# Actuator on Bench Mounted press or brake



## Sharpie (Dec 28, 2019)

Anyone added an actuator onto a press brake or bench mounted press?

Looking at alternative options to air power or oil hydraulic. 

I found one instance in an old auction catalogue so far, of a custom modification of a bench mounted punch/press, just a couple of images on google, but no others. With newer commercial press brakes now using actuators, I'm surprised not to find more DIY conversions.


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## Hobbyists (Dec 28, 2019)

Sharpie said:


> Anyone added an actuator onto a press brake or bench mounted press?
> 
> Looking at alternative options to air power or oil hydraulic.
> 
> I found one instance in an old auction catalogue so far, of a custom modification of a bench mounted punch/press, just a couple of images on google, but no others. With newer commercial press brakes now using actuators, I'm surprised not to find more DIY conversions.


can you please explain what your target is, there is many way to kill a cat lolll


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## Sharpie (Dec 29, 2019)

Hobbyists said:


> can you please explain what your target is, there is many way to kill a cat lolll



I'm looking at options to power, foot pedal operated, initially an Manuform bench press, eventually shop press and even possible the small brake I have (switching back to manual when needed). 

Working in thin sheet alloy most of the time, I do far more hole punches than I drill so powering this makes sense making it easier for me to hold the part.  Thinking about it I have an imitation Roper Whitney junior, I use a lot too, fixed in a custom vice mount, that could benefit from it also!

http://international.go-dove.com/en...-Powered-Bench-Top-Tooling-Press#!prettyPhoto

I don't have air in my shop, I haven't space for a tank, nor at the moment want the noise.


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## johnmcc69 (Dec 29, 2019)

Well, since you don't have air available in your shop, I would suggest a small hydraulic pump/cylinder set-up. Plenty of power & by using a small portable hydraulic pump with quick disconnects, you can move it around your shop. The pump can be manually or electrically operated (depending on what you choose) & they are quiet & quite poweful.

 If you had air in the shop, I would recommend a "air over oil" pump. These are simple pumps that use air to multiply hydraulic pressure. Years ago, I used an Enerpac brand portable pump that consisted of a foot pedal that is mounted on the "intensifier" the intensifier is just a cylinder itself, & contains the hydraulic fluid, no external oil tank required & very compact. No electricity required. 
https://www.enerpac.com/en-us/air-pumps/air-pump/PATG1102N
 Hope this helps...

 John


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## Sharpie (Dec 29, 2019)

johnmcc69 said:


> Well, since you don't have air available in your shop, I would suggest a small hydraulic pump/cylinder set-up. Plenty of power & by using a small portable hydraulic pump with quick disconnects, you can move it around your shop. The pump can be manually or electrically operated (depending on what you choose) & they are quiet & quite poweful.
> 
> If you had air in the shop, I would recommend a "air over oil" pump. These are simple pumps that use air to multiply hydraulic pressure. Years ago, I used an Enerpac brand portable pump that consisted of a foot pedal that is mounted on the "intensifier" the intensifier is just a cylinder itself, & contains the hydraulic fluid, no external oil tank required & very compact. No electricity required.
> 
> ...



Indeed I use, as stated on of the small hydraulic knockout pumps vast improvement on hand turning Qmax, albeit still hand operated version, fixed in another jig for repeat use.  The only I holes I drill these days is the initial hole for the smallest draw bar I have, as not yet organised a punch for this task. 

The plan longer term is to power this and it would be with electric powered version, much quieter than air over oil too and far more control, unless in the meantime I find linear actuators a better option.  It's possible to rig two or more actuators together, balanced controlled, that sit either side of the shop press for example, giving distributed power rather than the central mandril.  It's how I envisage a set up on the brake too.

I feel if I go down this road long term, I may even switch to multi-hole punch jig on the shop press.  I'm pretty proficient by hand but the RSI is flaring up more frequently when batching half a dozen or more.  

I was just hoping that, while not as popular as hydraulic, someone had dabbled with actuators.


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## Hobbyists (Dec 31, 2019)

[QUOTE="
I was just hoping that, while not as popular as hydraulic, someone had dabbled with actuators.[/QUOTE]
sorry we all do , but can't understand the question, for me anyway I'll pass


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## Peter Twissell (Jan 1, 2020)

Are you referring to electric actuators, the type with a  and a geared motor and  ballscrew?
I have used this type at work. They tend to be quite large for a given force relative to hydraulic actuators.
The type with stepper motors are easier to synchronise, without the need for feedback sensors.


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## Wizard69 (Jan 5, 2020)

There are many issues here that need to be considered.  

Probably the biggest is that tools designed for human operation often are not amendable to mechanical augmentation.  Sometimes you are far better off designing a purpose built machine that leverages the mechanical solution you choose.  

Second linear actuators, linear slides and such are not hydraulic nor air cylinders.  Hydraulics remains in use these days because it is rugged and can handle shock loads well.  

If you do go the actuator route you can engineer solutions that work around their limitations.  For example using levers or toggles to increase the pressure at the working area.  

If you really want to go this route I’d suggest trying to find a local plastic injection molding company with electric mold machines. These might inspire or they might cause you to change your mind.    Changing your mind due to the massive size of the components compared to hydraulic solutions.  Still it is completely possible to lock up a 75 tone toggle machine with a leadscrew and service motor.  The trick of course is the toggle mechanism.   By the way it is on electric mold machines where I’ve seen the most massive ball screws imaginable.  They don’t use actuators but rather design in the ball screw mechanism.   

This “designing in” is important because there may not be a clean way to do so on a manually operated machine.  You can easily end up with a kludge that half works and is dangerous.  Your best bet is a machine that is already designed for hydraulics 

aong these lines an Iron Worker type machine might convert to a nice punching machine.   However you might not get the same performance range.  If you went the DIY route I’m pretty sure a decent electric punching machine could be made.  Safety would be your responsibility but that might be easy to achieve on a sheet metal machine.  



Sharpie said:


> Indeed I use, as stated on of the small hydraulic knockout pumps vast improvement on hand turning Qmax, albeit still hand operated version, fixed in another jig for repeat use.  The only I holes I drill these days is the initial hole for the smallest draw bar I have, as not yet organised a punch for this task.
> 
> The plan longer term is to power this and it would be with electric powered version, much quieter than air over oil too and far more control, unless in the meantime I find linear actuators a better option.  It's possible to rig two or more actuators together, balanced controlled, that sit either side of the shop press for example, giving distributed power rather than the central mandril.  It's how I envisage a set up on the brake too.
> 
> ...


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