Press Brake Forming Explained

At Midwest Metal Products, we take pride in our customized fabrication, press brake forming, and metal bending capabilities. Our economical and innovative approaches provide solutions to all your sheet metal needs.

What is Press Brake Forming?

The industries we serve—including the military, aerospace, electronics, and medicine—require extreme accuracy and precision for all their projects. At Midwest Metal, we’re constantly investing in new technology and investigating new ways of offering you the best products possible.

We offer state-of-the-art capabilities in welding, finishing, assembly, chromate conversion, silk screening, turret/lasers, hardware, and, as we’ll discuss, press brakes.

Also known as brake presses, our machines bend sheet metal using tooling such as punches and dies. Press brake forming is one of the oldest mechanical deformation processes. Most press brakes have a top and lower section. The top portion holds the punch; the lower portion has a matching shape or die. When the sections move together, the sheet metal bends into a predetermined shape.

Our Press Braking Process

The press brake forming process requires minimal tooling, can produce smaller products, and can be used in small and medium production runs. We use three-axis computer-controlled press brake machines that produce outstanding precision (within ±0.004”). These computer controls help us quickly set up your job specifications and do production runs based on your needs, both in the short and long term.

At Midwest Metal Products, we use high-quality Amada products, including two Amada HDS 8′ machines, an Amada 10 and eight Amada RG 4’ machines. All our machines include optical sensors which result in amazing accuracy and advanced computerized numerical control (CNC).

Using our back gauge controls, we gain even more control over the finished product. The gauge allows us to place the sheet metal exactly where it needs to be to receive a precise bend. We can program our back gauges to continue moving between each bend so we can fabricate highly complex pieces of sheet metal.

Whatever your sheet metal production project, we have a solution. The possibilities are endless. Our experienced press brake operators can produce simple and elaborate bends and folds, form boxes and pan shapes, and create cups and domes, among other items.

Contact Midwest Metal Products today. We’re committed to providing outstanding products and customer service. For more than 50 years, we’ve helped industries around the globe with all their fabrication needs.