming department, Larry Boden arrived home one evening and showed his wife a set of calipers. To her surprise and...

8/31/2023 1. Maintain Punches Sharpening punches usually becomes urgent when burrs increase or hole quality is affected. But regular maintenance also is an important factor in extending punch life and reliability. Taking the extra time for punch...