$100 for a old 1/2 HP punch press

Does it have tooling i.e. useful punches? If not do you have the means to produce your own? Either way, at $100 it sounds like you could sell it at the scrap iron place for nearly as much if you decide you don't want it. I don't think many home shops have punch presses, they're a little specialized for home use.

OK, thanks. I let them know that I am interested. This is about 67-70 year ld son of a 93 year machinist.

A friend keeps reminding Me: "The punch press is ALWAYS trying to get you".

Pete Stanaitis

-----------------

Ignoramus9581 wrote:

Ignoramus9581 wrote:

the way I would see it is this. If you want to make things, wether for a hobby or your livelihood, the 1st thing you need is space. the 2nd thing you need are tools. Now there are lots of different types of punch presses, those for working primarily smiths work, and those for say blanking out parts for anything you might want from say fishing reels to car to model parts. then the next thing is whats the rated tonnage? ie, what work will it do? you say a big fly wheel How big? dia? thickness? etc. Whatsthe throat depth? and whats the hole size in the bed plate?

That determines howbig a piece youe blanked out or punched will fall through into a bucket or tray. underneath. There should also be some kind of clutch mechanism that causes the fly wheel to engage with the crank? either continiously or single shot.

Any chance of a picture? What ever it is its a steal @$100.00. Whats also more interesting what else is there?

Let me tell you about my own steal in 1987. Im a silversmith not a jeweller, making bigger stuff. I had a call from a one armed fellow smith, to say, another s/smih was retiring some 5o miles from me, all the modern stuff was gone, and all that was left was all his old rubbish.(his words) My friend thought I was the sort of idiot who would be interested in that. I went to see this old chap, and what he had was as follows. It was a complete drop stampers workshop dating from 1851, nothing from that period was missing. the drop stamp, the fly presses, the dies the bolsters the catalogues the price lists all black and dirty. Some 10 tons of it it eventually worked out. It had come originally from the Birmingham jewelly quarter. no one else wanted it down here . It had been his family's livelyhood from his great grandfathers time and he didnt have a son to follow on. I Called him a few days later to say Id have it all, with the promise id never scrap it but use it, . BUT all I could offer was scrap price plus 10% and Id collect. He called back a few days later to say yes and the rest is history. This complete museum collection !! was the key to a complete range of new products for me.. I design ,make, and market my own productsretail. Dont sell to the trade. By 1989 I had made the drop hammer fully transportable so I could mint a plaque or medal for an event AT the event. The second time I took it out for real, I took $6000.00 over a 5 day period off the hammer. I was even invited to come from the UK to Chicago to the 100th centenery of the Americaln numismatic assn. the drop stamp stands 10 ft high, weighs some 2 tons and gives over 100 tons dynamic energy. Medium Hammer is 275lbs, andcanfall some 5 ft. Nice tool!!. Never had guards or nothin, the old smith taught me how to use it and how not to get ones hands or antyhing else in the way. the sad bit was he never got to see what I made from his rubbish. He died 6 months after I bought it off him. See your press as a step up in the do it yourself game. As others have said, there will probably be lots of tooling about, but youll need help to identify what your looking for. If yoyur not going to use it, make sure it goes to someone who can. It aught not to be scrapped. Modern tooling can be very expensive if you dont know how to make your own.

Lets have pictures ond keep us all informed how you get on.

Yes. Watch your fingers and make sure the dog clutch is well greased

Gunner, who services such.

It's probably worth a hundred bux...........BUT..........

That said, old machines can have dangerous operating features. Faulty wiring, worn out switches or electrical contacts, mechanical problems that are not completely obvious.

This is a small press so ram stroke will be very quick.....TOO QUICK for you to get your body parts out of the way if it double trips. NEVER stick any hand, finger, or anything that would really hurt in the die area when the flywheel is in motion. I.e., motion of any kind AT ALL. Even if you have stopped the motor and the flywheel is spinning down. Wait until it has completely stopped.

The recommendation is that you then BLOCK the ram before putting a hand in the die area, if required (say to remove a mis-hit or tighten a screw or something), once the machine has come to a full rest. A section of sturdy I-beam may be ok for this but check into it further. Danly may make something even better.

Be very very careful with that thing. Dave

Phantom digits are a real problem !!!!!

Best Regards Tom.

It probably cycles in about .2 second.

The little ones arent fast...they are sudden.

Gunner

One got the hand of the daughter of a friend of mine in Ohio. She lost most of her hand when she reached in at the wrong time.

Mike, how sad. Did they recover the hand in any way?

Recover what Iggy, a blob of goo to keep in a jar of formaldehyde??? That's the difference between a punch press accident and say a table saw accident, the lack of anything to recover and reattach. Gotta be

Well, maybe the punch punched a small hole etc

Don't the punches normally have a fairly large clamp / stripper section around them? If it's just a straight punch the surrounding material will get deformed and stuck around the punch.

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned Gunner Asch wrote on Mon, 24 Sep 2007

Use two buttons to cycle the punch. That way you have a better than even chance of having your fingers out of the way when it cycles.

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)

As long as the frame, crankshaft, bearing caps, etc. are in good operating condition this is a great deal.

I and some friends once had access to a small machine like this and we thought we might make our fortunes by knocking out spoons (fishing lures), until we started to price dies. :(

Follow the strictist safety rules, as others have mentioned.

dennis in nca

Most of the little ones have a foot pedals with mechanical linkages.

Foot pedals and music do NOT go well together.

Gunner

I don't recall my liability insurance company asking if I had a punch press in my home shop, nor do I see such an exclusion in the policy...

Ooh, foot pedals... to insure you can get both of your hands in the machine and then cycle it... how evil...