West Manufacturing News • Aug 22 • Precise Pipe Bending Solution

Unison Tube LLC of Danville, VA, has assisted Morse Hydraulics, a USbased provider of high-pressure hydraulic hoses and fittings, in removing its reliance on external suppliers for the bending of specialist pipe fittings and, in doing so, also reducing the volume of bent components it holds in stock.

Morse Hydraulics required a pipe bending machine that would offer high levels of accuracy and repeatability, yet would be well suited to a manufacturing environment specializing in one-off and small batch runs.

“Our goal was two-fold,” said Richie Damian, owner at Morse Hydraulics. “First and foremost, we wanted to carry out pipe bending in-house to enable us to respond even more quickly to the varied needs of our customers. Secondly, as a knock-on benefit, we also wanted to reduce the significant levels of bent pipe fittings that outsourced production meant we were having to hold in stock.”

“Until we met with the team at Unison Tube, our search for the right pipe bending machine was proving challenging,” Damian continued. “Many of the lower-priced machines we saw simply did not offer the levels of accuracy we were looking for, whereas other fully automated CNC machines were either prohibitively expensive or offered capabilities we would never use.”

Listening to Morse Hydraulics’ pipe bending requirements prompted Stuart Singleton, VP at Unison Tube LLC, to recommend one of Unison’s EvBend 2000 power-assisted CNC machines. “Recently introduced by Unison to assist precision manufacturing companies that require low-volume, high-accuracy tube and pipe production and prototyping, EvBend machines are CNC-controlled, manually operated 3-axis models that offer precise multiplane bending at much lower cost than many fully automated CNC benders,” said a spokesperson.

“Since the Unison EvBend 2000 was installed at our facility in Portland, OR, we have completely removed our reliance on outsourced pipe bending and have been able to significantly reduce our stockholding,” said Damian. “With bending on site, we are better placed to deliver the high-quality hydraulic tube fittings our customers require, as well as custom bend even the most hard-to-find fittings and connectors. Unison’s thorough training ensured we were producing saleable bent components from day one, plus they are never more than a phone call away should we need them for guidance.”

Unison EvBend machines are used across aerospace, Formula One and the oil & gas industry. The EvBend 1000 machine will precision bend tube and pipe of up to 16 mm OD, while the bigger EvBend 2000 machine, as purchased by Morse Hydraulics, will precision bend tube and pipe of up to 50 mm OD.

For more information contact: Morse Hydraulics 5805 NE Columbia Blvd. Portland, OR 97218 971-278-3201 www.morsehydraulics.com