Bringing a host of tube and wire bending innovations to FABTECH 2025
Published: | Tube & Wire bending
Occupying a considerable 2,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space at FABTECH 2025, Unison Tube LLC, the North American division of UK-based Unison Ltd, will present a number of innovative tube bending machines and technologies.
Visitors to Booth #D42137 will be able to discover the capabilities of one of Unison’s 35 mm (maximum tube diameter) bi-directional left-hand/right-hand all-electric ‘Breeze’ tube bending machines. A Unison EvBend 1000 manually operated, CNC-controlled tube bending machine will also be on display. As will one of the company’s hybrid-electric, dual-stack Synergy 50 mm tube bending machines, along with a rotary head wire and tube bending machine from Unison’s sister company, Pneuform Machines Ltd. Significant advances in tube simulation will also be showcased in the form of Unison’s Opt2Sim Scan tube scanning software, which will be teamed with a Creaform handheld 3D scanner.
“For FABTECH 2025, we’ve really gone to town,” says Stuart Singleton, VP of Danville, VA-based Unison Tube LLC. “Not only will we exhibit a wide range of machines - models to suit everything from the production of highly specialized parts to volume tube bending - we will also be demonstrating what is quite possibly the most advanced handheld tube measurement system around.”
Unison left-hand/right-hand tube bending machines
The Unison Breeze 35 mm bi-directional left-hand/right-hand all-electric tube and pipe bending machine that will be on show at FABTECH is just one of the solutions Unison offers for organizations producing parts of complex geometry that need to be bent in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. Depending on requirement, customers can choose from ‘pinball’ or ‘rise & fall pressure die’ left/right options. Simplifying the bending process, these advanced, precise, all-electric machines are used in a variety of sectors where the production of challenging tubular shapes, often in difficult-to-bend metals such as Inconel and Super Duplex stainless steels, is required.
Unison Synergy hybrid-electric, dual-stack tube bending machines
Developed to make Unison quality and reliability accessible to even more companies involved in tube manipulation, Unison Synergy hybrid-electric, dual-stack tube bending machines combine precise electric control with advanced, near-silent hydraulic operation. “Since launch, our Synergy models have proved highly popular with manufacturers and subcontractors who carry out repetitive tube bending tasks,” adds Stuart Singleton. “As well as the 50 mm model that will be on show at FABTECH, there’s also a larger 80 mm machine. Both have our user-friendly Unibend control and feature industry leading motors and drives. They offer exceptional power and rigid mechanical design.”
EvBend – CNC-controlled, manually operated 3-axis mandrel bending
Designed for low volume, high-accuracy production and prototyping, Unison EvBend models are used widely across the aerospace, MRO, Formula 1 and oil & gas industries where they provide CNC-controlled, manually operated 3-axis mandrel, multi-plane bending at a fraction of the cost of fully automated machines. While the EvBend 1000 has been designed for bending tube of up to 16 mm in diameter (22 mm in copper), a larger machine, the EvBend 2000, is also available. Built to bend tube of up to 50 mm in diameter, its bending function is servo-assisted.
Pneuform wire bending machines
Visitors to Booth #D42137 will also be able to learn more about the wire and small-diameter tube and bar bending machines available from Pneuform Machines Ltd. Unison acquired Pneuform in the fall of 2023 and has just introduced a number of enhancements across the entire Pneuform range. Over recent months, Unison’s automation and software development teams have been busy adapting its Unibend control and Opt2Sim simulation software to create ‘Unibend-Wire – an integrated CNC and 3D simulation system especially for Pneuform machines and with a key focus on ease of use, production uplift and low cost of ownership.
Opt2Sim Scan – for rapid, precise and consistent results
Quite possibly the most advanced handheld tube measurement solution on the market, Unison’s Opt2Sim Scan system combines rapid scanning of tube geometry with easy extraction of tube data. Teamed with a Creaform handheld 3D scanner to measure the tube or component they wish to replicate or measure, operators need only enter its bending data into Opt2Sim Scan, then compare measured tube dimensions to master file data and send any corrections directly to the bending machine.
“Offering considerable scan points without compromising speed, the constant reference geometry provided by Opt2Sim Scan ensures supremely accurate results,” comments Stuart Singleton. “Compare to master’ and feedback to the bending machine is quick and seamless. Additionally, as the Creaform 3D scanner is fully autonomous, it can be easily combined with a cobot or robot to make it part of a manufacturing cell for 100% inspection.
“FABTECH is always extremely important to us,” concludes Stuart Singleton, “as it enables us to present our incredible, highly relevant, ultra-precise and ultra-repeatable tube bending technologies to a vast number of leading North American manufacturers and subcontractors. It’s for that reason, at the 2025 event, we’ll be showing more tube bending technologies than ever before.”
About Unison Tube LLC
Based in Danville, Virginia, Unison Tube LLC is the North American division of Unison Ltd – the UK’s leading manufacturer of tube and pipe bending machines, offering the largest range of all-electric benders for diameters from 4 mm (5/32”) to 275 mm (10”). Unison Ltd manufactured the world’s first all-electric tube bender in 1994, followed by the world’s first all-electric multi-stack tube bender, then the world’s largest all-electric tube bender for the shipbuilding industry. Available in single-stack, multi-stack and right/left varieties, Unison machines are delivered to more than 20 countries globally. Written and supported by Unison, the company’s tube bending software is widely recognized as the most user-friendly control system for tube bending machines.
Unison Breeze left-hand/right-hand all-electric tube bending machine.
Unison Synergy hybrid-electric, dual-stack tube bending machine.
