How To Modify A Shop Press Into A Clicker Press

[Parceiro]

Anybody know a good place online to buy cold rolled steel plates? Heather from texas custom dies suggested speedymetals.com to me, but they seem to only carry hot rolled.

[justken]

I put a 20 ton air over hydraulic jack on mine,works great! Have it hooked up to a contractor air compressor.Was concerned it would cut to deep but you can hear/feel when it cuts through. Sure beats using that hand jack..

[NewYorkerInSydney]

Can someone please tell me what would be the largest size die cutter I could use with a 12 ton shop press? Thank you!

[GuardianConcealment]

Sorry to hit on an old post...

Just got a 20 ton hf shop press and was wondering if it being a little out of level on the bottom support is a big deal?

I know you get what you pay for and all but the price was all I could afford.

I have some half in cold rolled and will cut off the ram, weld to bottom and top, also add new spring bolts.

My question is can it have some flex in the frame and still get a good cut?

I will be using Texas custom dies

Ankhs for your help

[billymac814]

My press twists like a pretzel under pressure. It still works fine. The only problem I run into is it sometimes sinks the die to far into the board on one side before cutting the other.

That problem doesn't happen with the real heavy beveled steel dies like you'd get at Texas custom dies because the steel gets so thick it prevents it from going in the cutting board. . I make my own with steel rule dies which are a lot thinner and its easier to sink them into the board, it doesn't happen often though so its not a big deal.

[Texas Leash Co]

I bought the same shop press a couple weeks ago and modified it for clicking. The support crossbeam on mine was not level as well. You can level the table by having your welder or you place a small piece of steel under the crossmember that rest on the support pins. This will level the table and give you a flush fit between the plates. Look at my post that I made last week:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=45798

I don't have any pictures of the inserted piece of steel that I used to level the table but I can post one if you want it.

[GuardianConcealment]

Thanks for your help guys...I have a welder friend that is going to weld it up for me and that should make it more stable. Excited to get my die, next week or so

[Tempestleather]

I know this is kind of an old thread... But can someone explain why cold rolled steel is preferred vs. hot rolled steel when making a die clicker?

[Ken G]

After looking at this: http://www.engineershandbook.com/Tables/steelprop.htm%C2'> I would guess cold rolled is harder and stronger than hot rolled. But then again I'm not an engineer.

[Texas Leash Co]

It really is not going to matter much if you get plate the that is thick. I used 1" as you can see in the video I posted a couple years ago. The critical things to consider is: be sure that the plates are parallel and be sure to keep the pressure even across the material you are pressing. By keeping the material centered the pressure is applied evenly. If you are using multiple dies per press, keep them balanced so the plates stay even when the pressure is being applied. I used a common vinyl cutting board as my base, under the leather. A large one can be found at Sams Club. I think it is roughly 3/4' thick. A restaurant supply store would have a thicker one. This press will drive the die down through the board so be careful.

The biggest challenge is knowing when to stop applying pressure. Also, try not to over think the simple machine. The design in the clicker press I built was based on what I saw that others made and then I improved upon it. Have fun!

CORRECTION:

It really is not going to matter much, as long you get plate the that is thick. I used 1" as you can see in the video I posted a couple years ago. The critical things to consider is: be sure that the plates are parallel and be sure to keep the pressure even across the material you are pressing. By keeping the material centered the pressure is applied evenly. If you are using multiple dies per press, keep them balanced so the plates stay even when the pressure is being applied. I used a common vinyl cutting board as my base, under the leather. A large one can be found at Sams Club. I think it is roughly 3/4' thick. A restaurant supply store would have a thicker one. This press will drive the die down through the board so be careful.

The biggest challenge is knowing when to stop applying pressure. Also, try not to over think the simple machine. The design in the clicker press I built was based on what I saw that others made and then I improved upon it. Have fun!