Used Folding Machines — The Light Gauge Alternative to Press Brakes

Are you ready to increase your in-house fabrication capabilities? Our used folding machines makes it easier to bend, reshape and build durable sheet metal components faster. Our used metal bending machines vary widely, so you can easily choose a specific type or model of folder or brake that fits your requirements and keeps you within budget.

While we group our high-end folding machines with our press brakes, they are quite a different animal. Press brakes require skilled operators to position and apply high forces to stock. Folding machines, on the other hand, can be used on many different thicknesses of metal without changing tools or impacting the resulting bend angle. Folders also fully support the weight of the plate stock, so bending large plates is generally safer. In addition, operators can realize uniform results without making as many settings modifications between runs. The ability to perform metal bending operations consistently is critical for shops that need to produce ducts, pans, device housings and other similar parts.

Get Bent with Our Used Folding Machines

Folding machines find themselves quite a ways down the totem pole in the world of fabrication machinery. In a monetary sense there is no reason for that because you can find any number of them priced well above 6 figures. Especially if they are equipped with a CNC control. You can also find used folding machines as small as a couple of feet wide powered by arm strength and the leverage of a long handle. Manual folding machines or bending machines are available up to around 6 feet wide that are still powered by hand. Let’s for a moment take a trip back in time to recall the evolution of the venerable folding or bending machine. The first indication of some form of production sheet metal bending began to emerge in upstate New York around 1875. The company to put to use the first known production bending machine was General Electric of Ithica N.Y. It seems they had a sudden need to bend small sheets of steel into light bulb shrouds. In the case of used folding machines, if one finds the right deal, a considerable improvement in capabilities can be had for a small investment in capital. From that inauspicious beginning, folding machines have undergone almost continuous improvement since the early 1960’s.

Used Sheet Metal Folding Machines Have Considerable Capabilities!

Today’s CNC folding machine has numerous typical abilities such as automatic feeding and measuring of the production cut piece with automatic compensation for correction of numerous errors. The controller may store as many as 99 different bending jobs or even more, many controllers have specific material specs for different types of metals available from an on board material library, the potential list of capabilities one can get for a new modern folding machine are almost endless. Bud's Machine Tools stocks a range of items that make it possible to bend sheet metal stock into all kinds of shapes, including everything from standard box forms to irregular angled vents and custom varying planes with alternate bends. Some of our used folding machines come with CNC controls and bi-directional folding capabilities. Browse through our machines to find one with your ideal working area and size. Our inventory of used machines moves quickly, so contact our sales department today.