How big of a press do you need for dimple dies

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Originally Posted by scherp69

So looks like I'm going to have to do the wheel bearings in my step daughters car so a press may be in the cards now. I was looking at them today. They have the 20 ton press on sale for 350 and the owner will give it to me even cheaper as he has too many display models. They also have a 45 ton air assisted set up for just over $1000. Most of what I will be using it for is the odd wheel bearing, etc or using dimple dies on the thickest 18 gauge sheet metal. Is it worth the extra money to get the bigger unit? With the the 45 ton, how thick could I go with the dimple dies? Not sure if I would use it very often, but would be nice to be able to do 1/4". Thoughts??

It really depends on the dies that you use. Obvously the thicker the metal the more wear you will put into the tooling. I don't see a reason to go thicker than .120 wall.

With the right tooling a 25 ton hand press can punch through 1/2" steel.

[scherp69]

Thanks Vince. I ended up emailing the company that had the dies I was looking at. They use a 20 ton to do 1/4" chrome moly so I figured the 20 would be good enough for me. Going to get it today and I ordered the dimple dies yesterday from these guys http://www.tmrcustoms.com/store/inde...e09a099be281ec I got the Craftsman set.

[Revved]

I bought a set of the Mittler Brothers punch and flare dies a couple weeks ago... they come with a 1/2" fine thread bolt and bearing to hold them together. Drill the 1/2" centering hole... assemble the punch and die and I've run them through 18g with my dewalt electric impact with ease. Very. Very. Nice.

Just punched a 1 3/4 hole in a firewall yesterday buy just running through the punch but not enough for the flare.. a tap or two with hammer and dolly and it was a perfect hole on a flat firewall.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by Revved

I bought a set of the Mittler Brothers punch and flare dies a couple weeks ago... they come with a 1/2" fine thread bolt and bearing to hold them together. Drill the 1/2" centering hole... assemble the punch and die and I've run them through 18g with my dewalt electric impact with ease. Very. Very. Nice.

Just punched a 1 3/4 hole in a firewall yesterday buy just running through the punch but not enough for the flare.. a tap or two with hammer and dolly and it was a perfect hole on a flat firewall.

I like you're kind of thinking Sean!

I'd have just used my Hougen RotaCut and there'd be no need for the dolly and hammer. LOL

Holes in sheet metal are one of those things that takes lots of different "ways" to do them. Twist drills are a no no... and "hole saws" do more damage than they're worth.

[dontlifttoshift]

I'll just leave this here...... http://www.milwaukeetool.com/m18-knockout

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by dontlifttoshift

I'll just leave this here...... http://www.milwaukeetool.com/m18-knockout

That thing is bad ass!!


My Hougen's go up to 3".... You can't even buy anything larger if you wanted to. They also need clean sheet metal to center up on. This bad boy goes bigger with up to 4" punches and doesn't need to have metal to hold center on. Sweet.

For those that don't know about them STEP DRILLS are the proper way to "drill" holes in sheet metal. Not a twist drill.

[dontlifttoshift]

The only problem is, right now, all the dies are conduit sized. I think a custom draw bar and it would work with the MB punch and flare dies.

The best step drills come from Harbor Freight.....seriously.

[mach1stang]

I recently contacted a sales rep at trick-tools about dimple dies and what size press would be best for them. He was very helpful but he said dimpling is kind of a black art deal and couldn't recommend a exact size press for just dimpling as it depends on the end user and their end result goals. He said he could tell me what size press would PUNCH the same size hole in the same material and said in theory that would be more than enough to dimple. But in the end we settled that for dimpling up to 1/8" chromoly up to a 3" hole a 50-55 ton press would be best. Now like he said he doesn't know exactly but as I brought up to him the bigger the press the bigger the actual work are will be also which is something you have to keep in mind.

[Revved]

Originally Posted by dontlifttoshift

I'll just leave this here...... http://www.milwaukeetool.com/m18-knockout

That is freaking awesome!!! I've forwarded it to everyone I know that is an electrician!!

Originally Posted by dontlifttoshift

The only problem is, right now, all the dies are conduit sized. I think a custom draw bar and it would work with the MB punch and flare dies.

The best step drills come from Harbor Freight.....seriously.

You are right... I bet it wouldn't take much to make a custom draw bar... but I am serious that for sheet metal (I've done as thick as 18g so far) just the 1/2" fine thread bolt and bearing the MB set comes with punches and flares with no inkling of hesitation. Always be liberal with lube on threads anytime it is used for drawing.

I have always hated cutting with holesaws... In fact I think i've still got a bone spur in my jaw from where one caught and the drill came around on me a few years ago. Plus the fact that the hole takes 10 min to cut and is never "perfect." This punch tool takes about a minute and is beautiful!

Harbor freight does have some cheap step drills (uni-bits) and they really are the best for holes up to 1" ish. I think the biggest I've got is 1-1/8" I've probably got half a dozen 1/2" step bits around.. I use them all the time!

Originally Posted by GregWeld

That thing is bad ass!!


My Hougen's go up to 3".... You can't even buy anything larger if you wanted to. They also need clean sheet metal to center up on. This bad boy goes bigger with up to 4" punches and doesn't need to have metal to hold center on. Sweet.

For those that don't know about them STEP DRILLS are the proper way to "drill" holes in sheet metal. Not a twist drill.

I had never heard of Hougen before so I looked them up. Looks just like the Blair Rota-Broach spotweld bits I use. I guess I had never looked to see if they made them in larger sizes. I have a drilled spotweld shape scar on the inside of my left knee from where one walked while I was drilling sideways sitting on a stool so I can vouch for how well they work!

[dontlifttoshift]

The bolts with the MB dies are consumables, I have thrown away a hunnert of em easy. The dies are very hard and the threads still look good in those.