By going with Midlake we can continue to receive the quality of the product we need with the pricing at a point we can come out ahead. -Diane, Triton

CNC Turret Punching

Get A Hinge Quote
Image Slideshow

Click image below to view larger

  • Punched Part
  • Punched Tray
  • Punched Tray

From Midlake Products in Louisville, Ohio

Midlake Products provides punching services as part of our custom manufacturing services including the use of a CNC turret punch at our facility in Louisville, Ohio. Whether you need custom metal hinges or any other sort of sheet metal fabrication, our team has the equipment and expertise to meet your exact specifications.

Midlake Products has one Strippit CNC Turret machine in-house that can be programmed to punch sheet metal into almost any design required. The turret tends to be very quick when simply punching holes or embossing.

Our punching capabilities include:

  • 20 Ton punching capability with thin style tooling
  • Can punch .125" thick steel, .250" thick aluminum and .074" thick stainless steel
  • Table size 48" x 50"

More about punching

Punching is done, oddly enough, by a punch press. Punch presses change the shape of metal to form it and to cut it. Metal is passed through the press. The machine clamps the metal, cuts it and forms it to predetermined shapes. A punch press is a type of machine press.

Presses have two components. The punch is connected to a reciprocating ram of the machine. The die is clamped onto an anvil or bed with a flat surface that is perpendicular to the ram. A blanking die shears off a piece of sheet metal to form a blank. It fits the dies used for press operations. The process results in some “plastic flow” of the metal.

Electric motors usually drive punch presses. They convert the rotary motion of a drive shaft to reciprocating the ram via a crank, toggle or cam. With intermittent power demands, a flywheel stores energy during the idling period between strokes and delivers energy to the shaft during the punching operation. This reduces the needed capacity of the driving motor.

CNC punch presses

Today punch presses are largely computer controlled but manual presses still exist and are in use. CNC controlled presses run in an “automatic” mode, based on a pre-determined program, which determines material processing.

CNC controllers tell the drivers what to do. They move the press table along X and Y axis. This brings it to a desired position, and then the controller begins the punching process. The ram is pushed from top dead center to bottom dead center. The punch enters the material, and it is pushed through the die. Pieces of metal cut from the working piece are then ejected through the die to a scrap collector container.

The controller then signals the press to begin the next cycle. These cycles can be measured in milliseconds, and punch presses are used for high volume production. CAD/CAM programs today maximize yield by nesting parts, and yield is determined by a percent of parts to waste per sheet that has been processed.

Mechanical punch presses

There are two types of mechanical punch presses that depend on the type of clutch. Older presses are usually full revolution presses. This type of press can only stop at top dead center. New presses are often part revolution presses. They use a braking system like a commercial truck’s. These presses can stop in any part of the rotation.

Why Choose Midlake

At Midlake we use both CNC and manual presses from our facility in Louisville, Ohio to create the products you need to complete your order. Contact us today for a free quote!