[TheForge] Punching holes with Hydraulic press

[David E. Smucker]

Bob,  You need a "stripper" between the punch and the female die.  (It goes 
above the sheet metal stock.)  If you can, get a look at an iron-worker and 
see how they are made.  You may be able to see enough from some ads on the 
web for iron-workers to get idea on how to make one for your press.  A hand 
held metal "fork" may work for your set up and should be simple to make.

Dave Smucker

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Bob Ehrenberger" <eforge at centurytel.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 2:22 PM
To: "theforge" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [TheForge] Punching holes with Hydrolic press

> Just a follow up from the question I asked a couple months ago about die
> clearance on a punch press.
>
> I finally got another order for the items that brought up the subject the
> first time. I needed to make 1" holes in 16ga sheet metal. First I thought 
> I
> would try a bolster that I already had that was way too big, like 1.5". 
> It
> punched the hole but pulled a lot of material in with the punch, and left 
> it
> connected at one point. Saturday I made two new bolsters, one out of 1/2"
> round and one out of 3/8" sq, both have about .030" clearance on the 
> punch.
> I tested them last night and both worked well knocking out a nice slug, 
> the
> one made from 1/2" round did pull in some material which could be a useful
> effect on some projects.  I check the alignment between punch and bolster
> without material and then put the sheet metal in and punch the hole.  The
> only problem is that the material sticks to the punch and has to be 
> knocked
> off after raising it up.  It's a whole lot easier than drilling big holes 
> in
> thin material.
>
> Robert Ehrenberger
> Shelbyville, Mo.
> eforge at centurytel.net
>
>
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