Monthly Press Tips (August 2018) ~ Counterbalancing Cylinders Can Greatly Increase the Productive Life and Output of Your Press!

Counterbalancing Cylinders can  greatly increase the productive life and output of your press.  You can expect to:

  • Hide all excessive vertical lift clearances within the drivetrain
  • Reduce the drivetrain load on the motor and flywheel
  • Improve safety of the machine
  • Assists the slide adjusting mechansim

Below are Four Steps on how to adjust the counterbalance cylinder pressure

  1. Check parallelism between the slide face and bolster. Adjust as required.
  2. Rotate the slide through the stroke of the machine and stop slide assembly at the 90 degree position and stop the press.  If there is a tool in the press, set pressure at 60 PSI.  Without the tool, set pressure at 50 PSI.
  3. Turn the press off and allow flywheel to stop.
  4. This step will require (2) people, release the brake and allow the slide to drift. If the slide moves up, then decrease the air pressure and if the slide drops increase the air pressure until the slide holds at 90 degrees.  Once you have found this balance point, add an additional 3-5 PSI to slightly over counterbalance the slide.

You may ask the question:  How often should the counterbalance be adjusted?

MCM Answer: It should be checked and adjusted with each die change.

Always follow your safety guidelines during any maintenance work!

For further information contact Jeff Fredline, Meco Contract Manufacturing, 423-278-4244

Meco Sends Congratulations to Companies featured in Made In America Product Showcase at the White House

Source:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/made-america-product-showcase/?utm_source=link

https://youtu.be/biKAVvhV0_4 

On Monday, President Donald J. Trump hosted companies from across the country at the White House for the Made in America Product Showcase. In order to celebrate and highlight each state’s effort and commitment to American-made goods, businesses from each of the 50 states displayed their products made and produced in the United States.

Leaders from each company showcased their unique businesses on the South Lawn and on the State Floor of the White House. Products ranged from sandwiches, to wool blankets, to firetrucks; each business connected by the common thread of American excellence. The President visited and conversed with members from each company, assuring that the interests of the workers in the United States would not be pushed aside for global projects. Under the leadership of President Trump, the American worker will be championed.

Since his Inauguration, President Trump has been fighting on behalf of American workers and families. He signed the “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order that targets the abusive use of waivers and exception to undermine “Buy American” laws that promote the allocation of taxpayer funds to American companies. The order also takes steps to stop the abuse of the immigration system and protect American workers.

After visiting each display, President Trump addressed workers and business leaders attending the day’s event in the East Room of the White House. He recognized the vital contributions of American workers and job creators to our Nation’s prosperity. The President also voiced his appreciation and attributed much of America’s success to the determination and ingenuity of its entrepreneurs, workers, and farmers, who drive our economy and support our military strength.

“We want to build, create, and grow more products in our country using American labor, American goods, and American grit. When we purchase products made in the USA, the profits stay here, the revenue stays here, and the jobs — maybe most importantly of all — they stay right here in the USA,” President Trump said.

The President then signed a proclamation, declaring July 17 “Made in America Day” and July 16 through July 22, as “Made in America Week,” calling upon Americans to pay a special tribute to all those who work every day to make America great.

“We will celebrate craftsmen, producers, and innovators like the incredible men and women in this room today. We will protect our workers, promote our industry, and be proud of our history because we will put America first.”

The White House is highlighting and celebrating each state’s effort and commitment to American made products by bringing in and showing off products from all 50 states that are made and produced in the United States. Attendees include:

State Company Product
Alabama Altec Bucket trucks
Alaska Alaska Bowl Company Bowls
Arizona PING Golf Golf clubs
Arkansas Hytrol Conveyer belt
California The California Wine Institute Wine
Colorado Gordon Signs Neon signs
Connecticut Sikorsky Helicopters
Delaware ILC Dover LP NASA space suit
Florida Tervis Tumblers
Georgia Chick Fil A Food
Hawaii Koloa Rum Co. Rum
Idaho Boise Cascade Company Engineered wood floors
Illinois Caterpillar Heavy equipment manufacturer
Indiana Broomcorn Johnnys Brooms
Iowa RMA Armament Body armor, dummies
Kansas Grasshopper Company Lawnmower
Kentucky Campbellsville Apparel Company Apparel
Louisiana Marucci Sports Baseball bats
Maine Hinckley Yachts Yacht
Maryland Eddie Heath’s Crab Pots Crab pot manufacturer
Massachusetts St. Pierre Manufacturing Corporation Horseshoes
Michigan Milton Manufacturing Fabric
Minnesota Faribault Woolen Mill Wool blankets
Mississippi Taylor Machine Works Forklift
Missouri Beehler Corporation Door hinges
Montana Simms Fishing Fishing gear
Nebraska Greater Omaha Packing Beef
Nevada Kimmie Candy Candy
New Hampshire Cider Belly Doughnuts Doughnut company
New Jersey Campbells Soup Soup
New Mexico Desert Plastics Plastic Manufacturer
New York Steinway Piano
North Carolina Cheerwine Soda
North Dakota Dakota Outerwear Co. Military outerwear manufacturer
Ohio Bully Tools Shovels, rakes, hoes etc.
Oklahoma DitchWitch Trencher/excavator
Oregon Leupold and Stevens Sights and scopes
Pennsylvania Ames Wheel barrows
Rhode Island Narragansett Brewing Company Beer
South Carolina Casual Cushion Company Cushions
South Dakota K Bar J Leather Shotgun chaps
Tennessee Gibson Guitars Guitars
Texas Stetson Hats Cowboy hats
Utah Colonial Flag Company Flags
Vermont Dubie Family Maple Maple syrup
Virginia National Capital Flag Company Flags
Washington Liberty Bottleworks Water bottles
West Virginia Homer Laughlin China Company Iconic fiesta line of china
Wisconsin Pierce Manufacturing Two firetrucks
Wyoming Aviat Aircraft Model aircraft

The Importance of Maintaining Parallelism in the Die Space to Achieve Maximum Throughput and Quality

Metal stamping presses are designed to provide (2) things: Repeatable Force or Tonnage to do the work and a Perfectly Square Environment for the tool to be installed.

Without these (2) conditions present, the metal stamping process becomes very difficult to complete properly. According to JIC Standards the maximum out of parallel between the slide and the top of the bolster plate should be .001” per foot of span, both in the left to right and front to rear orientation.

Example: If you press bed is 144” left to right and 60” front to rear then the allowable out of tolerance as it relates to parallelism between the slide and bolster will be .012” left to right and .005” front to rear.

Often when checking parallelism between the bolster plant and face of the slide the measurements are taken on the four corners of the slide. However, you may want to consider the approach featured below.  

Take your measurements directly under the center of the connection assemblies represented by the blue circles to the top of the bolster plate. Now take the same measurements from the face of the slide at the X points to the top of the bolster plate. When you have a (2) two-point press and the left to right level slide has been adjusted parallel under the (2) connection assemblies. The only other adjustment that can performed is rotating the slide to a level point front to rear and readjusting the gibbing. Maintaining a parallel condition is one of the most important things you can do to insure optimum press operation. One additional important point; when parallelism checks and adjustments are made the counter-balance pressure should be on. We discuss The Counterbalance System in next month’s Press Tips. Until then, if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to call me. 

Jeff Fredline, Phone: 423-278-4244, Email: [email protected]

MECO Corporation: Contract Manufacturing: Metal Stampings & Powder Coating