Customer Spotlight

New Pines i-Line™ Benders Deliver High Quality at Half the Price

In response to customer demand for lower-cost, medium-duty tube- and pipe-bending machines for the job shop, Pines Technology has designed and developed the new i-Line™ benders. While built offshore, they are manufactured in the Pines tradition, using the highest quality materials and meeting our rigorous specifications.

“Many customers purchase our used or remanufactured machines because of their affordability,” says Ian Williamson, CEO of Pines Technology. “With the introduction of the i-Line Benders they now can afford to buy a brand-new machine.”

The i-Line bending machines come in five sizes that correspond to the Pines model numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8. They’re assembled with top-of-the-line components such as Rexroth™ hydraulic valves and Vickers™ hydraulic pumps. They also feature Pines’ new Dial-a-Bend SC™ control, made from Mitsubishi components.

The Dial-a-Bend SC control offers:

enhanced user interface,
touch-screen display,
bending program storage and recall,
programming of up to 32 bends per part,
an electronic self-diagnosis program,
programmable spring-back calculations, and
optional safety features.

One of the benefits of buying Pines Technology’s i-Line machines is Pines’ ability to provide complete service for the machines, if necessary. “Dealers can only service electronics or hydraulics for their machines,” Williamson says. “The controls have to be serviced by the manufacturers. But because the i-Line benders use our Dial-a-Bend control, we can easily service the machines here.”

All i-Line bending machines carry a three-year parts warranty. To find out if Pines Techology’s i-Line bending machines are the right choice for your company, call 440-835-5553 or send an e-mail note to info@pinestech.com.

i-Line Pipe Bender Machine Features

Dial-a-Bend SC control.
Easy setup and operation.
Tri-step loop has water cooling and filter functions to minimize hydraulic oil degradation.
Pines standard tool mounts.
Standard equipment including: pressure die assist (with hitch), mandrel extractor, wiper die holder, distance between bend stops, steel slides, and overhead tie bars.
Range of available options, such as automatic mandrel lubricator.

Another Fine Mess

“Where is all of the bailout money and government largesse going to come from? The government will print the money, which will drive up inflation and interest rates.”

This past summer I was puzzled by all of the talk of a recession and how terrible it was. None of my friends, customers, or suppliers said they were seeing a slowdown. I did not know anyone personally who had lost his or her job. Of course, there’s nothing like the fear mongering of an election and the 24-hour news media to undermine consumer and investor confidence.

Yes, high fuel prices and the mortgage crisis were having an impact, but Americans as a general rule are resilient and can adapt. We coped with high fuel prices mostly by griping about the cost while in line to get gas and sipping our $4 latte from Starbucks.

Then in the fall, the geniuses at the banks fessed up and admitted that their balance sheets were, shall we say, “inaccurate,” and that they were insolvent. The government stepped in and decided to “rescue” some banks and let a few unlucky sods go under. I was in favor of letting all of them go under, but our fearless leaders thought this would trigger a failure our entire financial system, which would be catastrophic for the county’s economy. Now we have the pork-ridden, $790-billion stimulus package and a trillion-dollar, credit-easing plan coming out of the U.S. Treasury that will supposedly save our bacon.

What does all of the economic turmoil mean to Pines, its vendors, and its customers? At Pines, like most other companies, we try to forecast the future and plan accordingly. I gave up, some time ago, trying to forecast machine sales. However, since the first item on the chopping block for any manufacturing company in a recession is capital expenditures, I foresee that sales of Pines equipment may be down in 2009.

But peering a little closer into my crystal ball, I have to wonder where all of the bailout money and government largesse is going to come from. Our friends in China? The Middle East? Russia? Not this time. No, the most likely scenario is that the government will print the money, which will drive up inflation and interest rates.

Interest rates are low at the moment, which makes it the ideal time to buy a new bender. A new machine can be financed inexpensively and will actually appreciate in value with rising inflation. Get your oders in now.

Let Pines Support Your Recession Survival Plan

Here’s how Pines is helping our customers boost productivity and avoid unnecessary costs:

• Machine surveys. If you cannot afford to buy new equipment, you’d better keep the old stuff running. A catastrophic failure could mean days of downtime with obvious cash-flow consequences. Let Pines survey your equipment and make recommendations to keep your bending machines up and running.

• Spare parts. Pines is actively investing in inventory so we can deliver parts from stock with very short lead times.

• Remanufacturing. Pines rebuilds and remanufactures bending machines, both Pines models and those made by others. Machines rebuilt by Pines’ expert factory technicians can perform better than brand-new models from our competitors.

• Controls. About the only things we typically cannot repair are old machine controls because many of the parts are obsolete. We can retrofit new controls to your old machine, mostly in the field. CNC machine retrofits are better done in the factory.

• Product development. Innovation, perhaps even more so in a recession, is what drives gains in market share. We regularly design and build customer tooling and prove that it works before it goes into full production.

In challenging times it’s in every manufacturer’s interest to support one another. We thank you for all your past and future business.

Ask the Expert

What’s the best way to set up wiper dies for draw bending?

Response by: Jeffrey Smith, Senior Field Service Engineer

As any metal fabricator knows, setting up a wiper die for draw bending can be the most frustrating and time-consuming part of the tooling setup process, especially on tight radii. Based on my two decades of experience in the bending industry I recommend the following steps:

1) Safety First: Make sure the machine is turned off, tagged, and locked out. Observe all recommended safety procedures.

2) Material type: Use an AMPCO bronze wiper die only when bending stainless steel. For all other applications use a tool steel wiper die.

3) Fit: Wiper dies are machined to fit the bend radius and the tube diameter of the bend die. The tip of the wiper die should be at or slightly behind the tangent on the bend die, and the heel of the wiper die should be inserted fully into the tube groove.

4) Bend arm: Make sure the machine’s bend arm is at zero degrees.

5) Initial placement: With the clamp and pressure dies still open, and with the mandrel either removed or in the extracted position, carefully slide the wiper die assembly forward until the tip of the wiper die is close to the tangent point of the bend die and the heel of the wiper die appears to be fully inserted into the die groove.

6) Rake: Rake angle is the how much the wiper die is angled outward from center. If the radius is very tight, you may not be able to use any rake angle. The larger the “D” of bend (bend centerline radius divided by tube outside diameter), the more rake angle you can use. Regardless of the radius, begin with about 2 degrees of rake angle.

7) Lube: Use a thin layer of lube on the wiper die.

8) First bend: Load a workpiece over the mandrel and make a bend—ensuring the workpiece doesn’t slip in the clamp die during the bend. If the inside radius of the bend is smooth from beginning to end and after the end of the bend, the wiper die setup is correct.

9) Corrections: Corrections, if needed, should be made as appropriate based on the problem. For instance, if the inside radius of the bent tube is smooth but is wrinkled or bulged after the end of the bend, the tip of the wiper die may not be close enough to the tangent point of the bend die or the wiper die may have too much rake angle—or both. If the inside radius of the tube is wrinkled throughout the entire bend, the wiper die may be fitted incorrectly or may be completely worn, or the problem may be with the pressure die and/or mandrel placement and not with the wiper die.

Pines Technologies offers expert tooling design and application assistance for most tube, pipe, and rolled steel section applications. For more information, please contact Jeffrey or a Pines sales professional at 1-440-835-5553.

To submit a question to Ask the Expert, please send e-mail to asktheexpert@pinestech.com.