iron worker

Since you're getting some warnings about things that can go wrong with an iron worker, let me throw in a couple. The hold-down for the punch is U shaped, open at the front. You don't ever want to punch a piece of metal that the hold-down doesn't contact evenly from side to side. It isn't a problem on the downward stroke, but as the punch lifts it is often stuck pretty tightly in the workpiece. If it is supported unevenly it can snap off the punch which is quite brittle. We made a tool to deal with the situation of sometimes having to punch a hole near the edge of the work. It is a piece of 1/4" plate cut into the shape of a letter Y (the cutout is actually U shaped, but I doubt that that matters). By placing it on top of the work before the punch comes down, the work is supported evenly on the upstroke. The same tool is also useful when punching any metal thinner than 1/4" which is often bent upward as the punch withdraws.

When shearing a piece of metal which is too short to go under the hold-down, the normal practice is to overlap it with a longer piece of metal that will go under. I made a hold-down tool shaped like a margin trowel (square end trowel) so that I don't have to be trying to position a piece of metal that is flat against the table but has to be raised inside the fence to go over the workpiece.

All the best, Stan

At the community college welding shop, the 80 ton, 3-phase iron worker is probably my favorite tool. It's definitely the tool I miss the most on the rare occasions when it's out of service.

All the best, Stan