Featured My Very Last Tool: Metal Muncher!

Today I found The Ultimate Tool: The Metal Muncher!!!! No didn't buy it, a few little details like it is over 4 tons and our forklift will only handle 3 tons, stuff like that. But maybe when I grow up I can get one! Yeah I don't even have enuf thick steel plate to give it a good test, but dangit, someday down the long windin' road I'll git me a METAL MUNCHER!!

 

Buy it, munch unconventional things and post videos on youtube, become insanely popular like the hydraulic press guy.

 

Dude, you don't have to lift the whole thing with the forks. Just one end at a time to get the dolly wheels under.

I can't believe you haven't found an Army surplus 20T forklift yet.

 

It's only worth about $27,500. Get two!
I love these and other 'ironworkers'.
I have used quite a few though usually for mundane things such as cutting angle iron but never one of this capacity.
I used them often to punch holes.

 

Thx, interesting! Yes this one looking to be in good condition is only a piddly $10k. But I don't have that spare change jingling in my pocket right now.

Oooooohh, I know, wonder if the general population would toss money into a Spring's Metal Muncher Gofundme page? I'd have to put some thought into the "sympathy" part though. Maybe "Spring is a poor longtime hoarder who only wants to hoard ONLY one more thing, then he'll stop, he swears! Be a part of his hoarding cure and buy him a Metal Muncher!"

 

OK, I give. What exactly would this be used for? It looks like a giant punch to me and I wouldn't want a nice smooth punched hole munched, but maybe that's just me.

 

This one is hydraulic but the ones I used had a very heavy flywheel that little could stop its rotation. When you stepped on a pedal it would engage and run until you lifted your foot.
The end with the yellow and black warning mark cuts steel such as: angle iron, flat and square bar and probably round rod and re-bar.
The other will hold punches of various sizes to punch holes in metal, usually steel, as aluminum and such soft metals, will foul the punch. Same for the other end. I suppose it could possibly press shapes with that much pressure at hand.
It may also cut square or round holes into sheet metal with the proper accessories.
It is a very dangerous machine and must take full attention and eye protection when operating.
Never speak to anyone, or make loud noises, around anyone operating such a thing.

 

very last tool... until the next one

 

The MM I found got me spun up and I started looking online for machinery upgrades I'd been contemplating. I found an underpriced, newish-looking hydraulic press that was 1/10 the price and 1/20th the weight of MM. So I bought it. Won't have good pix till next week. We've been using a cheap, 20-ton press that's "loose" enough that it is dangerous, but the new one looks like it should be much tighter, plus should be higher capacity.

 

You are a very very fascinating collector!!

 

He's the proud owner of a warehouse, the better to store large toys. I buy jewelry, on the exact opposite end of the spectrum.

 

Best Go fund me EVER!

 

Well here's our substitute for the too-big Muncher, a nice electrohydraulic press, 25-ton capacity, to replace a cheap somewhat dangerous 20-ton one we've been using for many years.



It is about same physical size as the old one, about 5' tall x 3' wide. It weighs about 500 lbs, about 200 lbs. more than old one. This type of press is called an "H-frame press" regardless of how it is powered.

 

Here's the top of our old one that we bought as a manually-pumped 20-ton press. I converted it to an "air-over-hydraulic" press by substituting an air-powered hydraulic jack for the manual one, and found that the simple conversion made the press much more useful. It was also safer because you can control it with the valve that's on a 3-foot-long hose rather than having your body against the press to be able to work the hand pump.

 

I look at these machines in wonder and awe.............................and wonder what awful things I could create with them.............or "un-create" with them................

 

I hope it munches well for you !

 

THIS one looks like something to put the rods in Frankenstein's neck with!!!!!

 

Oh, and when I wrote that it would be the last tool, well, I was "forgetting" about the 53-foot semi-trailer headed this way with a bit over 13 tons of machine tools and related stuff, 20 pallets' worth. Not my personal horde exactly, it belongs to the business and will be used to process stuff for sale and sometimes for ordinary machine-shop jobs from outside customers. The truck will bring many capabilities we've needed for years, we just made-do with poor substitutes, didn't do certain things, or paid other shops to do it for us. We'll continue sending quantity-production jobs out to CNC machine shops, though, since that's the only type of shop that can do a few hundred of something in a few days and at an affordable price.

 

Boys and their toys.(sigh)

 

Girls have toys too...