Re: Punch Press, WAS surplus pneumatics

Once you start looking at your air consumption, you may have to re-
think that speed.

a 4 inch piston with 4 inch stroke is almost 1/3 of a cubic foot of
air volume.

a speed of 1 stroke per second is 60 strokes a minute or 20 CFM and
THAT is a BIG air compressor !

Also, you will need big air valves so as not to let the air trickle
into the cylinder, it needs to punch into it. pneumatics works a lot
like electronics. the restriction of the valve will slow the speed
of the volume into the capacity of the device.

I have a small 3 ton punch press that has a pretty big flywheel and a
1 hp motor. that will be much cheaper to run than a compressor. and
more quiet too.

For CNC work, it is a small table top work envelope. probably not
more than 8 inches in throat depth, but then you could have any
length table.

Dave

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "alex" <telecomt@t...> wrote:
> Hi, Iain!
> This was my original question also.
> Jon Elson pointed out that G-codes generated for a mill or drill
can be
> modified
> for punching application. According to Jon this is doable and I'll
have to
> rely
> on his help and others for resolving this issue.
> I'm planning to do it with EMC which has good G-code support and
also
> lots of talent in the group.
> Meanwhile I'm sketching mechanical parts so I could produce working
drawings
> sometime soon.
> The punching speed will entirely depend on the power of the
compressor,
> probably
> it won't be high - may be 2 strokes per seconds at most with force
of 1 ton.
> This is going to be a tabletop unit, since this is the only space I
got
> around here,
> but I hope it will provide good experience for interfacing and such.
> I will place Unipunches (Unittools) on a rotary table and index
with the
> stepper,
> as was advised by Jon also.
> Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem to be very difficult project,
just
> putting
> many different parts together.
> Best regards, Alex
>
>