[TheForge] punchin holes

[Ries Niemi]

On Tuesday, June 29, 2004, at 01:49 PM, Dan Tull wrote:

> I own 9 whitney punches.
> Paid anywhere from $3.00 to $150.00
> each.   4 ten ton, 4 twenty ton, 1 forty ton.
> Worth fighting over.
> I can punch a screw hole faster than I can find the chuck key to 
> change the
> drill bits.
> The 20 ton will punch 1/2" hole in 1/2 " plate cold.
> Love  'em.
>
>
>

I am with you on that one dan- punching is the way to go.
I have a similar, although slightly smaller pile of garage sale 
punches, starting with a no 5 jr for sheet metal, up to a 20 ton 
benchmount.  Also have a nice 10 ton 24" throat WA whitney no. 94, 
which will only go up to about 1/8" thick stock, but that deep throat 
is sure handy. The whole punch body is cut from one piece of 4" thick 
plate, about 24" x 32", must weigh over 500lbs. Cost a hundred and 
fifty, from a little old lady wearing tennis shoes, who only drove it 
on sundays.
However, once the hydraulic ironworker came in the shop, those hand 
punches dont seem quite so sexy. Oh, I still use em, but if the job can 
be done on the ironworker, I go to that first.
My 10 year old was in the shop the other day while I was forging, and 
wanted to do some, so I had him practice pulling a taper, then 
scrolling it. He did a pretty good job on it, but then he lost 
interest, and went off to play some demonic warfare computer game or 
something, and later my 13 year old was actually working in the shop 
with me. I pay him- with the understanding that when he gets his 
paychecks, 1/2 goes in the savings account, and he can blow half.
So he was helping me make the 10 year olds scroll end on a piece of 
3/8" round into a little hook on the wall to hold all the headphone 
style hearing protectors that the guys who work for me leave in a big 
heap.
I had him find a piece of scrap 1/4" x 2" flat bar, cut it to length, 
and sand the edges.
Then I took em to the ironworker, and showed him how to set the stops 
on it so the holes come out where you want. Turned it on, told him, 
"hit that foot pedal". He did, and the look on his face was priceless- 
sorta a sh*t eating grin. As the punch went through the quarter inch 
stock like butter, with no sound. He thought that was the coolest tool 
he had ever seen. He had walked past it a hundred times, but never used 
it, but now he is hooked.
And I still feel that way about it, after 5 or 6 years.
There is something about punching a 3/4" hole in a piece of 1/2" plate 
with an ironworker that just makes you smile every time. When I first 
got, there were holes in almost everything. Learned to restrain myself 
now, but I would rank it right up there with automatic weapons, Vincent 
Black Shadows, and 100 foot cranes in terms of sheer fun.

ries