How Does Turret Punching Work?

One of the services that Fairlawn Tool is well known for offering is turret punching. If you haven’t had a lot of experience with metalworking, you may not be very familiar with this type of metal forming. How does it work, and when do we use it?

What Is A Turret Punch?

A turret punch, also called a turret press, is a machine that uses punching to form metal shapes. Turret punching involves pushing a punch through a piece of metal to create a hole. There may be a die on the other side of the hole to contain the metal. The turret punch can make holes in a variety of different diameters and can make about as many holes in a sheet of metal as you may need for your fabrication.

Why A Turret Punch?

Turret punching is an extremely fast and affordable way to make holes in sheet metal, so people who need a quick, economical way of making holes in sheet metal will often look to turret punching. The turret punch is so cost-effective because it contains multiple tooling in one device, meaning manufacturers avoid the expense of creating multiple, job-specific punch tools.

Types Of Turret Punches

A CNC turret punch like what we may use at Fairlawn Tool can have up to 60 punch tools to choose from. Using the controller, we can quickly and easily rotate the turret to move the necessary punching tool, be it a square, a circle or some other shape, into the punching position. If you are using a punching press, there will be a turret above and below the bed, one for the punch and one for the die. The two turrets must be perfectly aligned and rotate synchronously for the press to work effectively.

When To Use A Turret Punch

You would use a turret punch if you are cutting many repetitive shapes in a row. If you need more complex, compound shapes, a laser cutter may be a better choice.