Forming for Metal Stamping

At Chapman Engineering, about half the brackets, chassis and small assemblies we make have one or more bends or "forms" involved. Often, forming parts to a customer's specifications can be the hardest part of the job, and results in more rejections in our industry than any other single process. At our company, experience, organization and good record keeping keep rejection levels far below the industry average, here's how.

At our company we have many more bending machines known as "press brakes" than do other shops our size, and because they are in a wide range of tonnages, we can form material from .005" thick up to 1/4" - in some cases even thicker. Using the correct size machine and tooling for the job helps us get an accurate bend in the correct place every time. Also because we have 8 separate press brakes, our foreman and lead hands can set a job up, then test that set up for repeatability and safety before an operator is called over to run production. Another important reason is all our bend tooling is numbered, and our shop travelers reflect that number, meaning the correct punches and dies will always be used so we can always recreate the same part the customer approved during the first article or prototype process.

Our two newest press brakes have both programmable back gauges and rams so we can make multiple bends with different angles and flange lengths without putting the part down in small quantities like 5 to 10 pieces. This helps us be economical and leaves other machines free to form larger production runs, in some cases 20,000 pieces. We also have the ability to cut custom form dies using our in house wire EDM machines, so we often combine multiple bends into one operation, which is another way to save customers money and improve accuracy.

When it comes to forming and producing quality parts, knowledge is probably our most important asset. Our lead hands and foreman have 30 plus years experience each, and know what is possible and how to do it without a lot of costly experimentation.

Our reputation for safety, accuracy at a fair price and on time delivery are the things we value most. If these values make sense to you, use the contact information on this page to begin a discussion about your next project today.