I think the die set you have pictured would work if you made a slice for each louver instead of using the die to shear. Then the dies will self center and just slide down the cut. I would also find a way to bolt the lower bed solid to the uprights.
i bet you can buy louver tooling for an ironworker, i worked in a plant that had 5 CNC turret punch presses and some of that old tooling would be perfect, i have to go by there on Monday i think i'll ask to go through the junk tooling.
The Ironworkers I work with mostly are GEKA. The distributor is Comeq in Baltimore, Maryland. Here is what it looks like. Works best with the deeper throat units.
Just scored another freebie tool. Its a old Unitool MNC33 Corner Notcher (.125 cap., 3"x3"). Upper body is the upper blade. Lower blades are just one sided but still sharp. Weighs 35lbs. Seems to work pretty good.
This made from way too heavy duty stock, but every piece was scrap. Except for the valve springs it was all sourced at the recycle yard. $30 in scrap weight.
I always find that the upper table elevation holes are too high and the next set of holes are too low. I needed a way to locate the table half way between these holes. Instead of drilling new holes between, I made these spacers from 2" square tube and some pipe. Slip them over the cross pins and you can locate the table half way between the existing holes. This can save a lot of needless pumping on the jack handle.
I picked up a 20 ton press for $150 this weekend off Craigslist. Stopped at Northeren Tool on the way home for a $119 air over hydraulic jack to replace the hand pumper. For some reason, they sell the maual press for $300, an air over jack is only $119, but a press with air over already on it is $1200! Anyway, I saved some money even if I have to do a little modifying. The press I got has bent bent under the jack, and a piece of channel "welded" in there. I'll need to take this thing apart and probably add some bracing to it.
Richard, Keep us up on what you did to change the press. I have been thinking of doing the same thing of "Air Over".
This is a cool thread I'm making a male die and hope to use a lower rubber pad. The first pic is a hand made patch panel. The bottom pic is a die I hope to use to make the same patch panel with a press.
Here are some pictures of how I made a press brake with some scrap steel I had laying around. I used a mill in some operations but a grinder with a steady hand could probably pull it off. Sent from my SPH-L720T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The Jalopy Journal
