Harbor Freight punch write up

Willing Pell · Post by **Willing Pell** » Mon May 06, 2002 2:12 pm

My opinion of the HF punch is that it is a piece of junk. I was able to punch the holes in a 14 gauge helm with no problem. When I started the second helm th punch started to give me a hard time. I was squeezing the handles soo much that they were nearly touching before they would punch. The third helm, they refused to punch at all. The little side links have bent and the best it will do is dimple the metal. BE WARNED!!!

Norman · Post by **Norman** » Mon May 06, 2002 2:34 pm

Urm,
You do realise that even the Roper-Witney original is rated for 16 guage mild??

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Norman J. Finkelshteyn
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Sinric · Post by **Sinric** » Mon May 06, 2002 3:07 pm

Punches are rated by tonnage not thickness of the material. The Roper & Whitney 5 jr. is rated to 1.2 tons of pressure. The amount of pressure needed to punch a hole depends on the type of material and the size of the hole. At 1.2 tons you could punch an 1/8" hole in 11 gauge mild steel. If you wanted to punch a 3/16" hole in 11 gauge it would take 1.8 tons of pressure. The chart for punching round holes in mild steel that's on Roper & Whitney's web site indicates that you can punch a 3/16" hole in 14 gauge mild steel with 1.1 tons of pressure.

http://www.roperwhitney.com/punching/2-45.asp
http://www.roperwhitney.com/tech/chart1.asp

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Craig Nadler
cwn@nh.ultranet.com
http://www.eskimo.com/~cwn/

Sinric · Post by **Sinric** » Mon May 06, 2002 3:15 pm

Even though the Roper & Whitney 5jr. can punch a 3/16" hole thru 14 gauge mild steel you may have to stand on the handles to get it to do it. It really isn't the right tool for that job.

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Craig Nadler
cwn@nh.ultranet.com
http://www.eskimo.com/~cwn/

Alcyoneus · Post by **Alcyoneus** » Mon May 06, 2002 3:25 pm

R-W also makes a little rig to mount it on a workbench which should make it a little easier. I punched a bunch of holes in a shield with mine- but it wasn't much fun.

You get what you pay for, or you pay for what you get.

Patrick Thaden · Post by **Patrick Thaden** » Mon May 06, 2002 3:32 pm

I have been using my knock off punch now for 3 or 4 years and had but one problem with it. I blew out the 1/8" punch on a piece of 16g SS after about the 6th hole. I have even punched holes in 12g on rare occasions. I routinely use it to punch 5/32 and 3/16 holes in everything from 14g mild on down and never had any problems. just my 2 cents. Patrick

Arland · Post by **Arland** » Mon May 06, 2002 3:43 pm

It sounds like you dulled the punches.

Put the punch in a drill press and sharpen it by grinding it down until the edge is 90deg again. Donâ€™t grind the sides.

You can punch 4 holes with a HF punch in 18ga titanium before they give out. LOL

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Baron Arland the Bastard
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wcallen · Post by **wcallen** » Mon May 06, 2002 4:55 pm

Actually, I though we had this thread before. He very clearly said that the side links had bent. Someone else saw this and found that replacing the side links with real Roper side links helped a lot.

Personally, I have real Roper, but the punch might be fixable with 2 small parts.

Mostly I have found that I prefer the good versions of things. They often cost more than they really should, but the cheap ones always annoy me in the end.

Wade

losthelm · Post by **losthelm** » Mon May 06, 2002 5:31 pm

afte making that many helms you can justify grabing a whitney off ebay.

Jean Paul de Sens · Post by **Jean Paul de Sens** » Mon May 06, 2002 6:32 pm

Actually, the problem I usually run into is that the die portion ( the bottom) twists out a little bit after every punch, and so every fourth or fifth punch I have to twist it back up to the proper position.

Willing Pell · Post by **Willing Pell** » Mon May 06, 2002 6:51 pm

Well, now that I've toyed with the dark side of Chinese tools, just what whitney punch would you recommend for an average thickness of 14 gauge and how much would it cost? Sounds like the Jr. is a little light.

Sinric · Post by **Sinric** » Mon May 06, 2002 8:03 pm

Roper & Whitney #17 has a 5 ton capacity and a 6.5" throat. It costs $405.44 from McMaster-Carr but they tend to have high prices so I would guess $350-$400.

http://www.roperwhitney.com/punching/2-12.asp

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Craig Nadler
cwn@nh.ultranet.com
http://www.eskimo.com/~cwn/

Sasuke · Post by **Sasuke** » Mon May 06, 2002 8:53 pm

I had a HF punch that the side plates gave out on. I simply made new ones and it works fine now. I have since bought several Whitney punches off of ebay. I prefer #7 and #8 they are ideal for armoring IMO except for the shallow depth. I have 2 #6. While they are very heavy and will punch through anything I prefer the bottom handle to be stationary so I can clamp it in a vise.
Sasuke

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