Page 23 - MetalForming April 2020

Handzel, “to ensure that we always have a backup, as a lot of our work fits well into that press size.” The sweet spot for Engel’s stamping jobs sits in the sheet metal-thickness range of 18 to 10 gauge. “However, we’re gaining ground in the automotive market by taking on thicker work—7 and 8 gauge—and higher- strength steel grades. The new servo press certainly helps there.”
In the past, when Engel went looking to add presses to its equipment list, it shopped for used. This time, though, when one of its two 300-ton presses clear- ly had exhausted its useful life, Rubin and his team set their sights on new.
“When we launched our search to replace the aging 300-ton model,” Rubin recalls, “the used market appeared pretty thin. So, once we set- tled on new, we quickly moved to servo, due to the added capabilities that the technology provides compared to a traditional mechanical press.”
Working with its distributor and integrator, TCR Integrated Stamping
Solutions ( Wisconsin Rapids, WI), the Engel management team crunched the numbers and, based on overall system cost, it became easy to justify the addi- tional purchase price of a servo press. TCR owner Todd Wenzel worked with Rubin to develop a completely new, top-end stamping line comprising not only the press, but a beefed up 10,000- lb.-capacity servo-based Coe Press coil- feed line; state-of-the-art press controls from Link Systems, with tonnage mon- itoring and signature analysis; a custom scrap-handling system; and ANSI- and OSHA-compliant guarding, “which requires absolutely no input from the press operator,” says Wenzel, “an important feature to ensure safe oper- ating conditions at all times.”
A Workhorse Press
Installed and running in August 2019, the new press has taken over sev- eral dies previously run on the firm’s traditional 300-ton mechanical presses, and has returned significant benefits
in terms of throughput, quality and overall performance. “We’re running faster (pendulum mode), improving dimensional accuracy (stroke control, including dwell at bottom) and improv- ing die life between sharpening (less reverse tonnage),” says Handzel.
Handzel offers up a newer part as a before-and-after example: a running- board bracket formed from 8-gauge high-strength low-alloy (Grade 50) steel. Running the part on the firm’s conventional 300-ton press caused a few challenges, most notably bend- angle consistency on one of the part’s formed tabs.
“We struggled to keep that tab in spec,” he says, “due to inconsistent and unpredictable springback based on material properties from coil to coil. Now, running that tool on the servo, once we load a new coil we quickly can adjust ram dwell at the bottom of the stroke to bring that difficult bend angle within tolerance. We then can use that setting for the remainder of
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