End Forming Wizardry With The Swage Box:
Most Huth and Ben Pearson benders have a long unique looking contraption on one end known as the swage box... It is also featured on our popular 1673 expander/reducer/swaging machine as well. Swage (pronounced swedge) is an uncommon word, and it most commonly refers to forming different shapes with metal tube. The swage box is an extremely handy device for many tube end forming techniques some think of it as almost magical in that it allows the operator to fabricate a myriad of end-forms.
In the swage box, you can do Solid-Tool Expansion with a swage die. The advantage of solid tool expansion is controlled uniformity around the perimeter of the expansion (a segmented expander has microscopic indentations between the expander fingers).
Tube Diameter Reduction is possible in a swage box. This allows fabrication slip fits where one tube is slid inside the other in a way that appears practically seamless from the outside.
Creating Flanges And Flares can be done in the swage box with flange and flare tooling. Want a flange that goes 90 degrees out from the tube end? Simple. Use a 45 degree flare tool to create the 1st 45 degrees, then spin the tool around and push it the remaining 45 degrees until it sticks out perpendicularly from the tube end.
Doming And Both Male And Female Ball Joint Ends are possible in the swage box. Ball joint connections can be used to help hold two tubes together in a way that allows some movement at the joint.
One of the keys to forming in the swage box is holding the tube firmly with the collets and collet holder. The forces required to form the new metal shapes are great 25,000 lbs of force exerted across just a few inches of diameter. We have created a cool time-saving accessory… the dead stop system… to help people locking in the length when making repeated parts.
On the other end of the swage box is the expanding cylinder. Using segmented tooling and Huths unique AccuSizer system, you can quickly and efficiently create slip fits, flares, ball joint connections, AND MORE! Custom Solutions Available Upon Request.
Let us know how we can help you create end-forming magic with your own swage box!
