How do you use your shop press?

[MNBobcat]

if you're the type that builds or fixes things regularly, then an ironworker would be one of the handiest pieces of machinery around. problem is, unless you use one every day, it's not really a cost effective tool. sure there are some old used ones out there for cheap money, but they are generally massive, and myself, i don't have the floor space to donate to one. not to mention, the good deals i see are usually 2000 miles away or more, so even going to look at it is not practical, let alone bringing it home. there are nice small ones geared toward home shop size operations, but they are all newer and will generally run you several thousand dollars with tooling.

the good thing here is that an ironworker is really not much more than a glorified shop press. you can use most any shop press and build/buy dies that will make it punch, bend, and shear metal like an ironworker. the limit is the capacity of the hydraulics. you can sometimes find used ironworker tooling on places like ebay for cheap prices, and rework if to fit into your shop press.

I bought a 40T iron worker for $100. They can be had reasonably if you keep an eye out and are patient.

 

[dfkrug]

the good thing here is that an ironworker is really not much more than a glorified shop press. you can use most any shop press and build/buy dies that will make it punch, bend, and shear metal like an ironworker. the limit is the capacity of the hydraulics.

I have looked on and off for a used ironworker, and I have paid for a local
guy to punch holes in 1/2" plate for me. I decided that I don't really want
to dedicate the floor space, the 240V socket, and the money for such a unit.
I have drooled over the new IWs at the tractor shows, and there are now
40T "portable" units that use 120V, but they still run thousands, without
tools.

I have asked these IW distis if they know of any units that are sold without
hydraulic power, so you can use your own hydraulic power source. I have a
very convenient source of 2500psi hydraulic power. A 3" cyl can deliver
35T of force with 2500psi and a 4x lever arm.

I have considered making my own punch press. They have to be quite
different from a hyd press like those in this thread. IW presses are not
direct-acting: they use a lever arm to mulitply force. Simple hyd presses
use a direct-acting cylinder, so you are not going to get the forces an
IW delivers. The other problem is for punching holes: you really need
DA cylinders so you can extract your punch. A SA-cyl press won't do that,
even if you bought a set of tools/dies. Shearing or bending would not
require DA, however.

 

[jatt1]

Yeah the chinese 30T in the shed has been really useful. Sometimes I wish I had a 50T, the extra width and hydr grunt would be handy when bending up some sheet jobs. Then again the 30 is much easier weight wise when moving around the shop when I need to.

Came across a new 4 sided 60 deg V block for cheap from a machinery joint, so I bought that. Excess piece from a press brake that they sold to someone, good quality too, so a definite bonus. 85 deg would have been better, but would have cost heaps more. Made up a couple of matching male top tooling.

If the cost of a conventional mag drill scares you like it did me, not to mention the price of broach bits. Keep an eye out for one like I picked up, that is with a MT collet. Yes it is Chiwanese, but it was cheaper than the proper ones with the broach collet. A MT shanked chuck and I'm in business.