After A LOT of effort and learning some new things along the way, the press brake is bending!!!
I had to completely redo the controls on the brake itself and interface the new plc with the kawasaki, I wrote a squaring routine using sensors as the backstop and comping the angle of the position and it works beautifully.
Here's a link to a video of it bending.
Hello RetroVending, It's really nice and great job! 
I just wanted to ask one question, I don't have experience in such type of application, but did you try or you see the possibility of following the bending element? To not let it go but to keep it by robotic all the time?
Konrad S Thanks I appreciate it,
With a servo driven press brake, or a much nicer hydraulic press brake like an Amada or trubend I'm sure I could have done so. I don't have coordinated motion capabilities with this one as it's a retrofitted baileigh press brake, not exactly cutting edge. The original controls were all hardwired relays 
It would come down to dialing in the speed of the robot on each bend through trial and error or by doing a whole lot of math to figure out the angular velocity of each bend. neither of which I had time for on this project.
