Iron Worker Punch Press

[ultrarunner]

At the tool and machine shop the air compressors and hydraulic pump had their own cinder block structure... can't really say how loud they were because we really never heard them.

Are biggest project when I was there was for the space shuttle... we had a pair of 200' lines that covered the entire assembly area...

I would love to have one in my home shop...

 

[Arc weld]

Never knew an ironworker needed a special footing. A really large one maybe? The ones I've used didn't appear to have a special footing for them. I think if it's bolted down on a flat surface should suffice. The machine takes the stress, not the floor unless it's a bad floor or the machine moves. If all you mostly want is the hole punch, you don't need a real big ironworker to have decent capacity. I think Edwards has greatly improved their ironworkers. They were never considered comparable to premium ironworkers like Peddinghaus or Mubea but were still a good tool. I think Piranha is a top end machine, Scotchman is good, has a lot of attachments available but is slower, Kingsland is good, Geka is very good, Uni-Hydro is a little crude and there's several other brands in between. I don't think it should be hard to find a 40 to 50 ton used ironworker in the $4000-$6000 range. I worked at a place a few years ago that had a used Mubea 71 ton mechanical that was completely rebuilt that they figured they'd never sell because it was mechanical. They were asking $7000. It was in mint shape and could accommodate at least 2 operators at the same time. Google used ironworkers and see what comes up.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Stupid question. What kind of maintenance does an ironworker need? I assume the normal greasing and such, but what is the replacement / sharpening routine for the impact points. I ask for two reasons, one is for ownership (don't own one and would love one but don't know anyone who has one) and the other is for questioning the owner as I would never be able to buy new.

 

[CNC Dan]

Never knew an ironworker needed a special footing. A really large one maybe? The ones I've used didn't appear to have a special footing for them. I think if it's bolted down on a flat surface should suffice. The machine takes the stress, not the floor unless it's a bad floor or the machine moves.

I think they were refering to the old style mechanical ironworkers. They work off of a big flywheel. Step on the peadal, and in one quick reveloution.... Kerchunk! Quick, powerfull, and no stopping it once it's tripped.

 

[ultrarunner]

I think they were referring to the old style mechanical ironworkers. They work off of a big flywheel. Step on the peadal, and in one quick reveloution.... Kerchunk! Quick, powerfull, and no stopping it once it's tripped.

At the shop we needed substantial floors under the presses... even then the punch could be felt.

The iron worker never produced a shock wave any where near the presses.

 

[Rustyiron]

I have that 55 ton Edwards and love it. I also found it on CL with a good bit of tooling for $1800. Personally it was like winning the lottery. I had been looking for a IW for a good 20 years, allways $4k+ and hard to justify for a personal shop. My drill press is now cronically unemployed and shovel ready!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

55 ton and I though we did good coming up with a 1 ton Arbor Press today for $40 on a double sell.

1 Ton Arbor Press & Other Arbor Presses - Harbor Freight Tools

Years ago when I working a tool and die shop the owner had a couple big punch presses and they sank one corner of the building. They will do a lot of work but noise and dangerous for sure.

Not sure what we got for $40 put having nothing was not very good either. While not an IW for sure I am hoping it helps us with some small U Joint replacement on the ATV and pressing bearings ect.

By the way how much does your 55 ton press weight? Do you have three phase power to your shop? Sounds like a nice shop.

 

[Rustyiron]

The modern "ironworker" is usually a "3 or 4 station" that with the same stroke of the Hyd cyl. you have a hole punching, flat plate cutting, angle cutting & a notcher, all moving at the same time for use at one station at a time. This might be different up in the 100 ton range but they have nothing in common with what I think a bunch of you guys are thinking of, that is a giant 15' tall WW II tank maker. It has more in common with a log splitter than those old stamping presses that worked off the inertia of a huge flywheel. My 55 ton edwards is maybe 1000 lbs. and takes up about 4'x3' of floor space. Completely hydraulic and yes, 3ph. A phase converter came with it. New they can be ordered single phase. They are super time savers. Just like wood working, all your time is in cutting & fitting the parts. Sticking them togher is the easy part.

 

[4shorts]

I'd say yours is more than a 1000 lbs. My 60 ton weighs 2500 lbs. I ordered mine single phase. Also ordered it with the auto electrics. Wouldn't be without it now.

 

[jwmorris]

My punch press and iron worker are both mechanical flywheel style. The iron worker also has a lever on the punch that allows you to bring the punch down manually to locate on a center punch indent then hit the switch to punch.

The angle iron shear allows you to miter at the same time you shear speeding up the process a lot over most iron workers that only shear square then you have to notch for the angle.

Every time I use a friends Scotchman I can't believe how long it takes to complete a cycle. I thought iron workers were to make the process faster, hydraulics is a step backwards to me.

Mine is in the back ground in this photo. Likely the best $500 I have spent on metal fab equipment.

No special foundation and note that it even has wheels at the bottom.