What Clicker Press is Best for me....

[SStrey]

Hello! I'm new to the forum so pardon if I'm doing this wrong.  I make handbags and I'm looking to get a clicker press.  Some of my patterns can be as large as 23" x 17" and I use about 2oz-8oz leather. Planning to use it for shorter straps too.  The lady at CRJ Tec said a 27 ton hydraulic machine is what I'd need? This is way more than what I planned to spend and I'd really like to get a used Herman Schwabe because why add more to landfills if I can find one that's working well.  My studio is in a large industrial building with a loading dock and a freight elevator but one are of the hallway was rebuilt with plywood instead of concrete....a lot of delivery places say I need a forklift to move it in as they are 3000lbs. 

So, 2 questions....do I need this tonnage for what I'm doing? And who has experience moving hydraulic presses can I do it with an electric palette jack? 

Thanks!!!!

[Northmount]

@SStrey Moved to Fabrication > Leather Machinery

Tom

[KingsCountyLeather]

6 hours ago, SStrey said:

Hello! I'm new to the forum so pardon if I'm doing this wrong.  I make handbags and I'm looking to get a clicker press.  Some of my patterns can be as large as 23" x 17" and I use about 2oz-8oz leather. Planning to use it for shorter straps too.  The lady at CRJ Tec said a 27 ton hydraulic machine is what I'd need? This is way more than what I planned to spend and I'd really like to get a used Herman Schwabe because why add more to landfills if I can find one that's working well.  My studio is in a large industrial building with a loading dock and a freight elevator but one are of the hallway was rebuilt with plywood instead of concrete....a lot of delivery places say I need a forklift to move it in as they are 3000lbs. 

So, 2 questions....do I need this tonnage for what I'm doing? And who has experience moving hydraulic presses can I do it with an electric palette jack? 

Thanks!!!!

Ive bought a used 20 tonne hydraulic clicker because it was going cheap but haven’t set it up yet. I have moved it around with my two tonne manual pallet truck. You would want to make sure the wooden floor was sound before wheeling over it.

[ljk]

I've have or had a Schabe, a Fipi, and a USM model C. I sold my business but kept the C. The C is very

fast and reliable but only good for about 1000 clicks per day after that the flywheel gets warm and can 

multiple click (not good)  The Fipi has auto height, I had to replace the trigger (microswitches) The

Schwabe has never had anything but fluid replaced, simple design.  Both machines run on phase

converters.  If weight is a problem a Tippman might be a good choice, or a Solar 10ton (check weight)

Both can be  viewed on Y tube.  Best thing is the ability to manipulate a hide around the cutting mat.

Those little mechanical clickers.don't look like much to me.   My choice Cowboy cb10 

                         good luck  LJK

[SolarLeatherMachines]

Solar Leather Machines CB-10s are about 900 lbs on the pallet.  

[Mark842]

CJR Tec is a local company for me that i have dealt with. They are a decent company but bottom line is they want to make money and they want to make sure the press you get is big enough that it will work. The problem is that there are so many variables to tonnage requirements that no one really ever gives or gets a straight answer. The dimensions of your dies you will be using are less relevant than the linear inches. If your 23 x 17 die is just a rectangle then you have 80 linear inches of die. As long as your using a swing press with a table physically big enough to fit the die you would have no problem with a 15 ton press. You just swing start on one side of the die, hit it, swing the head over to the other side and hit it again and your done, faster then it took me to type this. I have dies with nearly 300 linear inches for cutting fringe and my 15 ton cuts just as good as my 25 ton. I have to swing and hit the die 3 times with both only because of the length of the die.

[SolarLeatherMachines]

Tonnage Calculation:   Standard punch operation from Mark's Standard Handbook for Engineers - 

F= Lc x Tl x Sm
Where Lc is linear inches of cut
Where Tc is thickness in inches of cut
Where Sm is Shear strength of material (can generally be assumed to be 1/2 of tensile strength)

In an ideal world (shard dies, new cutting board, proper voltage from the wall) this calculation is very close.  I've tested it hundreds of times.  
However many people are working with worn dies, chewed up boards, and low voltage from the wall.  As such we use a "wear factor" of between 1.6 to 2, usually about 1.8

See the attached example.  

Edited July 26, 2018 by SolarLeatherMachines

[CowboyBob]

Your die size helps determines the machine needed.As the tonnage increases so does the size of the cutting board,the 10T is 29.5x15 3/4",16T-31x16.5,24T-47x19.5.

[Mark842]

22 hours ago, SolarLeatherMachines said:

Tonnage Calculation:   Standard punch operation from Mark's Standard Handbook for Engineers - 

F= Lc x Tl x Sm
Where Lc is linear inches of cut
Where Tc is thickness in inches of cut
Where Sm is Shear strength of material (can generally be assumed to be 1/2 of tensile strength)

In an ideal world (shard dies, new cutting board, proper voltage from the wall) this calculation is very close.  I've tested it hundreds of times.  
However many people are working with worn dies, chewed up boards, and low voltage from the wall.  As such we use a "wear factor" of between 1.6 to 2, usually about 1.8

See the attached example.  

According to this formula my die that has 235 linear inches would need about 25 ton for it to work. I'm betting since it is in use daily with about 60-100 cuts a day going on 3 years without ever being sharpened it is probably not very sharp. It works just as good on my 15 ton as it does on my 25 ton. That is assuming I figured it right. leather is 5-6 oz. Just curious because I have collected formulas for this. This would be the 6th different one I've seen and they all give different answers.

[NateBalentine]

I have a usm 15 ton Clicker if anyone is interested 

[Strawhat]

How much are you wanting for your clicker press? And where are you located?