washer maker

Here is my new washer maker, it is two pieces of steel held together with roll-pins. I got the idea form Alexander Weygers Complete Modern Blacksmith book. I drilled one hole, put in the roll-pin, then drilled and installed the second roll-pin. After that I drilled the remaining holes for the washer Id's and Od's. I then counter sinked the bottom so the parts would come out easier. The die works with regular punches but I made a punch with a replaceable center to aid in the centering of the washers. I ended up hardening the parts but I am not sure that it was necessary. I ground some clearance on the inside face along the side edges so that I can stick a screw driver in to pry the halves apart.


If you need washers, have a drill press and are bored, making one might be a good way to stay entertained.


Charlie

MacGyver, thanks for sharing :D

I love your ideas. Keep em coming.

awesome gadget Charlie!!

Awesome job!!! This is something I've had on my head for a while. Great to see someone has less of a procrastination problem than I :D

There you go again...what's the next project? Love it by the way. You are going to have a complete razor manufacturing facility at your fingertips if you keep it up, or is that the whole plan?

Nice Charlie. The too; you made is a standard item in tool shops and is a ship punch. Harbor freight sells one but you would need to add a pilot pin to the punches to make washers if you want the holes centered. - Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Also, the burrs on your washers are due to the clearance between the punch and your die. Less clearance more pressure required. More clearance less pressure but not as clean a cut. Typical clearance is 3 5 % material thickness.

Joe,

Thanks for the information, I made it a bit sloppy on purpose, (my flawed logic) I will make or use another punch that has less clearance.

Charlie

Joe, I never did any punch work, but perhaps you will agree, and maybe even have insight...
clearance would also depend on the sheer strength of the material being formed, yes? silver, brass, bronze, nickle silver, steel, all having variances due to the properties of the metals?
Or do you think that in such small sizes the differences would be negligible?

You're on the ball Magpie. Yes, the material being punched does have in influence on the clearance. less ductile metals would have a slightly greater percentage of mtl thickness used for clearance. It's been ages since I last figured out curring clearances for metal. The data is available with a Google search and my numbers are a reference only, from what I can recall. But take into account that, from the picture, brass is the metal of choice and it appears to be ~ .01-.015 thk as a guess. At 10% matl thickness you're looking at .0015 per side clearance. At 3% the number is something like ~.0005. The volume of parts this tool will produce is extremely low and the punch guide/stripper isn't very precise in locating the punch. Lots to consider before the correct clearance is sought after. Alignment is a crucial part or the clearance can vary around the punch to the die.

Charlie made a good prototype and I congratulate him. Now the closer he tries to get to perfection the tolerance used will come into effect and will increase the cost. There are ways around it but that would be a long class in die making to cover all of the bases. With the proper tools it can me made relatively inexpensively.

Good luck Charlie!

I played around with the washer/punch today. I tried some .005 and .015 brass shim stock. I am pretty happy with the results the inside holes are clean, the out side diameter is good along the edge but there is a slight burr on one face. The burr is small enough to come off by swiping the washer on some 400-grit paper. I think the big burrs in the first photo came from me not closing the halves together, I was being lazy and leaving the two halves a little apart so the brass would slide easy. Today I tapped the two halves together before using the punches.

Thanks for your help Joe.

Charlie

Glad to hear that your punch and die set is working for you. :tu As a personal tool it doesn't have to be perfect. I just thought I would pass along some trade knowledge that might help. I've often thought of picking up a set similar to the Harbor Freight job but with more quality but I'm getting lazy in my old age.