Hole Punches | The Tools of the Trade | Forum

I dont know about new- most of the companies that made punches like this are long gone- but there are plenty of used punches out there that will do this.
You will get sore arms, though at about a quarter zillion holes- if its really a zillion, I would buy an ironworker.

But I have an old W.A. Whitney punch, that will do this- mine is a lot like this picture, except mine has a 24" throat.
You need about a 5 ton punch to do a 3/8" hole in 1/8" plate.
And 5 tons or so is about the practical limit to what you wanna do by hand, anyway.

The problem is finding one- around here, used ones are pretty thin on the ground.
EBAY has a few- type "whitney punch" into the search, and several come up, but prices aint as cheap as they used to be. I paid $150 for mine, and its a model 91. Similar ones on Ebay today are between one and three thousand dollars, and, at three grand, I would be buying a small mechanical ironworker instead- Bob Benoit has a really sweet little Mubea BF-10 for about that much, and it sure would be a lot faster and easier on the shoulder muscles.

http://www.benoitsheetmetal.co.....-Used.html

this little baby would punch your holes, up to 1 1/4" in 3/16", will shear 1" round and square bar, shear flat bar, and in general do all kinds of cutting and punching so fast and clean it will make you grin...

There are actually two different companies named Whitney- W.A. Whitney, who made my punch, now only make big CNC machines. Its probably been close to 20 years since they stopped making manual punches, aside from some C frame structural punches.

Roper Whitney, which also bought Pexto, is still making new hand punches.

OBI presses are punch presses, and are designed for mass production. I wouldnt want one, as they are really inflexible- they are mechanical presses that need custom diesets made for each operation. And up here in the northwest, they are not too common- once in a while you can find a little Kenco, but not often. For instance, on Craigslist for Seattle and Portland, you might see one, once a year.

Here is a nice Pexto for a reasonable price-
http://seattle.craigslist.org/.....16200.html
Its a Pexto 218 - still available new-
http://roperwhitney.com/punchi.....g/2-14.cfm

keep your eyes open, and you should be able to find something in this size range for about this much money.