What was the "Cadillac" of punch presses? Bliss, Clearing, Minster, Niagra, Rouselle

What was the "Cadillac" of punch presses? Bliss, Clearing, Minster, Niagra, Rouselle

What was the "Cadillac" of punch presses? Bliss, Clearing, Minster, Niagra, Rouselle, Verson, etc. back in the day?

Assuming you want one that works i would be assessing individual condition and how well they already meet modern safety requirements than how good the given brand use to be. 30+ years later its often better to buy a second best brand thats a lot less worn than a worn out cadillac!

What Adam said. Day Job ran scores of years punching as many as two-dozen holes at a go through PCB's the size of a kidney bean, 3-stage progressive dies. 5 ton and 25 ton flywheels and crankpin. Vanilla Atlas Press kept in good order.

It was the best Danley die sets and our skill that mattered.

The press back of those die sets was almost irrelevant, so long as it had no significant faults.

Now - punching an SUV suspension arm? Not all presses work in the same world.

What sort of 'punching' is target for your uber-press?

Benchtop size? Or car-wash size?

The answer, then, these days, may be:

"The one(s) that offer the capacity needed, within our budget, and managed technology, quality, support, and price well enough to still be in business.".

Orphans are for museum projects.

Minster is, IMHO , still a world class press maker. Mostly made in the usa yet, japanese owned now I think. Bliss, clearing and niagra have merged and are still decent. Its like asking what the best toolroom lathe is, more to it than the maker, job plays in as a major factor.

in a press you don't so much want the cadillac( too complex, too much to go wrong ), you want the Peterbilt 379, heavy duty, relatively simple, well built.

What they said.

More than any other machine tool it depends on what your application is.

Punch?

Form?

Draw?

Double draw?

Progressive?

High-speed progressive?

Fine Blanking?

Forging?

Mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic or servo?

All of the Bliss, Niagra, and Verson presses I ever worked with and around were ancient by the time I had anything to do with them.

The Niagra and smaller Bliss presses (5t-50t) were all worn out.

The big Bliss (100t) was still in good shape.

The Verson (150t) was a cantankerous beast.

All were hard or impossible to get parts for, even second-hand.

Several of what we had were "hangar queens" by the end.

When the Verson failed to lock-up and took an uncautious/impatient operator's fingers off we got rid of all the old dog-clutch presses and replaced them with Greenerd hydraulics.

That was a mistake ...

Everything we have here now is a Stamtec mechanical.

Whatever you get, make sure parts and service are still available ...

The quality built machines, in no particular order were, Flexopress, Minster, Danly, Oak, Verson, Niagara, Bliss, Henry & Wright, V & O, Federal and. L& J.