Old shear - 3/4" mild steel

[GiesJ]

Couple pics of one of our shears - an old Cinci that will handle up to 3/4" mild steel:

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nameplate with thickness listed:

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Shear does not have a proper foundation set yet in our shop so I haven't seen her drop any steel yet...

 

[rbattelle]

Wow, that thing is awesome! Cincinnati sure made some fine machine tools back in the day. On a sad note, the old LeBlond factory is now a Don Pablos.

So is that thing hydraulic or pneumatic or electric (brute force)? Any idea what it weighs? What exactly is a "proper foundation" for something that large? How was it moved to your shop?

Ryan

 

[GiesJ]

I thought you would enjoy that one. I have a 1950s Iron worker somewhere to show you too...

The machine has a plan for a foundation. How deep the anchor bolts need to be set and how much concrete is part of it but I only saw it briefly. It was moved via semi and I'm sure they used the overhead crane to pick it. I have no idea what it weighs, but I believe it is both electric/hydraulic. The knives (that do the actual shearing) are just plain huge!!

 

[rbattelle]

The saddest thing is the price of scrap iron is relegating more and more old machinery to the furnace.

Old machines like that just seem to have a "soul" about them that many (not all) modern machines lack. Modern engineering and stress analysis is just too good. Nothing gets overbuilt anymore.

What are you guys going to use that monster for?

I'd be interested in seeing what that iron worker looks like!

Ryan

 

[GiesJ]

It's not the prettiest, but still works. Circa 1950:
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[Excessive Force]

It's not the prettiest, but still works. Circa 1950:

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I've got a friend that has one almost identical to yours. Works great!

 

[rbattelle]

I think that's a fine looking machine! Iron workers are used for shaping metal, right?

Ryan

 

[GiesJ]

This one will punch and shear all sorts of sizes/shapes. I don't have a good picture of it in operation. I've never seen it used for shaping though, we have a 300 ton brake for that.



Here's a link to a modern one. Some good videos of it in operation.



Edwards Ironworkers



Punch with video



Angle shear with video



There are several more on their website. Neat machine!

 

[bigdaddydieseldan]

You are one lucky dude to be able to have at your disposal two nice tools like that

 

[GHarman]

Jason, Thats some fine old equipment. Just watch yer fingers and hands. GregH

 

[DJW]

GiesJ, naughty, naughty, 1950, looks darn pretty, (I'd sleep with it) that's NEW to me. I can never remember seeing an Ironworker in the UK, the one very similar is a Boilermaker's Shear, the difference is front, punch station, at right angle, round, square and angle shear. Back, plate shear, however the blade is open to allow for continuous cuts as ship's plates are very long, plus have to be shaped for Bows and Stern. Looking down on the machine it would look like a cross. Probably in ship building yards in the USA the same type of machine exists there. These machines are at least 15 feet tall and are huge massive pieces of molded metal, and probably as big below floor level. From my experience I would say that the usual Ironworker is built mostly for the steel construction trade, the most I have ever seen is the Buffalo, very fast 3,4, or so faster than hydraulic. Of course there are many old specialized machines, ones just for shearing angle iron, another just a punch and others single shears. At 15 years of age run a combined punch and flat shear, a real finger taker, shear above punch, punch below, both activating together resting hand on upper portion a NO,NO. OSHA take note!

 

[DJW]

Those Edwards Ironworkers are fine tools, I have two 55 tons with tooling, about 20 hours on one and just ten on the other, one has an angle notcher the other square, and punch and die sets. One hour running an Ironworker, is enough time to produce enough parts to bury it. In fact I bought my Cummins new, mainly to bring one home from Buffalo to California, I had other stuff also, so made a few trips. When you have your own business you can buy anything. I used to receive the Lincoln's quarterly news letter and tip flyer. One should listen to their advice re. starting your own business, STAY AWAY FROM REPAIR JOBS, let someone else, have someone else's headaches, troubles and tribulations. As Henry Kaiser said, "Find a Need and Fill it," True American. Find or design a product, make a few for acceptance, decide tools required, ones especially to cut down time and labor, you can't make money fixing broken tools, your time equals MONEY. Just buy the drill bits you need, if you need any, and the Best you can find, no one is going to pay you for sharpening drill bits, unless you intend to be in that trade, leave the drill bit sets for Hobbyists and people with Time on their Hands, (you won't have any to waste). I've bought another Mig welder rather than change wire and rolls. When a Mig hose becomes clogged, buy a whole new hose and gun, (don't be cheap) you've had a lot of use out of it, A 4 1/2 inch angle grinder big enough, if you need a larger one I suggest modifying your procedure. Cheap Harbor Freight angle grinders are good enough, buy 3 or 4, time not worth taking any make back for exchange or repair. I've had Industrial B&D, Milwaukee etc, tip, Har. Frt. All for now, any tips or help ideas I'll be glad to help.