New toy finally arrived!

[looper567]

Ordered this puppy 6 weeks ago, thought it would never get here! The electrician will be here Sat. AM to wire it up (I'd do it myself, but I want it to actually work). This will be a HUGE time saver.

[mike-hr]

That's a real nice new puppy. As a safety note, when punching holes, don't try to punch a hole that's smaller than the thickness of the plate. ( don't try to punch a 3/16 hole in 1/4 plate). A buddy was trying this, the punch exploded, the shrapnel dented the 6 inch steel ruler in his apron pocket, which was just in front of his heart....

[Dodge]

Nice machine looper! I want one!! Good point, Mike. Also, make sure the male and female die are properly aligned. This isn't as much of a problem on new machines and/or round dies but on older machines they don't always line up with out a little tweaking. Square or slotted holes especially need good alignment. When one of these dies break "Murphy" will certainly be lurking! He just loves iron workers

[irnsrgn]

wear gloves always when using one of those. everthing that is run thru them has razor sharp edges, and is deformed when its done. it might be a time saver initially, but the clean up more than makes up for the time supposedly saved.

my opinion.

[looper567]

Yeah, shouldn't be a problem with punch breakage since the heaviest material I will be working in this is 7ga. mild steel. I've been running these for 22 years and have never broke a punch except for a few 1/4" punches on the CNC Turrets while nibbling (before CNC Plasma and Waterjet became so popular). These machines are pretty tight, and my punch tolerances aren't excessive, so the burrs are minimized. As long as shear blades aren't abused and kept sharp, the edge burrs are minimal as well. If the rake is adjusted properly and you keep your punch oiled, there should be virtually zero deformation. Punch alignment should be checked EVERY time you change out a punch/die set, adjustment is as easy as loosening and tightening 2 bolts. Clean up is simply a matter of dragging a deburring blade across the edge quickly.
I've used some clapped-out, abused units that left some nasty burrs, but these Unihydro Ironworkers are some of the nicest (cost/quality) machines I've used. The gloves are a good idea any time you work sheet metal, but I never wear them while punching.

[looper567]

Here is what the machine is capable of. Nice tight clean edges, with no clean up... Time saved versus Plasma and Drilling is HUGE!