Any "brand names" that will be easier to find punches for. What size will I need for stamping laminations etc.
Victor
It was sitting outside a door manufacturing plant I frequent,and when I asked the owner, he said take it a way. (score!)
It shure works well for stamping silicon steel laminations.
You could always try factory bankruptcy or liquidations.
MARV.
The machinist and VP where I used to work was working with me at a customer's site when we noticed some old machines set out back near the shipping/receiving area. He wound up with a good, usable Blanchard grinder and another kind of grinder (works on long shafts, can't remember the name/type) that needed rebuilding... for the cost of the riggers and freight.
I guess it helps to be in the right place and time, or just having industrial connections in general.[ Parent ]
Just be glad I'm not the official spelling nazi here.[ Parent ]
The punches and dies are generally designed on much the same lines and can be interchanged with a bit of ingenuity. This as others have said is likely to be the expensive bit, you may easily find a surplus press but you are unlikely to find punches and dies unless you are very lucky.
The picture that Marv showed is typical of a small notching press.
How much use do you have for it, have you considered laser cutting for small quantities or even water jet.
Flux[ Parent ]
Thanks for the input. I am just looking at all the possibities at this point. After my post I realized that the punch press would have to be nearly free to make this route attractive
Flux, I'm mostly leaning in the water jet direction, because there would not seem to be much of a cost penalty per pound for using thinner laminations (since they would be cut in a stack of x thickness). The industry standard for short runs seems to be laser, do you know of water jet being used for this? When I talk to water jet people they say "Yes , we can do it." however when I ask prototype motor contractors about their lams I always hear "laser". One of the water jet people even recognized the shape and said " Oh, I used to make those when I was laser cutting"
I know there is a cost / tolerance issue with water jet and this may be the reason prototypes are laser cut.
Any and all input on this is welcome.
Victor[ Parent ]
I have no real idea how things are in the USA, but when I was last involved laser was just becoming cheap enough and good enough for prototypes. I would think now that water jet ought to be cheaper but in some countries some processes develop faster than others.
Unfortunately for small runs it is always the initial set up that costs the money and much depends on the enthusiasm of the person doing the job whether one process or another wins out.
Unless you are lucky enough to find a punch or are prepared to live with rectangular slots the punch option will be prohibitive.
