Ashmores Press Brake Tooling Ltd is celebrating 100 years of serving the metal-forming industry. Formed on 26 April 1919, Ashmores Press Brake Tooling is a small family firm and the longest established manufacturer of press brake tooling in the UK.

The company was set up by Harold Ashmore and his wife Harriet to make bedstead fittings, before the foundry side of the business was developed for engineering castings. The firm was taken over by James Weaver in 1930, which subsequently led to the production of castings for the machine tool industry.
In 1950, Danny Weaver entered the business and became managing director in 1963, a move that led to the establishment of a machine shop to complement the existing foundry business. Through its strong links with the machine tool trade, Ashmores subsequently began to manufacture press brake tools on a subcontract basis for companies such as Bronx Engineering.
In 1983, Danny Weaver’s son Guy entered the business, becoming managing director in 2000. The severe economic downturn in the early 1980s led to much-needed further diversification. As a result, the company started to market press brake tools directly to companies, rather than on a subcontract basis.
A century after its formation and Ashmores is still flourishing, manufacturing tools for a range of industries, including the computer, light fitting, supermarket shelving, shipping container and motorway barrier sectors. In addition, the company has recently supplied a new set of tools to M-Sport, the Ford Rally team, from which it will manufacture many specialist parts. Together with guillotine blades, both new and re-ground, Ashmores believes that it has the ability to serve the metal-forming industry for many more years to come.
For further information www.pressbraketool.co.uk

Rhodes Interform, the Group Rhodes business which specialises in bespoke composite and metal-forming machinery, has seen a sharp increase in demand for ‘Tuff Brake’ film, a product which eliminates markings on sensitive metal materials.

Rhodes Interform is the UK and Ireland distributor of Tuff Brake film, a material which, when placed over metal sheet, eliminates press brake die witness marks. These marks can be caused by the lower die when used for bending stainless steel, aluminium, sheet metal and pre-painted metals.
Steve Jackson, technical sales manager for Rhodes Interform, explains: “Companies producing metal parts are recognising how Tuff Brake Film can help them to reduce manufacturing costs, while increasing productivity. The film protects the workpiece and dies, and means that labour is saved as second operations are avoided. Ultimately, the end result is a better paint finish.”
A spokesperson for user, Durham Sheet Metal, says: “Rhodes Interform’s Tuff Brake is very effective at eliminating contamination and bend marks when forming stainless steel products.”
Tuff Brake Film is available from Rhodes Interform in 0.015″ and 0.03″ thicknesses. Bespoke sizes are available. Known for its longevity, the same piece of Tuff Brake Film can be used many times before there is a need to form fresh material, therefore maximising cost effectiveness.
For further information www.grouprhodes.co.uk

Pembrokeshire College in Haverfordwest runs a fabrication and welding course for learners and trainees who want to work within the engineering sector.

The NVQ qualification enables apprentices to demonstrate their occupational competence through gaining knowledge and experience of using industrial machine tools, which prompted the college to purchase a Morgan Rushworth press brake from Selmach Machinery.
“What’s really important to us is the training element of it,” states Malcolm York, curriculum area manager for mechanical engineering and marine at Pembrokeshire College. “Now we can be really accurate when bending substantial thicknesses of plate, which was difficult with our previous resource – a hand-operated bending machine.
“We knew Morgan Rushworth was a good company,” he adds “We didn’t want to get a Chinese import or something and find things going wrong within a year, or have to try to source spares. We needed reliability, so we went for the Morgan Rushworth.
“The machine has met our expectations. We had it serviced not long ago and also had more guys trained. Our learners are now able to bend plate accurately. With the Morgan Rushworth, they are using a similar machine to what they’d use in industry.”
York also has praise for the levels of aftercare and service provided by Selmach Machinery throughout the project: “I cannot fault the service – from getting quotes to the training provided – Selmach have been very patient with us. From when we placed the order to when the machine arrived, and from when Selmach put it into commission and trained us on it, they’ve been great.”
For further information https://selmach.com/

Holmfirth-based sheet metal design and engineering specialist, Allsops Ltd, has recently upgraded its bending capability with the addition of two Xpert 40 Bystronic press brakes offering a bending length of 1 m and a stroke of 200 mm. Raising the number of press brakes on site from Bystronic (and predecessor companies) to 11, the machines provide a more efficient platform for bending smaller parts than is possible using a 3-m capacity machine, which by association has slower axis movements.

The Xpert 40 press brakes are highly efficient, according to Allsops’ production director, Lyndon Tyas: “With these inherently fast bending cells, all of the upper and lower tooling is to hand in drawers on the left and right hand sides of the machine, and the operator can remain seated when loading them.
“Tool positions are automatically calculated as a part of the program, and flashing LEDs on the front of the upper beam instruct the operator where to mount the tool segments,” he continues. “Ergonomic configuration means that setting up the machine is rapid, typically 15 minutes for a straightforward part. Accuracy is high – we easily hold ±0.5 mm, more than good enough for most jobs, and we can even halve that tolerance if required.”
Tyas also points out that there is space to hold cut blanks on one side of the machine and components that have been bent on the other. Another feature is the ByVision touchscreen control, which can be conveniently positioned to one side at the operator’s eye level, or just above it – centrally – if preferred.
For further information www.bystronic.co.uk

Aircraft component manufacturer, Globe Engineering, has installed a fourth Unison all-electric CNC tube-bending machine at its facility in Wichita, USA.

The new machine has joined Globe’s existing Unison all-electric tube benders and will help to increase manufacturing capability. With overlapping capacities, the Unison tube bending machines at Globe can bend tubes from 1.25” (31.75 mm) to 6.00” (152.4 mm) in diameter.
In addition to supporting Globe’s ongoing requirements for bending quality aircraft tubing, the latest all-electric CNC tube bender from Unison will be used to bend a range of aluminium, stainless steel and titanium tubes measuring up to 1.25” (31.75 mm).
“We aren’t just creating new capability by buying a new Unison tube bending machine, we’re creating capacity and a safety net, in case we have a breakdown,” explains bend shop supervisor Shaun Knuth.
Describing some of the key advantages that Unison all-electric tube benders have over hydraulic tube benders, he adds: “They’re more efficient because they use less energy. In fact, they only use energy while they are in motion. By comparison, hydraulic benders use electricity all the time they are running, with their energy usage increasing during cycle time. Electric machines are much quieter too, and offer greater repeatability. You simply select the exact pressure required; if you want 1,272 psi (87.7 bar) of pressure, just type that in and the machine creates the exact same pressure every time.”
Knuth also praises the fact that Unison all-electric tube benders can be operated more slowly when hot-bending titanium, all the way down to a creep – a process that removes the risk of overheating and minimises scrap.
For further information http://unisonltd.com/