Maximize Your Swager’s Productivity

Maximize the Productivity of Your Swaging Process: Incorporate Feeders

Optimize your swaging operation and increase operator safety with feeding systems from FENN! Whether you are considering updating existing swaging machinery or purchasing new, FENN recommends all swagers have a feeding system. Feeding systems not only promote safety by isolating the operator from the material but also improve accuracy, maximize production efficiencies, and help reduce operating costs. With many types available, our application specialist will work with your business to understand your budget, production flow and goals to recommend or custom design the best solution. FENN has a wide variety of feeder options – some of our most popular options include:

Custom Application Feeder

FENN can design a custom feeder to meet your unique and demanding production needs. Systems are available for unique shapes, varying sizes, and high-capacity products. Custom feeders can be designed to accommodate small material for tabletop swaging applications. For example, the FENN NF-2 rotary swager is specialized for small solid rod and tubing, commonly used in the medical, aerospace, and energy industries. Some examples are hypodermic tubing, catheters, small insulated cables, and pointing of titanium wire. This video demonstrates an automated NF-2 feeder system with swaging capabilities of pointing 1/8” (3.175 mm) stainless steel tubing. An automated feeder is paired with this swager to increase the efficiency of the swaging process, maintain accuracy, and provide operator safety. Custom feeding systems are available for all FENN swagers, sizes NF – 8F.

Door Mounted Feeder (DM500 – DM1250)

As the name implies, door-mounted feeders are mounted onto the front door of a swaging machine. Material is fed to the swager using hydraulically powered pinch rolls. This type of feeder is engineered to work well with wire and rod customers to point material for drawbench use. A door-mounted feeder set-up is also ideal for continuous through-swaging of spool material such as high tensile wire rope. Door-mounted feeders are available for FENN swager sizes 3F – 8F; others are available upon request.

Hydraulic Table Feeder (25H, 45H, & 60H)

This type of feeder uses a rigid base with a hydraulically powered, accurate, sliding top for precision applications. A hydraulic feeder is ideal for swaging machine applications that require high accuracy and high reduction – such as many applications common in the aerospace industry. Hydraulic table feeder systems can be integrated into existing swager operations and new swagers, they are controlled via HMI touchscreen. From the HMI, the operator can control:

• Clamp pressure percentage: the amount of pressure applied to the part to hold it in place during the swaging process
• Dwell time: how long the part stays inside the dies
• The cycle start position: the location of the feed at the start of the process
• The swage start position: where the part meets the swager and the dies start to form the part
• The stop position: the distance at which the feeder stops feeding the part and returns to the home stop.
• The rapid feed speed percentage: the speed at which the part is fed by the feeder to the swager
• Swage feed speed percentage: the speed at which the part is fed while being swaged

Additionally, the operator can start and stop the hydraulic feeder table with simple buttons on the HMI touchscreen and the system can be set to automatically shut down after sitting idle for a selected amount of time. The “part counter” feature allows the operator to set the number of parts to be swaged in a sequence – after completing the sequence the system will shut off. Hydraulic table feeders are available for FENN swaging machines sizes 3F – 8F, others are available upon request.

While FENN offers many standard options, we understand that each business has a unique process and may require a customized feeding solution for their swaging operations. FENN offers additional swager components and options to optimize your swaging process. From sound enclosures, coolant/slushing systems, and completely automated turn-key systems. Not only can FENN design and build a swaging machine for your application, but we also offer comprehensive training programs that can be tailored to meet your business needs. Whether you have purchased a new swaging machine, upgraded an existing swaging machine or your experienced staff is retiring, FENN is available to answer questions and offer training to keep your business productive. With training available on all machinery purchases and upgrades, feeders and software updates can be seamlessly integrated into your system. With our extensive services, we are able to support our customers by telephone, digital remote capabilities, and field service diagnostics and repair.