Press Brake – How Do You Store Your Press Brake Tooling

A press brake is a mechanical tool primarily utilized for bending and forming sheet metal. For proper press brake tooling maintenance, there are a few key points to keep in mind. The first thing is that you shouldn’t keep it in a general tool storage rack far from the press brake when it’s not in use.

For instance, keeping press brake tools on a general storage rack in the back of the shop is usually a serious productivity drain.

When a forklift driver or setup person is involved, it forces the press brake operator to leave the press brake to get the tooling needed for the subsequent job or forces the operator to wait for the tooling to be delivered to the press brake. Let’s look at the details of how to store your press brake tooling.

Utilizing a Tool Storage System

For these reasons, keeping your press brake equipment organized in a tool cabinet on the press brake itself is always preferable. It is preferable to share one designated tool cabinet between two press brakes in shops with modest tooling needs.

Purchasing a tool cabinet made specifically for storing press brake tooling is the second, but no less significant, action to take. When press brake tooling is kept in a general storage rack, it is left exposed to airborne dust and debris, increasing the risk of damage.

Although individual slots for each press brake tool in handmade wooden storage units might seem like a good idea, since wood contains moisture, rust and corrosion are actually encouraged.

Separating press brake tooling in tool cabinets with horizontally arranged metal dividers is also not always a good idea because the metal dividers frequently can’t be set up to provide a snug storage space for each press brake tool.

As a result, when drawers are opened and closed or when punches and dies are put in and taken out of the cabinet, specific punches and dies may move. As a result, the working surfaces of the tool are potentially damaged when they come into contact.

During bending, sheet marking is frequently caused by die shoulder radii and punch tip wear damage. Naturally, this can be a significant issue when bending materials like aluminum, stainless steel, copper, and brass that are frequently left unpainted.

Experience has demonstrated that press brake rolling cabinet tools that use nylon, neoprene, or polyurethane pads and individual tool slots to store the tooling vertically provide the best overall method of storing tooling in an organised manner while offering the greatest amount of protection from potential damage.

A good tooling cabinet will also have lockable drawers to protect your investment and prevent your tooling from being moved from its intended location.

Storing Large, Heavy Tools

Although press brake tool storage cabinets are a great choice for managing and storing standard press brake tooling inventories, they frequently are not up to the task of storing large, heavy-duty tools, which present special challenges. Fortunately, there have recently been improvements made to how these large tools are stored and loaded into and out of press brakes.

Some of these systems include sizable storage racks that are intended to sit at either end of a press brake, along with load/unload arms that can be moved manually between the upper clamping system, crowning system, or die holder on the press brake and the storage rack’s tool storage slots.

The press brake is very precisely aligned with these storage racks and the load/unload arms. Even the heaviest of tools can frequently be inserted and removed from the press brake with relative ease when used with tooling that has built-in rollers for ease of movement.

Maintenance Of Tooling

Steel press brake tooling is susceptible to corrosion and rust because of its material. This emphasizes the need to keep it dry, free of moisture, handprints, and the acidic material found on human hands.

After handling it, merely wiping it down with a lubricant made of petroleum won’t suffice. Oiling the tooling and the handprints is the only thing that will produce the desired result. The following procedures should be followed to maintain a press brake rolling tool cabinet that is clean and free of corrosion and rust:

• After each handling, clean it down thoroughly with a clean cloth that has been lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol. The acid and handprints that are left behind by human hands will be removed as a result.
• Apply a preservative lubricant to the tool while wearing gloves and wipe off any extra.
• Put the tool away in a toolbox.
• Before storing the tooling in a tool cabinet, another option is to clean and preserve it.
• A package of silica gel must be present in the tool cabinet at all times.
• When working in humid environments, bring two packets of silica gel at the very least.

By following these instructions, you’ll not only keep your tooling rust- and corrosion-free and clean, but you’ll also safeguard the laser marking that contains all of the crucial technical information needed to identify it and enable loading it into the control on your press brake.

Toolbox Distributors’ Press Brake

For storing and organizing Press Brake Tools, use the new Toolbox Distributors Press Brake Tool Storage System. The Press Brake Tool Storage System not only organizes tools but can also increase storage capacity by up to 40%. These storage systems are made specifically for heavy-duty applications and offer ergonomic access. There are removable, adjustable tool cabinets available for each unit.

Bottom Line

The Swivel Storage Solutions Press Brake Tooling Cabinet from Toolbox Distributors has the unique Swivel hinge system, which does away with conventional drawer sliders and the resulting issue of slides and bearings wearing out, binding, or failing. In order to accommodate various tool sizes, it also has adjustable drawer heights.