Shop press with Forming die and punch

[Frank S]

After searching for a year for a suitable replacement cross member for my Chevy truck rebuild I decided to make my own
My shop press has been the platform tool for many projects I actually bought it at a scrap metal salvage yard for $20.00 then added my air over hydraulic 12 ton jack
this project deals with a punch and die to form the dimples in a sheet of 3/16 plate

The punch was cut and shaped to fit in the dimple

then I did the same with the die

the lay out done and positioned ready for forming

pressure and a judicial amount of heat with some massaging with a hammer

The end results are worth the effort

What I started our with

What I ended up with