punching holes in SS

[meadjug]

Thanks for letting me join this forum.

I have been out of welding for 20 years,I need help.Can someone advise me on the most economical way to punch 1/8"-1/4" holes in 400SS?

[aametalmaster]

Do you have a punch press? How thick is the stainless? You can use a Whitney hand press if it's not too thick. How many hole's do you have? You can have someone else punch them it's cheaper than buying a punch press..Bob

[HAWK]

meadjug,

There are numerous ways to get the holes. SS MATERIAL THICKNESS, NUMBER OF HOLES, AND FREQUENCY OF WORK WILL DETERMINE WHAT IS ECONOMICAL. What is the thickness and is your material small enough to get into a work area the size of a punch or drill press?

(1)Greenlee used to make a set of hole cutting dies that required only a good 15" Crescent wrench to turn down the die and cut the metal. It seems like they worked pretty good up .105" plate.

(2)If drilling is an option, then .125 and .250 solid carbide bits will last a long time.

(3)A plasma cutter is also an option. However, if accuracy and precision on number of holes is required, then this is NOT a good way to accomplish the task.

(*****)The ULTIMATE way is with a good ironworker. I prefer the Scotchman ironworkers. Most require 3 phase power and the punch portion is hydraulically operated as are the bending and cutting operations.

(5)If you have a lot of holes to do and are mechanically inclined, a nice pneumatic punch with interchangable dies can be fabricated from a double acting air cylinder and steel for the housing.

Maybe there is somebody out here who does it everyday and will chime in. I know Andy uses an iron worker as do I for tasks where the material is mobile. TAKE A LOOK AND SEE IF THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT: SEE ATTACHED JPEG. I know many of you will be glad to see I finally got some software so you don't have to unzip files and look at PDF files-me too!

[HAWK]

Bob,

We must have posted about the same time. My apologies if I repeated you. I did not see your post until I submitted mine.

[aametalmaster]

Hawk no problem, at least we are on the same brainwave. LOL. I have punched a zillion holes in the last 25 years, both for the sheetmetal shop I worked at and for myself. Just sold my 5 punch presses. Bob

[HAWK]

Bob,

I wish I had known. The Scotchman is nice as is the Burny CNC controller with the Hypertherm G3 1250 plasma, but hey who's counting? Some of the toys are at my buddy's shop, but the rent is free!

[aametalmaster]

Hey Hawk, My buddy has a nice punch press for sale cheap. $250.00 You can email me offline I can get pics..Bob [email protected]

[meadjug]

Re: punching holes in SS

Originally posted by meadjug
Thanks for letting me join this forum.

I have been out of welding for 20 years,I need help.Can someone advise me on the most economical way to punch 1/8"-1/4" holes in 400SS?

Sorry about not enough information.Metal thicknes is from 20ga.-1/4" thick.The holes are for hinge pins.I plan to make anywhere from 350-500 of the parts.

[aametalmaster]

Meadjug,
Good now we have somewhere to start. 1/4" stainless takes more tonnage than 20 ga. Prob 15 to 20 ton. Thats a good size press. Plus you will need a couple different bottom dies for the clearance smaller clearance on the thinner metal. Email me offline if you need more info..Bob [email protected]

[HAWK]

A few of the dies for the Scotchman Ironworker. See attached.

[timw]

HAWK

Are you familar with a Scotchman XL 5075, I have one offered to me at a good price, I haven't seen it yet. I tried a google search and couldn't find anything on it. Rough estimate on value?

[HAWK]

timw,

It sounds like an earlier model of a 50 ton press, but don't know for sure. You might contact Scotchman. They are also making 1 phase site portable ironworkers. I have not seen one work, but they look well built. Here is the contact link:

http://www.scotchman.com/contact_info.php

[klsm54]

I looked through all my Scotchman literature and books and couldn't find any information on the XL5075, but I would agree, it is probably a 50 ton model.

Scotchmen had one of the 110 volt Porta-Fab units at a show with our company last summer and I got to see it first hand. Pretty nice unit. 45 ton Punch Capacity for a little over $4,000. A great piece of equipment for the shop that doesn't have 3 phase power. It is the Porta-Fab 45, and you can get it in 110 volt or 220 volt single phase.

For reference on those looking at used equipment a 40 ton Scotchman will punch an 1" hole in 1/2" material, a 50 ton unit will punch a 13/16 hole in 3/4" material, a 65 ton machine will punch a 1-1/16" hole in 3/4" material, and a 90 ton will poke a 1-1/16" hole in 1" material. Of course, smaller holes can be puched in thicker material, and larger holes will reduce the thickness capabilities.

My customers that have Scotchman Ironworkers would probably fight pretty hard before giving them up. They are a really handy piece of shop equipment. Besides punching the can be used as a brake, a pipe notcher, a shear and a few other things too. One of those things that make you wonder how you ever got by without it, after you have one.

[MAC702]

Originally posted by klsm54
Of course, smaller holes can be puched in thicker material

This reminds me of a good rule of thumb in punching. We shouldn't punch a hole that is less in diameter than the plate we are punching. If there's more to it, someone who punches a lot more often than me will have to chime in. But, it's bad to punch a 1/4" hole, for instance, in 1/2" plate. It's guaranteed to break the punch.

[SoCalTA]

I am not at all savy on this but just had to say that I saw these machines at an industrial show at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the very first time. After seeing what they could do to metal I was shaking my head all day long ... and was in a state of WOW. Aside from their power I was really amazed that they were able to do so much with such a small footpring. I kept thinking if I could just convince my fiance to relocate the washer and dryer outside I could make it fit.