Guides
Write-ups on the math that runs at the brake — tonnage, bend allowance, die selection — in plain language, with the formulas showing. It’s the same math Precision Form works out for you, out where you can read it.
Free tool
Free press brake tonnage calculator
The wall-chart math as a working tool — pick a material, enter thickness, bend length, and die opening, and get total tons and tons per foot. No signup.
Run the calculator →How press brake tonnage is calculated
The shop formula, what drives the number up or down, and a real bend checked against the gauge.
Read the guide →Bend allowance and K-factor, explained plain
Why flat patterns come up wrong, and the math — allowance, deduction, and K — that gets them right.
Read the guide →Picking a V-die for air bending
The 8× rule, when to break it, and what the opening does to radius, minimum flange, and tonnage.
Read the guide →Press brake tonnage chart (air bending, mild steel)
Tons per foot for the common thicknesses and die openings — the chart, with its assumptions showing.
Read the guide →Tonnage math in a spreadsheet vs. Precision Form
What a spreadsheet does well, where it breaks down on the floor, and what we built instead.
Read the guide →