New SmartEveryDay series: Manufacturing

[FlyingPenguin]

He starts off with Progressive Metal Stamping.

I always wanted to understand how sheet metal stamping works. It's always seemed like black magic. It's amazing that someone has to design and build these dies, and then they have to be regularly sharpened and adjusted. And these dies may be swapped out several times during the day for low quantity orders.

Fair warning. The video starts out showing a die that's on a bench for sharpening, and you will have NO IDEA how it works, until later when you actually see the presses at work, and they slow it down so you can see the process.

Nice to see some of this is still done here in the USA. Like that Kodak factory tour, it's mostly old guys who have worked there for decades, and only recently are they seeing young apprentices getting into it again.

[Pugsley]

Most of this training is not available through any college. You need to go to a vocational center or get in on an apprenticeship. And there are not many places doing this any more. Tool and Die is the elite form of a machinist. Most of this is 1950's tech. EDM made a huge difference in speed and quality.

Ive said it before and ill say it again. All our "old" manufacturing has moved over seas. Including the actual machines. The average worker in china has the skills of a 1950's us worker because they are running all our old machines so they have to know how to do it. New machinery is made to be as idiot proof as possible so you never learn anything running them.

I too look forward to see the rest of this series as I am a filed service engineer and go around to multiple shops and hope to see one Ive been to.

[Losbot]

It's cool stuff. My family does roll forming with aluminum and some stamping but just for our own stuff and not others. Our biggest thing is extruding aluminum. That's a massive piece of equipment.

[FlyingPenguin]

Part 2 is up:

[Pugsley]

Yeah thats all prototype work. Nobody is doing that in industry yet. They are figuring it all out. Using robots like that is kinda a waste and making it more complicated when they could use a XYZ gantry with an rotating C axis end could be way more ridged for doing that. But its still a neat process. They are making more work for them selves doing it with the robots.

Have been at Fabtech show for the last 3 weeks and never saw anyone doing forming like that. So that's why I believe its still in the testing phases. If they have a booth next year at the show then they are ready for production.

[Losbot]

Part 2 was cool AF.