Quality tooling produces quality product. However, maintenance and consideration of roll tooling are often overlooked. When it comes to getting the best performance from roll tooling, it's important to consider equipment purchases and maintenance schedules in the long term. In this post, we'll discuss several strategies for protecting roll tooling from unnecessary wear and tear and preserve the quality of bends and edges.
Single Point Adjustment Systems for Consistent Setups and Alignment
Single point adjustment (SPA) is a machine feature that allows the operator to adjust the roll stand from one point, moving the top shaft up or down while keeping the roll shaft parallel to the bottom roll shaft. The SPA allows for roll tooling settings to be documented, making future setups very repeatable, which reduces set up times and ensures accuracy by limiting human error. Minimized variation between production runs not only improves consistent product quality but also protects roll tooling from unnecessary wear and tear caused by misalignment.
Formtek takes the SPA concept even further with Yoder TruPosition Auto Single-Point Adjustment. The TruPositioning system has all the benefits of SPA, but with the ability to verify and confirm that the roll tooling is properly set at the tolerance of +/-.002”.
The TruPositioning system records and saves all set up and production runs. The variation of the first set up to other set ups can be compared for data for tooling wear.
Additionally, TruPosition delivers the most alignment precision by:
- Servo driven top shaft adjustment with linear transducer feedback for efficient and repeatable set up of roll tooling
- Includes screw jacks that have anti-backlash gearing to support accurate positioning
- All operator-initiated adjustments are time stamped and recorded for historical data
- Jobs are saved for easy recall of set up for different tooling sets
- Ability to adjust roll tooling without stopping roll form line
- No wrenches required to make top shaft adjustments
- Remote access availability to the roll former
Choosing Proper Tooling Materials to Increase Tooling Life
Certain metals may require specific tooling or adjustments to achieve crisp bends and edges. If the tooling is not suited to the material being worked with, or if the material properties have changed, it can affect the quality of the bends. It is critical to select the right tooling for each project depending on the material being formed.
Rolls are usually made from tool steel, the grade depending on the expected production and finish of the final product. Tool steel is a common choice because it has good wear quality and will last for many production runs on general duty applications. However, specific industry and product applications may requires other tooling materials. Some of these applications include light gauge, pre-painted, galvanized wide products, non-magnetic or temperature sensitive environments, or extremely high speed, high wear applications.
Formtek designs, manufactures, and tests partial and complete sets of tooling for a wide range of products and materials, including open and welded shapes. With decades of tooling and machine building experience, we know the importance of having a solid roll design.
Roll Tooling Regrinds to Help Restore Efficiency
If tooling is already too worn to produce quality product, whether through improper use or setup or normal wear and tear, a tooling regrind can be the solution to restore optimal performance. Regrind services generally refer to capabilities a tooling and equipment manufacturer may have to refurbish tooling to its original state of quality. During a regrind, worn tooling or die components are "restored" to the same profile and quality of a new component.
Formtek provides high-quality regrind services for a wide range of products and materials including open shapes, welded profiles, and tube and pipe for OEM and custom applications. Our regrind services include design, manufacture, regrind, and testing of partial and complete sets of tooling. With decades of tooling and machine building experience, Formtek understands the importance of having a solid roll design.
Additionally, Formtek has invested in the technical training of our service personnel and our communication infrastructure to assist you in identifying the parts and maintenance you need. Our trained technicians and aftermarket parts team can work with you in a number of ways to help keep your operation running: phone, email, streaming live video, and even onsite service visits.
