Press Brake Tonnage Chart
Approximate pressure in Tons per Linear Foot Required to Make 90 degreeAir Bend on Mild Steel (without fully bottoming the top die into the bottom die)

Highlighted Figures are the pressures required using a punch with a radius equal to the metal thickness and die opening approximately 8X metal thickness. This combination produces an air bend with an inside radius nearly equal to metal thickness-a good practical minimum for 90 degree bends. Buying wider Dies may increase the capacity of the Press Brake as shown on the chart. The disadvantage of using wider dies is that the minimum size flange you can bend up becomes larger and so does the inside radius.
EXAMPLES:
Question: How many tons is required for a brake press machine to bend 10 feet of 1/4 inch thick mild steel using a standard 2 inch wide bottom die?
Answer: 15.3 tons/foot x 10 feet = 153 tons. Therefore a 175 tons would be a good minimum size brake press machine if you are making more than just a few parts.
Question: How could you bend some 1/4 inch thick steel if you already own a 120 ton size press brake?
Answer: Use a 2-1/2 inch wide bottom die. 11.5 tons/foot x 10 feet = 115 tons.
Question: How many tons is required for a brake press machine to bend 10 feet of 1/4 inch thick stainless steel using using a 2 1/2 inch wide bottom die?
Answer: 115 tons x 90ksi divided by 60ksi = 177.5 tons
(using information from our Tensile Srengths webpage)

Call 773-334-5000 if you want help from one of our sales engineers.

Click for chart of tensile strengths for aluminum and stainless steel to compare with mild steel.
Click for a Bend Radius Chart for aluminum and stainless steel for recommended minimum bend radii.

Width of V-Die Opening	Thickness of Metal
Width of V-Die Opening	26Ga .018"	24Ga .024"	22Ga .030"	20Ga .036"	18Ga .048"	16Ga .060"	14Ga .075"	13Ga .090"	12Ga .105"	11Ga .120"	10Ga .135"	9 Ga .149"	7Ga .187"	1/4 .250"	5/16 .313"	3/8 .375"	7/16 .437	1/2 .500"	5/8 .625"	3/4 .750"	7/8 .875"	1"
1/8"	1.2	2.1	3.6	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Need Die Opening 10X material thickness
3/16"	0.8	1.4	4.1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Need Die Opening 10X material thickness
1/4"	0.5	1.1	1.8	2.9	5.4	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
5/16"	.	0.7	1.4	2.2	4.0	7.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
3/8"	.	.	1.0	1.7	2.9	5.6	8.8	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1/2"	.	.	.	1.2	2.2	3.6	10.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
5/8"	.	.	.	.	1.6	2.7	4.5	6.8	10.1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
3/4"	.	.	.	.	1.3	2.2	3.4	5.4	7.4	10.5	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
7/8"	.	.	.	.	.	1.7	3.0	4.3	6.3	8.8	11.3	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1"	.	.	.	.	.	1.4	2.5	3.7	5.4	7.2	9.6	13.1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1 1/8"	.	.	.	.	.	.	2.1	3.3	4.4	6.2	8.4	11.9	16.4	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1 1/4"	.	.	.	.	.	.	1.7	2.9	4.0	5.4	7.0	9.0	14.0	28.8	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1 1/2"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	3.2	4.3	5.6	6.7	11.2	22.0	38.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
2"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	3.2	4.1	5.2	7.6	15.3	26.0	41.0	.	.	.	.	.	.
2 1/2"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2.4	3.5	5.8	11.5	19.2	29.9	45.2	.	.	.	.	.
3"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2.2	4.5	9.1	16.0	24.0	35.0	47.9	.	.	.	.
3 1/2"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	7.5	12.5	19.4	28.0	39.0	69.5	.	.	.
4"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	6.2	10.6	16.0	24.0	33.1	58.0	92.0	.	.
5"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	7.6	12.3	17.0	24.0	42.2	69.0	104.0	.
6"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	9.3	14.6	19.0	32.4	52.2	80.0	112.2
7"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	11.1	15.6	26.0	42.2	63.0	90.2
8"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	12.7	23.0	36.0	52.5	76.0
10"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	16.5	27.0	39.4	56.2
12"	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	21.0	31.2	44.0

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Press Brake Tonnage Chart Approximate pressure in Tons per Linear Foot Required to Make 90 degreeAir Bend on Mild Steel (without fully bottoming the top die into the bottom die)

Press Brake Tonnage Chart
Approximate pressure in Tons per Linear Foot Required to Make 90 degreeAir Bend on Mild Steel (without fully bottoming the top die into the bottom die)