In 1972, Glen or “Pete” as he was known to his friends, ran a construction company as well as a farm with livestock. He was having to build chutes that load cattle into the back of pickups. As part of his process to get the material sheared for the chutes, he would travel to Cedar Rapids or Marion. These were the closest locations that had equipment to shear his metal. On one of the trips he studied the shear and decided he could make one himself. After gathering some old farm implements, some hydraulic cylinders, a used log splitter valve, and a pump that was lying around, he began welding. He made the first “A” shear for their family’s own use. In the small town of Coggon though, word traveled quickly about a farmer that was doing something which was faster than everyone else could. Then he got a request to build one locally for someone that needed it. Shear #2 was out in production, and further demand from other local businesses for their shear prompted the Betenbenders to begin producing shears for nationwide and international resale.

Matt Enos, Plant Manager at the single Betenbender manufacturing facility in Coggon, Iowa says, “I’ve actually worked on Shear #2. It’s still operational today,” with a lot of pride in his voice, “and they tell me that the first one is still operational, but I don’t know where it is. But I know that Shear #2 is sitting in Wadena, Iowa, and it’s still being used nearly every day.”

Pete’s son Max joined the business after he’d been serving his country in the US military for a short while. Says Enos, “He was really good with design. He was good at making improvements to the machines.” Both men stood for American ingenuity and commitment to delivering value with every unit. In 2009, at 86, Pete passed. 10 years later in 2019, at the age of 73, Max passed away.

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

Matt Enos will be celebrating 29 years with Betenbender Manufacturing, Inc. in October of this year. He counts himself as one of the average lifers that are there. “There are I think 5 people here that have been here longer than I have.” I asked him how he would characterize the culture at Betenbender. “It’s good. It’s somewhat laid back. We don’t have people screaming at one another or anything like that. It’s a positive culture.” Certainly this culture must have been passed down through the generations. Strong-willed companies that survive countless economic cycles, changes in economic policies, advances in manufacturing, changes from just-in-time to six sigma to lean manufacturing philosophies, and global pandemics don’t just happen overnight. “The wife of Max (Donna) and his daughter (Teresa) are active owners. They come in from time to time. Teresa is here about three days a week, while Donna stops in briefly every day. There’s also a cousin, Gene Betenbender. He’s been here for about 28 years.”

Culture has remained consistent over time and so has the recipe for building machines. Grit, determination, tried-and-true approaches are all part of the combination to build the most durable press brake on the market. While getting their start in shears, Betenbender has a broad offering of press brakes. Enos answers a leading question I ask him which is “Do you use any special sensors? Do you have anything on the digital front that you see is changing how you’ve approached the market over the last few years?” His response is pretty straightforward, confirming my theory. “We’ve stayed pretty steady over the years for that, in the gauging process of our press breaks. We offer the very basic back gauge, which is just a hand wheel on the back gauge that moves back and forth. You have a little readout that’s our very basic back gauge and we also have all the way up to a full CNC. We use Automec out of Waltham, Massachusetts for our CNCs and that offers 150-300 jobs, 10 bends per job, and that allows you to complete multiple bends. So make a part that has multiple bends and it keeps repeating over and over.”

Enos took me through an example of the press brake and educated me on the 550 ton units to the “smaller” 190 ton and 50 ton units. For me the numbers sound a bit staggering. “What’s an example of where I would see a 550 ton press brake?” Enos says “CVA, Cryogenic Vessels out of Baytown, Texas. They build big tanks that hold liquid oxygen or liquid nitrogen. They bought an inch and ¼ shear, and I believe they bought a 550 ton press brake.” Having gotten a bit of explanation on the machines and knowing they are using a metal sheet, I go on to ask him to explain to me what they are doing with that piece of metal in general.

He explains, “For their shear, they’re just trim cutting, or squaring it up so they can run it through their roller system. They’ve got a very large roll so they can roll the metal around and then they can weld it up using a robotic welder. Other companies that have our large press brakes they’re either just forming V’s, or some of them are using them to punch. A lot of times we team with places like UniPunch where we will set up a whole series of hole punches in our press brake to form parts. These other companies like UniPunch will set up a series of their unitized punches. We did one for Winnebago Industries, probably 15 or 20 years ago.” He was now talking RVs, something to which I could relate, having owned one for a minute. I knew Monaco and I had looked at Winnebago coaches as well. “At Winnebago, a very large manufacturer of RVs, they had a lot of aluminum parts on their coaches that were 16 feet long. We built two eight foot press brakes, put them side by side so they come down at the same time and they punch holes in that aluminum piece, a whole series of different holes so they can put their rivets or fixtures in there,” said Enos.

Betenbender has such a large range of offerings from large tonnage, to the workhorse 190 ton, to even the smaller 50 ton. Matthew explained when the smaller ones would be needed. “Let’s say someone calls and tells us they need a press brake that will bend ten feet of ¼” material. That’s a common one. We have a tonnage chart, but I’ve been here long enough to know that it takes 15.4 tons per foot to bend ¼” milled steel over a 2 inch V-Die. I’ll do that math to come up with 10x 15.4, which would be 154 tons. We could provide a 160 ton press brake for this job. But generally it’s best to stay at around 80% of the capacity of the unit, so we would sell the 190 ton press brake for this job.” Staying in the 80% capacity range is to compensate for a batch of steel that may be harder one day due to any number of material properties specific to that batch. And as the gauge thickness of the steel changes, of course the tonnage per foot of bending changes. Also, the machines can be designed for specific widths of material as well. Enos said the smallest press brake was a 4’ by 50 ton.

After learning about the press brake capabilities, I asked Enos about change.. “Something has to have changed in the design. What’s changed? Has it continued to be the same for the last 10-15 years?” I asked.

“We’re building a very similar product to what we were building 28 years ago. We’ve added a few things and improved a great deal. We’ve gotten better controls and better hydraulic setups. We’ve switched flow dividers, probably 15-20 years ago, so our machines are even more accurate. We switched to ball screws back in the late 90s for our back gauges, so that added much more accuracy on the back gauge. But really, if you had a machine that was from 1998, and you sat it next to one that was built today, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. You wouldn’t be able to tell me which one was the new one. It’s pretty much the same.”

Shear Perfection

Enos went on to tell me about the shear and how it uses a type of guillotine action for the cut. There are a lot of options that can be modified on the shear, including blade distance, angle of cut and others. The blades, made of high carbon high chrome alloy, come down more like scissors than a guillotine, and they run across each other without touching. Generally there is a three to twenty thousandths of an inch gap depending on the type of material being sheared.

“Especially over the last 15 years,” said Enos, “the only thing we’ve done differently with the shear of substance, is we’ve gotten the go-to controller. Now we’ve added a touch screen controller for the back gauge, but really it’s the same hydraulic system. Our thought on that is that it works. Why do we need to change it? The customers like it, our team is used to building them that way. Let’s keep doing it.”

The Rest is History

Make no mistake though, Betenbender has maintained a strong market position and focused on seizing opportunities – and that includes timely acquisitions. In 2012, the company purchased Hydraulic Machines, Incorporated which was a family owned business as well. The company owners of Hydraulic Machines were friends with the Betenbenders (who actually had a couple of their machines in the Coggon facility) and approached them about a sale. Now Betenbender has a product line called Hydraulic Machines of Iowa to provide C-Frame presses or punches.

From the C-Frame presses, to the shears, to the press brakes, to the hydraulic punches, Betenbender is made in the USA and has withstood the test of time with standard offerings. That doesn’t mean the need for customizing for a client requirement doesn’t happen. “Back when Max was alive, he’d go out on to the floor and he literally would grab a piece of chalk and start chalking out customizations on the floor, how he wanted to redesign something, or he would take a piece of steel and draw it out on that plate and say, ‘Here, cut this,’ and we’d cut it and off we would go with the customization.”

To this day, they keep the same view. Build strong, durable equipment that completes the customer’s job, and treat every call for support and every issue as one that needs solving now. Says Jason Stayton, General Manager for Stafford-Smith’s Arlington Texas location, a Betenbender customer since 2021, “After reviewing the machines personally, we knew they were a great fit for our fabrication industry. The CNC controls and back gauge make it user friendly. The shear and press brakes we have make precise cuts and bends to form our custom stainless steel kitchen equipment.” Somewhere Max and Pete are smiling. Another happy customer. Another precision job well done.

Hydraulic Press Brakes:  50-Ton to 550-Ton

C-Frame Presses:  40-Ton to 200-Ton

Custom Designs for Custom Applications

Retrofit Backgauges:  for Shears and Press Brakes. Made to fit most machines with minimum modifications

Precision Knife Sharpening  

Betenbender Manufacturing, Inc. | Phone: 319-435-2378 | Fax: 319-435-2262
sales@betenbender.com | www.betenbender.com

Key participants of the cut-to-length line systems market are likely to focus on the design of their product offering and offer customized solutions to their customers as per their requirement. In addition, companies are deploying resources to automate their existing strip feeding line with advanced technologies, including coiler, stamping technology, leveling technology, and shears, among others. Key companies in the cut-to-length line systems market are working on improving the performance of their cut-to-length lines by maximizing the speed of their production processes.

The sensor technology has evolved at a blazing pace in the past decade and thus, played an important role in hastening production processes. In addition, smart sensors also enable the integration of cutting-edge automatic functions, condition monitoring, and process models. Sensors are gradually becoming an integral part of several production processes and enabling significant improvements in cut-to-length line systems. Laser gauges play an imperative role in measuring product speed.

Apart from improving the mill-control system and setup, these insights delivered by sensors play an essential role in optimizing the cut-length accuracy of shears. Moreover, the combination of non-contact laser gauges and vision systems, the mill-control systems tracks the height and width of the product within the mill line.

Due to Industry 4.0, the adoption of automatic cut-to-length line systems is expected to remain higher than manual and semi-automatic cut-to-length line systems by a considerable margin. Rising investments and progress in cut-to-length line systems, along with infrastructure development across major manufacturing facilities are some of the major factors that will boost the prospects of the cut-to-length line systems market during the assessment period.

The growing demand for stainless steel from a plethora of industries has directly impacted the demand for cut-to-length line systems. Companies in the current cut-to-length line systems market are likely to focus on cost-efficiency, designs, and the overall performance of their machines to fulfill the evolving requirements of customers.

While top tier companies are expected to expand their product portfolio and global presence by eyeing mergers and collaboration opportunities in other regional markets, other established players operating in the current cut-to-length line systems market are focusing on offering customized machinery solutions in accord with the prerequisites of different applications.

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Transparency Market Research
State Tower
90 State Street | Suite 700
Albany, NY 12207 USA
Toll Free (866) 552-3453 (US & Canada)
P: (518) 618-1030

Tool-Craft Supply had previously been a part of Tool-Craft Industries of Sterling Heights, Michigan. Tool-Craft Industries will continue to operate as an independent entity under the leadership of Chet Wilson, its president.

With the acquisition of Tool-Craft Supply, AHB customers now have access to the quality custom cutting tools for which Tool-Craft has become known. Additionally, Tool-Craft offers full special cutting tools with limited lead times, allowing you to increase productivity and save money.

“This is a great addition to AHB’s portfolio,” said AHB president, Mike Gleason. “With Tool-Craft, we not only add the ability to offer full special custom cutting tools to our customers, we deepen our relationship with many of our important suppliers.”

Jon Hays, vice president of AHB, said the acquisition also tremendously benefits existing Tool-Craft customers. “With AHB, we not only offer a more robust offering of consumables, we also sell machinery. Tool-Craft customers will enjoy access to a substantially broader offering and unparalleled metalworking expertise.”

Gleason added that Tool-Craft customers will have the added benefit of saving time and money by dealing with fewer suppliers. AHB also offers full-service web ordering, stock checks and research capabilities to match the offerings of the larger catalog companies.
AHB metalworking machinery includes, but is not limited to, band and cold saws, CNC press brakes and shears, iron workers, lasers, plasmas, tube bending, waterjets, CNC punches, rolls, automated structural equipment, water/oil/air filtration units, chillers and machine consumables (saw blades, tooling, etc.) from suppliers including Amada, Costa, Ebbco, Ermak, Euromac, Ficep, Flow Waterjet, Haeger, HYDMECH, Scotchman, Sugino and WDM.

About AHB

AHB offers a wide range of industrial goods including; abrasives, custom welded band saw blades, cutting tools (both round tools and indexable inserts), fluids, measurement equipment, tool/work holding and waterjet replacement parts. These products can be secured and maintained through various vending and integrated supply solutions.

AHB’s goal has always been to reduce its customer’s machining costs by recommending top quality products at competitive prices that positively affect the bottom line. AHB is ISO certified to ensure its employees are well trained and efficient in providing cost savings solutions.

AHB Tooling & Machinery
15300 Martin Road
Roseville, MI 48066

1663 Champagne Drive North
Saginaw, MI 48604

3955 Ann Arbor Road
Jackson, MI 49202

Contact
Mike Gleason, Co-owner
Jon Hays, Co-owner
P: (800) 991-4225

The BAAM and MAAM are each industrial sized machines. Both were designed to bring the benefits of 3D printing to production manufacturing. The BAAM and MAAM machines utilize the design and technology from CI’s laser platform and have been enhanced with an extruder feeding system. Their systems were designed with open architecture for material vendors, which means that these machines offer more cost-effective ways for large parts to be produced quickly. The main difference between the two are the print sizes they offer. The BAAM offers three different print sizes, while the MAAM offers one print size.

The SAAM was designed as a complement to CI’s BAAM and MAAM machines. This allows for prototypes to be created on the SAAM before entering full-scale production on the larger machines. The SAAM utilizes CI’s patented Automated Ejection System to provide the ability for continuous, unattended 3D printing. It is the only 3D printing machine that offers this function. The SAAM HT offers the same ease and speed of the SAAM machine, but with the ability to 3D print in ULTEM, PEEK, polycarbonate or any thermoplastic up to 500°C. This ability makes SAAM HT the most affordable solution for fabricating strong parts, whether for prototypes or functional parts.

For more information about Cincinnati’s additive manufacturing capabilities and options, visit Booth #1844 at EASTEC and talk to one of CI’s knowledgeable employees.

About Cincinnati Incorporated

Cincinnati Incorporated, headquartered in Harrison, OH, provides manufacturers with accurate and dependable laser cutting and automation systems, plasma cutting systems, press brakes, shears and conveyor systems, powder metal presses, and large and small scale additive manufacturing solutions. The company was founded in the late 19th century and is a 2018 “Best Place to Work” recipient.

Cincinnati Incorporated
7420 Kilby Road
Harrison, OH 45030
P: (513) 367-7100
Matt Garbarino | Director of Marketing Communications

This American-made ironworker is built tough with four built-in work stations and offers versatile, flexible and dependable features. Standard features include: 6” x 6” x 1/2” angle shear and a rectangular notcher that can notch 3” x 4” x 1/2” material. The 24” flat bar shear features a low rake angle and has the ability to shear up to 1” x 8” and 3/8”x 24” material. The DO 95/140-24M is built to last and confidently backed with an outstanding 3-Year Warranty! This machine also has the ability to accept optional standard equipment such as press brakes, rod shear, tube shears, picket tools, as well as, custom built tooling.

About Scotchman Industries

Scotchman Industries was founded in 1967, and has been providing quality machinery, dependable performance, competitive pricing, and service to its consumers ever since. As the world and its markets change and expand, Scotchman Industries continues to grow and adapt.

The new shearing system features the adjustment of the rake angle with a low cutting angle for its benefit for thinner material and special applications, a simple programmable control that allows input for a few pieces of information for the machine to quickly and properly cut the part incorporating rake angle, blade gap, backgauge and stroke length adjustment for maximum productivity, a short squaring arm, support arms, light beam, table with ball transfers to facilitate plate movement, and low noise low hydraulic system.

COMEQ, Inc. also supplies the lighter capacity mechanical machines for up to 10-gauge mild steel/13-gauge stainless capacity. Some machines feature external blade gap adjustment and, either as standard or as option, go-to backgauge, programmable back gauge, 40-inch back gauge travel, support and squaring arms and sheet support devices with front or rear drop.

For further information, contact Steve Lazinsky at 410-248-5577 or email stevel@COMEQ.com

Larson Electronics, an industrial lighting supplier, has announced the release of a 25 watt integrated LED light fixture approved for hazardous locations.

The HAL-32- 60W-ITG- LED low profile explosion proof linear fixture has a T5 temperature rating and is approved for Class 1 Division 1 areas. This 25 watt LED is protected by an impact and vibration resistant polycarbonate lens with a frosted finish to reduce glare or a clear finish to maximize light output. It is housed within a low profile copper-free extruded aluminum body designed to withstand hazardous and harsh conditions. A single wiring access plate makes for easy access to the driver lead and a high temperature rated silicone gasket between the lens and the housing provides NEMA 4X and IP66 rated sealing. This new integrated LED fixture generates almost double the lumens of a standard fluorescent fixture providing crisp white light while producing less heat and consuming less energy.

This low profile fixture measures almost four inches tall and 19 inches long and weighs less than 15 pounds. This unit delivers 3,294 lumens of high quality lighting while drawing 2.1 amps on a 12 volt electrical system. The fixture is designed to accommodate a variety of mounting options including swivel brackets, wall and ceiling brackets, or beam clamps. The slot back design of the fixture allows multiple mounting access points. The end caps of the fixture have mounting feet built in and include a safety strap attachment point. The end caps feature a ¾” NPT hub and the fixture is furnished with one ¾” close-up plug and two ¾” to ½” reducers that provide ½” dead-end to ¾” feed through flexibility. The fixture operates on low voltage direct current and offers a 278,000 hour life expectancy.

“This new integrated LED light fixture carries an abundance of ratings and approvals, making it ideal for numerous applications,” said Rob Bresnahan, CEO of Larson Electronics. “With its lightweight and compact design, this unit practically fits into areas where space is limited.”

About Larson Electronics
Larson Electronics was started by Ernie Larson in 1973. For more than 40 years, Larson Electronics has built portable lighting products for government, commercial, industrial and military customers. 12 years ago Larson Electronics branched out to include portable power distribution systems, explosion proof lighting and masts in our offerings. In 2006, we began producing light towers, high powered surface mount and portable lighting.  We believe that www.larsonelectronics.com provides comprehensive information about our industrial lighting and power distribution products for designers, engineers and operators alike.

On the consumer side, Larson Electronics has built a strong presence with their hunting lights, handheld utility lights and lights for boats.

As a manufacturer, Larson Electronics has a full line of in-house CNC and fabrication equipment in our 60,000 square foot fabrication facility. For high precision cutting, we have a large format waterjet cutting table for plastics, aluminum and other non-ferrous materials.  Our high definition plasma table provides high speed cutting for steel to 4 inches in thickness.  Our machine shop includes several CNC lathes and mills, with 4 and 5 axis capabilities.  Our high tonnage hydraulic press brakes and shears complement a series of ironworkers, pipe benders and ring benders.  With 12 separate welding stations, we are equipped to MIG or TIG steel. aluminum or stainless steel as needed.  For design and testing, we have a 2,500 square foot lighting lab, complete with a near field gonio-photometer. With exception of injection molding and coatings, all manufacturing is now done within this facility.

Please visit www.larsonelectronics.com for more information.

Most sheet metal cutting techniques are based on localized melting of the material. The area between the melt part and the unaffected base metal undergoes chemical and structural modifications, and is called Heat-Affected Zone (HAZ).

It can often be recognized by a series of brightly colored bands, also visible near welds. Colors are caused by surface oxidation, and are an approximate indicator of the temperature reached by the metal.

These colors, also called “heat tint”, depend on four factors:

• Steel chromium content: this metal increases the material resistance to oxidation, therefore colors will be less intense or their formation will be delayed;

• Oxygen level: during welding, usage of protective gas and electrode coating can reduce the coloration because they partly shield metal from oxidation;

• The rougher the surface, the faster it oxidizes, causing darker colors;

• Substances like paint, oil, rust, and even fingerprints can alter heat tint, but do not affect the extension of the heat-affected zone.

In some cases, the heat-affected zone does not cause these colors, or even extend farther than the colored area. On the other hand, the HAZ can sometimes cause discoloration instead of a heat tint.

Causes
The most important factor is thermal diffusivity. Technically speaking, this coefficient depends on thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat of a substance. Materials that show a high thermal diffusivity are able to quickly transfer variations in heat, rather than heat itself.

In other words, the higher the thermal diffusivity of a material, the faster it cools, and HAZ is reduced. Conversely, lower coefficients mean that the energy cannot be drained quickly and the heat-affected zone will be wider. 304A-grade stainless steel, for instance, has a thermal diffusivity of 4.2 mm²/s, much lower than structural steel (11.72 mm²/s).

From the point of view of the production process, the extension of the HAZ depends on three factors: quantity of heat applied, duration of exposure, and affected area. If you provide large amounts of energy, for a long time, and with wider beams, you will get a larger heat-affected zone.

This explains why, regardless of the material being cut, any cutting technique causes a different effect:

• Shearing and water jet cutting do not provoke a HAZ because they do not overheat the sheet metal;

• Laser cutting generates the smaller heat-affected zone among all thermal cutting techniques, because it applies heat on a very small area;

• Plasma cutting generates an intermediate HAZ, because it uses a larger beam. Higher currents allow for a higher cutting speed, reducing the duration of exposure and therefore the width of the heat-affected zone;

• Oxyfuel cutting, because of the intense heat, slow speed, and wide flames, generates the wider HAZ of all thermal cutting systems.

What are the effects?
Heat provided by the welding or cutting process, and consequent fast cooling, result in both chemical and metallurgical alterations. Oxidation is the most noticeable and immediate change, and as we have seen, is also responsible for the brightly colored bands. A light surface nitriding can occur, resulting in an increased hardness and decreased weldability of the metal.

Another common issue is corrosion, derived from stainless steel sensitization. Intense heat causes the precipitation of chromium carbides around the grain boundaries. In these areas, chromium content drops below 10,5% and steel will lose its ability to form a passive film and will no longer be stainless. The result is the so-called intergranular corrosion. In extreme cases, metal will turn black.

High temperature can also provoke hydrogen embrittlement. Gas diffuses through the metal and creates a strong pressure within the lattice, reducing its tensile strength and toughness. Should hydrogen gas not be removed, it can cause spontaneous cracking even 24 hours after heating. From a metallurgical point of view, heat generates localized hardening. In some circumstances, austenitic stainless steel can turn into martensitic, increasing its hardness as well as its brittleness. In other cases, heated metal can become less strong.

How to deal with the HAZ?
The heat-affected zone can alter the sheet metal figures as declared by the rolling mill to a great extent. When forming, the HAZ can make it difficult to manage the bending angle because it becomes impossible to foresee how metal will behave after a heat-intensive cutting process.

One of the affected behaviors is springback. To get consistent angles with varying elastic recovery, it’s useful to rely on an angle control system, either laser- or contact-based. The former are quite common but somehow cumbersome, and they do not operate with small flanges, and with rough or polished surfaces. GPS4 contact systems are more precise and work well also with counterbends or small flanges, but have a slightly reduced angle span.

Imprecise crowning is the other culprit: every cut piece will be different from each other, and the machine frame will be stressed in an unpredictable way. For this reason, it’s important to use a press brake with an ACSG real-time crowning system, able to compensate for the machine deformation. This technology helps obtaining regular angles along the entire length of the profile.

Heat tint caused by oxidation can be removed with fine sandpaper or ground away. This exposes the underlying layer and activates chromium self-passivation, but you risk weakening the part. On the other hand, the only way to remove the entire extension of the heat-affected zone is to machine it away, but at the price of a higher waste of material and time.

About Gasparini
Gasparini offers two main product platforms: press brakes and hydraulic shears. All products are positioned at the high end of their specific market, providing a significant technological content, a robust design, together with an “easy to use” configuration and a wide range of options and accessories, to customize the machine according to your needs. All the staff at Gasparini are dedicated to customer satisfaction, highly valuing the opinion of their partners and end users, since their first aim is to improve their performance and to fulfill market expectations. 

For more information, visit www.gasparini.it/en