Antique punch press - photo

[Altair]

Antique Hilles & Jones punch press.




Previously:

Antique machinery festival - video
Antique hand-cranked grinding stone - GIF
Antique asbestos shingle cutter - photo
Antique pattern maker's vise - GIF

[Toolmaker51]

Looks like I've some research to do. These certainly are punch presses, with obvious connection to ironworkers as seen for many decades. Until this instant, timeline of separation between punch presses from ironworkers hadn't occurred to me.
The modern punch press carries upper portion of a die-set [usually the punches] and register to die shoe on rods in guide bushings. Majority of such machines use a crankshaft for reciprocal travel, controlling punch entry into die with a heavy threaded connecting rod. Provided the job has sufficient demand, a die produces many features in a tremendous quantity of parts. That number is the break point between investing in a dieset; or building a locating fixture for an ironworker style machine,though presses run faster in strokes per minute. That remains a selling point to this day; regardless speed and features in presses, ironworkers can change from one item to another quicker. That justifies also why used ironworkers sell higher, in per stroke tonnage than equal power presses, rough estimate says up to 3-4 times, and needs far less ceiling height to boot. Footprint is comparable in square feet, presses more less square, ironworkers are typically rectangular.