Uses for a punch press

[WRH51]

I recently acquired a Alva Allen 12 ton punch press for basically scrap price. It is in excellent condition with air clutch. I also have the pieces to mount punch and die sets to it as well as the punch and dies themselves. My question is what are some creative or alternative uses for these machines as far as blacksmithing is concerned. I understand the considerable safety concerns associated with these machines and that they are designed for cold work. I thought this might be a way to start a thread to exhange ideas on this subject. Thanks in advance for your ideas!

[LDW]

I work in the manufacturing industy and we have punch presses. I was watching one operate the other day and came up with a wild idea. If you have a 12 ton press and you took a die shoe and put say 11 tons worth of springs under it, I was wondering if you could use the top of the die shoe as the bottom die of an 11 ton hammer. You would have to lower the die shoe enough that when the press is in the down stroke it would be at the top of the die shoe when the die shoe is in the up stroke position. Your material thickness would be limited to the travel of the die shoe. you could bolt a fullering die to the top of the die shoe to increase the tonnage. Like I said its just a thought. You definitely would not want to try it unless you are familiar with setting dies up in punch presses.

[trying-it]

Punch presses are mostly designed for sheet metal or thin plate fabrication. I ran many a punch press in my lifetime and consider myself lucky that I still have all 8 fingers and both thumbs complete. I'm real lucky as I had one particular beast triple punch during one cycle instead of a single punch; apparently a dog had a little too much wear on it. Many I have worked with were not so lucky as they do have fingers missing. Or in the case of one dear friend, both hands are missing to the wrists as a result of just setting a press up with dies and the machine cycled at the wrong time.

Just a heads up warning from an old concerned IFI member. BE safe - Stan

[NeatGuy]

Punch press can be used for texturing and incising stock cold or hot. you will need to make an adjustable lower tool holder. You could probably make rivets like there is not tomorrow with the punch press.

It will work similar to a large fly press. You must take precautions to not exceed the capacity of the press; it must complete its stroke.

I have a large Trumpf nibbler which is similar to a continously running punch press. There is a version of my machine called a
"co-ordinated copy punch press" it operates like a nibbler but has a single stroke mode; I would love to have it.

[Jacob]

They are great for punching holes. It will save a lot of time over drilling. You already have the tooling, so use it for that.

[Valentin]

I use it for : texturing, drifting, splitting but man ... they are just dangerous so if there is another alternative use the other BTW i have to of them both 10Tone ) only use one .ohh when they get jamed they get jamed ...i once spent about 2 hours to loosen it up not very fun KEEP THE FINGERS AND HANDS OUT OF THE WORKING PLACE ALL THE TIME !

[Valentin]

Ok... this hapend to me during the operation of that presses :
1 i shaterd a die oance
2.i busted the thread that you screw to adjust the stroke
Not verry funny so if u are going to use it GET A ROLL CAGE i am joking ! Be very careful !

[facium]

I used to repair this type of equipment, and the potential for endangerment of life and limb are being understated. . this press gets it power from the potential energy stored in a spinning flywheel. once cycled nothing will stop this type of press except the knife pulling out the dog, or hitting something harder the the punch tonnage + 20~30%.
the second condition will either shear off the dog (you hope) or break the shaft (you hope not. I saw this happen, the flywheel went through two buildings and sereral cars before ending up spinning like a quarter half a block away).

[mcash3000]

Hey guys. I am new to using punch press. Where I work, we punch holes along a length of material. The hole locations vary on different parts and we have hundreds of parts. Do any of you guys know of an easy and accurate way to seperate the die sets out over a certain length. Currently use a tape measure and hammer, and we might make a few bad parts before we get it right.

[drone]

Originally Posted by Valentin

Ok... this hapend to me during the operation of that presses :
1 i shaterd a die oance
2.i busted the thread that you screw to adjust the stroke
Not verry funny so if u are going to use it GET A ROLL CAGE i am joking ! Be very careful !

I worked with quite a few punch presses in my time as well. I used to punch holes with a certain punch all day long. It would punch 1.250 hole in one inch plate like you were poking you finger throuhg a piece of cellophane.

My problem started out that my foreman wanted me to use a smaller machine that you had to hold the handle down to bring the die down or pull it the opposite way to bring it up. I had to put an oblong punch and die in the machine which was easy using the machine I was used to. Long story short the punch shattered and a piece slid across my nose went through my eyelid and detatched my retina. Dont yell at me about using safety glasses it was 10 yrs ago and believe me I learned my lesson. When you have 2 eyes you dont think much about losing one, but when you only have one its always on your mind.

Punch presses are very useful save alot of time and money but they are very dangerous and I wouldnt get to creative finding other uses for them that arent rated by the manufacture. I have shattered a few other dies but not with those devastating results. If you use that type of machine alot its not if something will break but when. Safety First