Bend Dies

  1. PLATFORM, 1 PIECE OR INSERTED BEND DIES
  2. ELLIPTICAL TUBE GROOVES FOR BENDING WITHOUT MANDRELS
  3. ROUND, SQUARE, RECTANGLE & EXTRUDED SHAPES
  4. SINGLE, STACKING OR INTEGRAL MULTIRADIUS BEND DIES
  5. COMPOUND GRIP SECTION BEND DIES
  6. CUSTOM GRIP SURFACES
  7. INTERLOCKING BEND DIES

Platform, 1 Piece or Inserted Bend Dies

Bend Dies

One piece BEND DIES are the longest wearing and best performing BEND DIES, usually (but not always) dedicated to a specific part.  Because they are one piece, they tend to leave fewer marks on the tube.

A platform BEND DIE is to accommodate a small center line radius, eliminating the center stud.  Or can be done to add support.

Inserted BEND DIES have a replaceable grip section to avoid replacing a whole BEND DIE.  For a versatile tool, different length inserts can be made to change grip lengths.

JUST REMEMBER THE MORE VERSITILITY DISIGNED INTO A TOOL, THE LESS IT CAN DO WELL.

Elliptical Tube Grooves for Bending Without Mandrels

Elliptical bending is not for every situation.  It’s very specific to tube O.D., wall thickness, C.L.R., material and product specs.  Bending with an elliptical shaped tube groove can eliminate the need for a mandrel, but comes with some cost.  Because it’s actually reshaping and resizing the shape of the tube, a lot of the machines ability is used up in working the tube.  Therefore, a machines elliptical capacity is only 5/8 of its round capacity.  To see if BENDING WITHOUT A MANDREL is applicable, you’ll need to know some formulas.  First one is bend DIFFICULTY FACTOR (DF).    

TUBE O.D. / WALL = WALL FACTOR
C.L.R. / TUBE O.D. = D OF BEND
WALL FACTOR / D OF BEND = DIFFICULTY FACTOR

Knowing the DIFFICULTY FACTOR, you can evaluate the elliptical feasibility per your material type and or configurator data.

For more extensive information see our NONMANDREL BENDING article.  Because these factors as well as the type of tube material affect the process.  T.B.C. can customize shape geometry per your application, producing predicable results.

Round, Square, Rectangle and Extruded Shapes

Square and rectangle tubing is usually bent using leaf tooling.  Without leaf tooling, the vertically expanded tube will lock into the bend die.  Once the leaf (or plate) is removed, the tube is free to be extracted.  Split dies execute the same process, by splitting horizontally.  This is usually done by a hydraulic actuator.   

Single, Stacking or Integral Multiradius Bend Dies

Stacking Bend Dies with Carbide Spray Grip and Serrated Grip

T.B.C. can make BEND DIES for multi-radius benders in individual stackable pieces or in one solid multi-radius BEND DIE.

Compund Grip Section Bend Dies

Compound grip section BEND DIES are for gripping on a previous bend, little or no amount of straight, or to orientate a tube for a second set up.

Custom Grip Surfaces

To assist in clamping, the grip area of the BEND DIE can be altered with serrations or roughed up with grit blast. (Grit blast is not a material adding spray; it simply roughs the surface with an abrasive media.)   Not to be confused with carbide spray that adds material.

Bend Die, Clamp Die, & Pressure Die Set

Interlocking Bend Dies

Tooling from T.B.C. comes standard with reverse interlock.  This achieves better bends, with less marking, by aligning the clamp die into the BEND DIE and maintaining alignment of the pressure die during bending.  This alignment of the tube groove also aides in set up.