New Hammer die

Gliden07

Gliden07

Well-Known Member
Working on a set of dies for my press to help Drift the eyes. It will start them but I will have to manually finish them with another hand drift I have. Still have a couple small details to figure out and have to shorten and reharden the drift.
 

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That's looking good. I've never used a punch die so I'm asking when a hammer is punched with a die, does it push a plug of steel out the bottom? OR - does the drift push/expand the steel to the side with no steel actually punched out the bottom?
 
KenH said:
That's looking good. I've never used a punch die so I'm asking when a hammer is punched with a die, does it push a plug of steel out the bottom? OR - does the drift push/expand the steel to the side with no steel actually punched out the bottom?
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Just like drifting a hole. I actually does a little of both it pushes the metal out of the way and creates a small plug. I copied this design from Coal Iron more or less. Check out their videos on their 12T press. If mine works as good as they show it will be awesome!
 
KenH said:
does it push a plug of steel out the bottom? OR - does the drift push/expand the steel to the side with no steel actually punched out the bottom?
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Like @Gliden07 said, a little of both. Typically, on larger stock you punch from both sides, so the plug ends up shearing off in the middle of the stock. Not quite like punching a flat bar where you punch until you bottom out on the anvil and then flip the stock to remove the plug.
 
billyO said:
Like @Gliden07 said, a little of both. Typically, on larger stock you punch from both sides, so the plug ends up shearing off in the middle of the stock. Not quite like punching a flat bar where you punch until you bottom out on the anvil and then flip the stock to remove the plug.
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Yes I forgot to mention your supposed to flip the stock. And only punch 3/4 of the way thru, cool punch between punches!
 
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I've watched folks punching hammers, but never quite figured out all the details. It seems the plug would have a hard time punching thru with it laying flat and no hole on bottom die for plug to fall into.

billyO you mention "he plug ends up shearing off in the middle of the stock". Do you mean the plug winds up being pressed into the sides of the hole so no plug actually drops out? Watching the Coal Iron video with the 12 ton press, at the 45 second mark it seems like there's a plug that falls out, but I don't see how since there's no hole in bottom of die. At the 54 second mark it really looks like a round plug laying there. BUT - around the 1 minute mark there is a better view of punching the hole and it makes more sense to me. The punch has a "sorta pointed" end that would nicely press the metal out to the sides rather than trying to punch a plug out the bottom. You can see how the hammer sides "bulge" as the drift punch is pressed thru, then flipped over to punch the other side. Have I got this correct?

Watching makes me want to build a die and make a hammer {g}
 
You've got it right, Ken. Sorry I wasn't more clear.
What I meant (hopefully this is clearer, but I'm not so sure:eek:...), was that when punching a hole in steel, basically you first make a thin wafer, then shear that thin wafer/plug. In flat stock, it's easy to use your punch (usually flat, not pointed) to make that flat wafer by punching all the way to the bottom on one side, then flipping the piece over and shearing that plug out. In this case, the slug is usually cooler than the surrounding stock due to being the part driven against the anvil as well as the act of punching will deform the stock causing it to dish up a little.
In thick/hammer stock, it's impractical to drive the punch all the way through from one side for a number of reasons. One of them is the deforming of the block that will happen when driving a punch in from only one side. So, (and here's the point I was trying to makeo_O) you punch from alternating sides until you make a thin wafer slug/plug in the center of the stock and then finish the job by shearing that plug out of the center.

But as I read your original question again, this might not have been what you were asking... If not, sorry.
 
Thanks billyO, you have answered my questions nicely. I'm gonna have to try that for myself one of these days.
 
Since the drift gets red hot on the tip when punching a hole (from what I've seen in videos), how much well does the HT'ing hold up?
 
KenH said:
Since the drift gets red hot on the tip when punching a hole (from what I've seen in videos), how much well does the HT'ing hold up?
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Probably won't but the drift is 1045 so I'm gonna heat treat it as it should be for tool and go from there. A lot of the builders use S13 but I had the 1045 so used it as a proof of design confirmation. If it works but dosnt last I'll get some S13 I guess?
 
With 1045 I doubt it will really need any tempering, but it sure won't hurt anything. I expect that 1045 will last just fine - unless perhaps you're planning to be making punching eyes every day. Good luck with punching holes.
 
KenH said:
With 1045 I doubt it will really need any tempering, but it sure won't hurt anything. I expect that 1045 will last just fine - unless perhaps you're planning to be making punching eyes every day. Good luck with punching holes.
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The reason this came to be was I saw the stripper dies on Coal Iron looked interesting but at $300 bucks and I would have to mod um to fit my press. Friend of mine said "you should just buy them!, HAHAHAHA, why don't you make um" CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!! LOL!!

PS Had everything in scrap bin except the 3x3 piece of square tubing. Bought a drop at supply place for $7.00 and the little collar piece $3! $10 bucks!! If it works I'm way ahead of the curve!!
 
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billyO said:
I'm not familiar with that alloy, do you mean H13?
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No it is 1040, it's a medium carbon steel. They use it alot for striking tools etc... this drift was actually made from a 3/4" transfer punch that I annealed and reshaped.
 
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