The Armour Archive

I just picked up a Whitney-Jensen hand punch, looking almost identical to the old faithful #5 Junior, bit with only one die ( a 1/4 " one, somewhat less than useful to me). A bit of Google-fu tells me that *
a)Whitney- Jensen is an earlier avatar of R-W
b) Whitney -Jensen sheet metal machinery is often compatible with newer R-W machines WRT dies, cutters etc.
Anyone know if the new #5 punches and dies are going to fit my old punch?
Some of the metric ones for my Chinese POS do-sort of...
I'm just a little wary, as a new punch and die will cost me more than I paid for the hand punch in the first place, and the combination of a low hourly rate and a recently reduced working week disinclines me to throw money around...
Cheers,
Simon C


* It also told me a great deal about Whitney Jensen the ballet dancer- more indeed than it did about sheet metal tools...

In my experience the chinese diesets are just off and won't work.

roperwhitney.com lists the price of a new punch/die combo as $11USD.
If you can find one to fit in it for that much, even if it is more than you paid for the punch, it's worth it.

On the other hand, you've already figured out that you need more than one hand punch to really rock. It's a PITA to swap those dies every other project, and when you get into articulations, it really helps just to have the rivet size in one punch and 1/32" bigger in another.

I'm up to three including my chinese POS (which does the trick just fine for 16g mild). And I'd like to have one more.

Given that, I'd say save up for another genuine RW #5jr, and simply use the punch and die from that set in the one you just got, if possible. I think it should be - I have a #5jr which is actually marked "ROPER WHITNEY #6" but everything fits just fine. And since it was part of a set, I have twice as many punches as I really need.

I have a W.A.Whitney punch and had trouble finding W.A.Whitney pieces... until I called Roper Whitney. Apparantly the Whitney brothers formed a joint company back when rocks were soft and then had a falling out, each one taking a piece of the business... but their designs were highly interchangible to the point where Roper Whitney has a conversion chart showing which punches and dies fit into which tools. I don't think you can get this conversion chart but after a brief call to their sales desk I got the R Whitney part numbers I needed and at their recomendation called McMaster-Carr for actual parts. R. Whitney really wants to sell boxes and crates of punches, not 1 offs.

calling them might tell you a lot about interchangible pieces.

Good luck!
Sean

Thanks, chaps.
Schreiber- if I could pick up a die set for $11, I'd be a happy man: thing is, here in the UK a new R-W kit cost around £90- that's what, $135-ish? A punch and die runs out around £20, or 30 bucks to you- plus tax and shipping...and I paid £24 on ebay(including postage) for the punch
Must save pennies...
Cheers,
Simon C

Simon,

'haps we can bargain, I need something from an English autojumble that's made of unobtainium here west of the pond, and I've got a variety of RW dies, or could get the new ones and ship.


alail/scott

Scott- have just read your post- tell me more...
Cheers,
Simon C

I need the large 7" trim rings for the outboard headlamps of a Jaguar XJ series III. At the time mine was shipped, it was illegal in the States to have different sized headlamps, and having all four 5 1/4" truly destroys the elegance of the design.
They are available over here, but ridiculously expensive. If you could find some at a wrecker (scrapper?) I'm guessing they'd be quite reasonable.


alail/scott

Ok, so its series 3- what's the year?
Will series 2 ones fit?
A quick google - looks like approx 30 bucks plus the cost of shipping to you for the pair, just as a ballpark estimate.
Cheers,
Simon C

Series III, I don't think II's would fit. I've an '86, anything from '79 through '86, XJ6, XJ12, Daimler Sovereign, or Daimler Double 6, it's all the same body.

Do you want cash or die sets?, new or used? If die sets, what sizes would you wish?


alail/scott

I was looking at prices for bench-mounted punches, because I need something to make holes in .09" 6061 aluminum for a late period samurai armor. Sweet Baby Jesus... Those things are expensive. Was I looking up the wrong equipment?

$500 - $1500 for a hand-powered punch the size of a shoebox, using 1920-era tech and materials? Really? For that money I can buy a fairly high quality rifle that makes bigger holes in metal at longer distances, and is more fun to boot.

I just need to make lots of small holes in metal, and I'm not putting together a full machine shop or armory - I'm a "one toolbox guy". I can't justify that much money for an SCA project. I guess I will have to drill and de-burr.

Spearweasel,

A standard Whitney Jr. will do just fine for the size of holes you'll need in that material. If you want to save a little bit of muscle, you can put the punch in a vise and use a cheater bar. because you aren't exceeding the capacity of the punch, you'll be fine.

horsefriend wrote:
Do you want cash or die sets?, new or used? If die sets, what sizes would you wish?

Die sets, please- 1/8", 5/32" and 3/16" probably- the common rivet sizes.
New or used- I don't mind.
Cheers,
Simon C

OK,

I've got a complete range of used, from 3/32 to 1/4", will that do?


alail/scott

That would be perfect!
I've found a bloke who's breaking an '82 XJ12 for parts- are there any other bits you might want for yours before I contact him?
Cheers,
Simon C

Umm,

If it's not to much to ship, the actual headlamp buckets for the 7" lamps as well, saves me a bit of effort, the fellow with all the MG's in his wreaking yard is proving a bit of a wanker. : /

alail/scott