Scored Punch Press

My very first job as an apprentice was running a 30 ton punch press, punching and shearing 1/8 x 1 HR flat for filter brackets. No guards, one hand actuation. I was really cranking out the parts when my JC machine shop instructor dropped in. Thought he was going to have a stroke.
Be VERY CAREFUL! They are very fast and couldn't care less whether it's steel, flesh or bone.

I'm with the others, I can't imagine what I would do with one.
 
No imagination! I feel sorry.
 
I think what's being said is that a punch press is first and foremost a production machine designed to crank out thousands of identical parts. Once the initial tooling and set up is complete it will do this with astonishing efficiency. That said, the very first part produced could easily cost $10,000+in tooling.
In a non production shop there are usually far better ways of producing a limited number of parts than tooling up a punch press.
Your case may be different. Also, if you feel the fun factor of gaining knowledge and experience with it is what you are after I say good for you.
That was the experience with my punch press. It was great fun until I realized there really wasn't much it could do efficiently other than beat out thousands of the same doohickey or punch the same hole in a limited thickness of material.
Enjoy your machine. It was a good buy dollar wise........................Bob
 
I love the vise-grips on the webbing. Learned a new trick there. Nothing could go wrong with that! :)
 
Well, I hope to use it at least a $100 worth! It's not taking up room in my shop because I put it in the 'shop annex', which is a 10x30 roof overhang along side the shop. It's so much nicer to work outside, especially for grinding, cleaning and other dirty jobs.

It came with about 40 lbs. of dies and punches of at least 3 different sizes but only has a holder plate that fits 3 of them so that will be the 1st order of business.

From posts I received here and disassembly I've basically learned how to 'set up'.



Mind mentioning some of that 'cool stuff'?

Attached a few pics of install and annex.

Thanks for all replies!
Aaron
If you are going to do some decorative work, like making metal strips with a series of holes or especially slots it's great. At one time, I made a punch and die to stamp out small spinner blades for fishing lures. It had the small round punch and the outside shape of the blade so after the initial hole, every kick produced a finished blade. You could set it up to rivet parts together. I made a punch and die to punch holes in aluminum tubing for making windchimes when I made dozens of sets. The holes were for rubber grommets that the hanging strings passed through. I do agree that a press is more for production, but having one, if it doesn't take up valuable real estate can inspire you to be creative. When I was making chimes, I also picked up a benchtop arbor press. I had been making the hex shaped tops of the chime sets out of ash and had to mark 5 or 6 double sets of holes for the hanging strings.I hade been using a template with holes and marking each hole with a pencil. With the arbor press, I made an aluminum plate, drilled and tapped holes in the proper places, then installed pointed transfer screws in each hole. With the plate mounted on the shaft and a positioning fixture on the table, I just had to set the wood tops against the stops and with one pull of the handle, all of my holes were marked. Aa a bonus, the marks were equivalent to center punch marks so the drill bit followed the exact positioning. At other times the arbor press doesn't get frequent use, but I wouldn't be without one when it comes time to replace a small bearing on a shaft or do other small jobs.
 
Thanks Tony, great ideas
 
My very first job as an apprentice was running a 30 ton punch press, punching and shearing 1/8 x 1 HR flat for filter brackets. No guards, one hand actuation. I was really cranking out the parts when my JC machine shop instructor dropped in. Thought he was going to have a stroke.
Be VERY CAREFUL! They are very fast and couldn't care less whether it's steel, flesh or bone.

I'm with the others, I can't imagine what I would do with one.
All of the presses in our shop were pedal, dog actuated. They ranged from 10 ton to 50 ton presses. Your hands had free range to be where you put them. You learned to be sure they were in a safe place before operating the pedal.
 
I made a shear using two old files. It sure is fast for shearing small parts. I make yarn racks
and i shear 1/2" cold roll round all day.
 
I have had a 30 ton press and a 1 ton press for more than 30 years and have never used them once. I had a manufacturing business and made my own electronics enclosures and the idea of punching the blanks seemed good at the time. The problem is that a large amount of time must be invested in making a complex set of dies and unless you're looking at hundreds to thousands of parts, the payback is low. I was making about fifty enclosures a year. The last work the 30t press did was punching out paper washers for dry cells at Ray O Vac. Talk about overkill!

A inertial punch press works best in an automated fashion. Single stepping would normally be used for setup purposes.

I have a kick press that I made some simple dies for which I used for almost 20 years. I had three sets of dies set up on a single plate and pins for alignment of the punches and dies so setup was fairly simple but even so, I still tried to run a dozen pieces with each setup.

Another issue with using a press is alignment of work. For one-off usage, this could be a real concern. I used guide pins for my applications but this required prior machine work.

Unless you are in production, a CNC plasma deck would be far more versatile. Safer too. A good friend of my father had only a thumb and little finger on his right hand an arc in between thanks to a punch press at Sunbeam Corp. It ended his working career and put him on disability for the rest of his life.

I still have all of of my presses, gathering dust, rust and cobwebs in my barn.
 
A friend of mine has three punch presses for sale. I think one is a 50 or 70 ton. I can think of a couple of projects they might be useful for, but I'm not sure they're worth the time and effort to move and set up.
 
Back
Top