Forming complex shapes in metal sheets is still a laborious process, especially if you aren’t needing more than a couple parts so stamping doesn’t make sense. That may change with Digital Sheet Forming.
While this video is basically an ad for one vendor’s approach, it gives a good set of examples of what the technique can achieve. The high pressure mechanism of the machine presses the metal layer by layer down against a silicone backing to form what you’ve designed, in this case, the nose cone for a Tucker Carioca.
Some people will decry it killing the metal forming industry, but as [Rob Ida] says in the video, it will allow metal formers to become more efficient at the work they do by taking out the tedium and letting them focus on the parts of the process requiring the most skill. Anyone who’s done any work with a 3D printer or CNC mill will know that sending a file to a machine is only one small part of the process.
We’re anxious to see this technology make its way to the makerspace and home shop. If you want to do some sheet metal forming now, why not try hydroforming?
If this metal-forming impresses you, the two-robot pinch-style metal-forming will blow you away. In that technique, two separate industrial robots apply coordinated pressure on either side of a sheet to do the deforming. The SmarterEveryday YouTube channel did an episode on it (search for ROBOFORMING).
Nissan was working with that tech a few years back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iIH8P0OlO0
So, the Figur uses one robot, but the Nissan system uses two which have to be calibrated to oppose each other perfectly.
Yes and as a result the nissan system can produce more complex parts. It is capable of tighter tolerances, greater feature detail, and bidirectional forming.
I was thinking from a hacker point of view.
A Figur type clone could possibly be built using CNC parts/software for a fraction of the cost of 2 industrial robots.
@TCFKARen
There is certainly potential in simple methods like SPIF single point incremental forming https://youtu.be/o7W7Fm5CTpA?si=0Cmy-S2rRWIvQBhu
I dont feel that the kuka serial style robot arms are as practical as the ford f3t system from the other youtube video I linked below. I think a parallel system like that, essentially opposing stewart platforms, would be out of reach of a hackerspace.
Theres certainly more than one way to skin a cat.
https://youtu.be/EBgmnD1kPww?si=i1ps5pa_W3B_kF5L&t=76
*edit oops should read….
“I think a parallel system like that, essentially opposing stewart platforms, WOULDNT be out of reach of a hackerspace.”
The above referenced video is really worth a watch.
(There’s a long version of the video, too, that I found to be worth the time even after watching the normal one. IIRC, it’s on a second channel)
Those guys are on another level. I imagine they’re aiming for doing the bodywork for advanced military aircraft. Watching how well they could shape titanium polymers was the most impressive thing I’ve seen in years.
Los Angeles, CA – Machina Labs – SmarterEveryday – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCXu8Ju_fdY
Reminds me of the video ford released over a decade ago where two opposing six axis delta robots performed incremental sheet metal forming.
https://youtu.be/iNQ40MYwZqw?si=Ln03H-5M-XR6pK8_&t=53
Just under a Half Million?
wheres my checkbook? /s
If it’s reasonably quick, that’s a bargain for small runs. No molds required
This guy claims he spent 40 hours making a fender, and the machine does it in 1 hour.
This old dude makes a motorcycle fender in 3 hours including taking breaks. https://youtu.be/Y0j1ZEpr8sQ?si=dOhoZ9_lzpwnQyRZ and he doesnt even have a power hammer, which easily shave an hour or more off the time.
The median annual wage for sheet metal workers in the United States was $58,780 in May 2023. No molds required.
So a figure runs 8.5 years of labor.
and MIGHT do double the production,
If youve got demand and a streamlined cad/cam pipeline.
The question is how repeatable and precise is the robot vs the man – the more artisanal hand labour but not at all parts compatible coachwork style wouldn’t be acceptable in many places now, even for a short run more prototype style part. Not always though, probably even not very often.
Not knocking the skills of the these people either, no doubt they can make a very good and highly finished initial prototype much much faster than the robot can be setup to make the first one, might even be quicker per part overall for some geometries, but as soon as you want to make a handful of tech demo units for development etc having that more perfect 1:1 reproduction again and again as many times as you need it…
Its great if you have no skill nor skilled labor to be able to form sheet metal, no doubt. However, the fender the metal worker produces will be ready to paint and bolt on at the end of 3-4 hours of work. The “fender” this machine produced required cutting from the sheet and welding of two halves together first, because the machine is incapable of producing the same part.
A good metal worker can hammer and roll sheets time after time and always fit the buck.
When you need more than a handful of identical sheet metal parts you build a die and stamp them.
Im not saying this device is without merit. Im just saying the 40 hours to 1 hour is as overblown as the price of the machine.
Carioca, a native of Rio de Janeiro.
Sounds like a video made as advertisement for the Figure..
Sorry, wrong level in the comments
It looks really nice for prototyping.
I believe a group at my university was doing research on this already two decades ago
https://www.mech.kuleuven.be/en/research/flex-sheet-metal-working/research/isf
I want it in version 3020 which will fit on my desk, like small Chinese CNC ;)
De
Forming and construction of the Bridge Too Far, 2016. https://royaldanishacademy.com/en/case/bridge-too-far
The Bridge Too Far
Seems like something similar could be achieved in the DIY space with a rigid structure and high force actuators, possibly hydraulic.
“Incremental (metal) sheet forming” seems to be the “standardized” name for this process, and there are many video’s with annoying music and very low on actual content. I don’t care myself for the car this guy is building, so I skipped the first 3:30 and then you can briefly see a short clip of how this Figur machinine works. There are some video’s about the “Figur G15” that are a few years old. I like the use of the silicone backing to push the sheet metal around the die, but I still don’t know how the tool head works. Does it rotate or vibrate? In traditional metalwork a hammer and some sort of soft pillow (filled with something heavy maybe lead shot?) is used.
Such prototype car parts are however an excellent way to demonstrate the capabilities of a machine like this. @4:25 the narrative states it’s 40 man hours of a highly skilled craftsman compared to one hour of machining time. That’s a huge difference.
The website of https://figur.desktopmetal.com/ still shows “preliminary specs” It looks like they are halfway in between prototyping and production of these machines.
The most exotic shapes will be in the outer shells of the humanoid robots of the future. But they will likely be made of plastic.
Is metal shaping a niche industry/market? Metal casting seems the dominant form of metal manipulation, what uses metal shaping on the scale of the Figur machine?
Casting serves a different sector of metal manipulation. Casting performs poorly when large thin sections of metal are required. The sort of parts that casting does well arent the sort of parts this system would produce.
Where SLM attempts to digitize away casting, this is attempting to do so to sheet metal.
Sheetmetal construction is generally die stamped at high production volume and power hammered. brake and press, or english wheel work at low production volume.
The figur g15 Part size can range from about 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 in) to 91 x 91 cm (3 x 3 ft) with a draw depth up to 400 mm (16 in). As you can see in the video shown, its too small for many applications, requiring parts to be produced in pieces to be cut and welded together like a patchwork quilt.
Would love to see this stuff more accessible – it’s huge news for classic cars and the like where obsolete parts could be re-created relatively cheaply from CAD / 3D scans.
While I have huge respect for the few artisans who are out there hand-forming panels for classic cars / planes, that’s cost-prohibitive for the vast majority of folks.
I hope this brings down the price of bespoke suits of armor.