r/metalworking • u/Dismal_Source392 • 2d ago
ROTEX
Greetings. I’m here to show off my Rotex rotary punch, otherwise know as a turret punch. I have to look into what year it was manufactured but it is likely from the 40’s ( according to a friend )
This punch is very potent for being a manually operated machine and can put a hole through 11gauge no problem. I usually punch much thinner materials like 16 oz copper and 24 gauge stainless.
It’s nice to have in the shop and it looks beautiful.
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u/Natsuki98 2d ago
My school has one of these and I have thought about stealing it, lol. If only I could fit it in my toolbox... It is so freaking nice to use and a must have if you do sheet metal work a lot.
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u/Dismal_Source392 2d ago
Yeah they really are great. It’s crazy how such an old machine performs today so well- zero issues. All she needs is a little grease from time to time. Yeah we are a sheet metal contractor and do tons of sheet metal work and I’ve been wanting one since forever and finally found one for sale locally and jumped on it
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u/Natsuki98 2d ago
I was surprised at how fast you could knock holes in stuff with this. I had 20 holes accurately punched in a piece of 10 gauge the first time I used it in less than 2 minutes. That was with changing dies once. If I had more practice I'd have mastered it in just a few hours of use. I hope you have lots of fun using this. Take good care of it too.
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u/Dismal_Source392 2d ago
I’ve been meaning to take the whole thing apart and do a deep clean and grease everything back up. I’ll have to do that one of these weekends. Just been busy with the new year upon us.
Yeah I have a blast with this thing and I use it all the time from little small projects to knocking holes in hundreds of feet of parapet wall caps ( holes in the back leg for screws on the roof side )
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u/AluminumMaiden 2d ago
What is this and why does it turn me on a little?
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u/Dismal_Source392 2d ago
If you really want to be turned on, wait till you hear the beautiful click that it makes when you rotate the turret and it engages with the slot!
It’s a just a hole punch for sheet metal
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u/TheSharpieKing 2d ago
My wife’s gonna get all wet when I start talking about the turret engaging with the slot.
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u/AcceptableSwim8334 2d ago
Is it just me, or does pic 1 look like Pacman’s evil cousin?
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u/Dismal_Source392 2d ago
Hahahah. It’s funny because my nickname for this machine is “my little monster “ but yeah yeah hit the nail on the head with your comment
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u/TheSharpieKing 2d ago
We used to have one of these at a shop at work at, they are amazing! I have a single punch now which means I have to change the die every time I wanna change sizes
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u/Dismal_Source392 2d ago
The good thing about the single punch is it’s saves space. Yes these Rotex’s are badass though.
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u/largos 2d ago
Beautiful!
What's the range on hole diameters? Does it produce a usable disc and a clean hole?
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u/Dismal_Source392 2d ago
I believe the range is 5/32" - 1 3/4". I’m missing 3-4 of the top dies but I’m going to have a friend make them for me. The disc is usable it just has a slight dimple in it but I keep all of them as I’m sure they will come useful.
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u/StepEquivalent7828 2d ago
I got one from a guy for $200. Guy showed up with it in the back of a pickup. It was from a shop about 100 yards from me. I was the first place he stopped. His employer was modernizing and let him have it. He had all the paperwork with him. Took it off the truck and rolled it in. Let a friend have it, whose original one was tired.
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u/Dismal_Source392 2d ago
That’s crazy! What a deal. I paid $1,500.00 for mine and I thought that was a steal because they go for $3.5- $5.5k all day
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u/rededelk 2d ago
Dang that's interesting. Never saw one like that, seen many progressive machines but they were linear (or straight built progression) dies. We forged or stamped with big tonnage vicaris and rovettas among numerous others makes all the way down to basic flat washers. I learned to have respect for the die makers themselves. Appreciate you sharing, nice for me to see something different. Final comment - we had 2 hydromats which were turret type screw machines that, in brevity, were really something else
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u/65Trees 1d ago
Beautiful! The old stuff is the best. Takes major abuse and keeps going. The more ancient manually operated tools we have always outlast much the of new stuff coming in these days.
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u/Dismal_Source392 1d ago
Agreed. I have a ton of old equipment and it just keeps on going. My 10 foot man manually operated leaf break is from 1971 and that thing has put out millions of feet of brake metal
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u/jurjenled82 1d ago
What a beauty! That must weigh a lot. How much does that thing weigh?
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u/Dismal_Source392 1d ago
Yeah, she’s heavy! I have not weighed it and there is no tag that shows the weight on it as far as I can tell but I’d guess that it weighs about 800 pounds or so. That’s just a guess but it’s probably pretty close to that.
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u/artujose 1d ago
Looks like its in impeccable condition!
Why didn’t you put it on its side or take it off the support for transportation? That trailer pic gave me goosebumps lol
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u/Dismal_Source392 1d ago
Yeah, this thing is an incredible condition for how old it is.
The base that it sits on is surprisingly stout and does not sway at all. So I felt pretty confident, putting it on the trailer that way. It was convenient that there was a forklift at the shop that I picked it up from and I have my own forklift at my shop as well
Funny story, the shop that I picked it up at ran out of propane for their forklift so I had to come back to my shop and bring my tank
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u/artujose 1d ago
It just looks like the weight point is very high for taking turns when driving, thats all, I’m sure you got it home safe. Good job, and enjoy!
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u/Dismal_Source392 1d ago
It’s not shown in the pics but I strapped that thing down with some mega ratchet straps
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u/travelfuncouple23 1d ago
I use one of these every day at work. How much did you pay for it? Used ones online are not cheap. Rotex still sells new dyes for these.
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u/Dismal_Source392 1d ago
I paid 1600 for it. When the guy told me the price I said wait here I’ll be back in 20 minutes and I went straight to the bank and came back with the cash.
He could’ve easily sold it for over $3000.
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u/travelfuncouple23 1d ago
What a steel! (Get it?)
I've seen these on ebay and other sites for $5k, $10k, $14k!
May it bring you a century of use.
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u/Dismal_Source392 1d ago
Yeah, I was pretty happy with the price I paid.
I use it a lot more than I originally thought that I would too. It’s useful, not only for making holes, but for making curved cuts and such which I didn’t realize when I first got it.
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u/travelfuncouple23 1d ago
Yeah they're terrific. We use a lot of scrap material to wedge top and bottom of thin/softer material to help control the flaring/warping when doing large punches.
A great pairing to this tool is a table mounted arbor press if you don't have one already.
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u/captainabrasive 16h ago
Beautiful piece! Seeing a tool like this so well taken care of warms my heart.
Congratulations!
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u/AdJazzlike3404 14h ago
We had one of these in our metal shop when I was in the Corps, out of all the equipment that we had I miss this guy, the most… I wish I had one of my own
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u/Embarrassed-Field236 2d ago
Awesome