Mercury Press Brake. Where to get info & parts?

[douglasco]

My friend just bought one for me at an auction in Texas and I can't find any info on them. Any idea where to get parts and info. I am at least hoping to find an accurate machine weight. It is a 10 ft, 50 ton. Model 6508.

I haven't gone to pick it up yet. Is there anything *special* about them? They do hold standard tooling, right? Seemed like an awful good deal, is the reason i ask.

[Joe O'Connell]

I am looking at buying that same model locally (Mercury 6508) so I also have questions. I went to look at it today and confirmed that it accepts standard tooling. Regarding tooling, I have received lots of help from the folks at http://www.powerbrakedies.com/
The particular press brake I am looking at says 10' x 10 gauge on its nameplate. It doesn't say how many tons it produces at the bottom of its stroke, but 10' x 10 gauge might imply 85 tons. (look at the tonnage chart on the site above or on other sites on the web). I'd sure like to know for sure though. I've tried to find a link to the original manufacturer but cannot. I thought at first that the model number (6508) might indicate 65 tons, but as I came across other mercury presses and saw their model numbers I realized that there is not a direct relationship. The strangest thing about the local press brake is that it has a 2' long horn on one side. It is really a 12' wide press, although it is listed as a 10' press normally. I've come across this in other listings for Mercury presses. The horn is not really an add-on - it is part of the casting but it is outside the two large cylinders that hold the upper ram. Very strange. It would let you get in to do some tight work on boxes, perhaps, as it is outside of the housing.

Please let me know as you learn more about your press. I'll do the same. I am close to buying this one.

[douglasco]

I am pretty sure they are 55 tons. Thats cool about the horn. Mine doesn't have it. I'll give you an update when it gets here next week. How much u getting it for? If your not in a hurry and if its got a backgauge i wouldn't pay over $5k. If no backgauge, $3 or $4k. If your patient you'll find it for much less. But sounds like yours is local, thats a big plus.

[Joe O'Connell]

I'm not in a big hurry but I've been looking for a few weeks and have not seen many brakes I would want to buy that cost less than $100 per ton of capacity. I've confined my looking to dealers and companies that have their machines under power and available for inspection. Otherwise, I feel you could make a costly mistake. A friend of mine bought a 40 ton press brake several years ago that needed to have its bed remachined because someone tried to bend something much too heavy and bend the bed. That cost him an extra $3K. The Mercury that I am looking at has a nice back gauge. I offered the seller $5K AS-IS or $6500 if he would bring power to it, clean it up and let me test it thoroughly. I think that is reasonable. I'd rather pay a few extra thousand up front rather than pay to move it into my shop and then find out that the bed is bowed, the rams badly worn, a cylinder needs rebuilding, a gearbox leaks badly, it needs new electrics, etc. The big mystery of course is what is the tonnage capacity. Tell me why you think it is rated at 55 tons. I looked over the one here and only saw "10' x 10 ga." on the nameplate. To rate a shear this way, I imagine the manufacturer would be assuming a die width of 8 times the thickness of the metal which in this case would be 1-1/8". In mild steel with that die thickness the press would have to produce 8.5 tons per foot, or 85 tons across 10 feet. I am basing these numbers on the tonnage charts that are posted on the website in my previous post and on many press brake manufacturers' websites. But who knows? Did you get that 55 ton figure from the auction list or a dealer? Please continue to post any information you find, especially if you find a way to reach the original manufacturer.

[douglasco]

The guy i bought mine from said he thought it was 55ton. There were a couple other ads online that quoted that model number as 55ton. But now all i can find are these two mercury brakes:

http://http://www.kempler.com/produc...ntent/3709.cfm

http://www.kempler.com/product_detai...ntent/3117.cfm

[Joe O'Connell]

I looked at those machines for sale also. Notice that the second one has a horn, like the one near me. You can just barely see it in the left side of the left most picture. Strange. I'm not sure whether it is a good idea or not. The capacities on these two brakes make me pretty sure that ours would be 85 tons. Here's why: if you look at the 75 ton machine and its listed bending capacities for 14, 12, and 11 ga you come up with 56.4, 65, and 60 tons - ie. just below its rated capacity. If you look at the smaller machine which is listed as a 55 ton and you look up the capacity for 14 and 10 gauge at the lengths given you get 37.6 and 51 tons which would make sense for a 55 ton machine. So, if the nameplate on mine is right when it says 10' x 10 ga I'm guessing it is at least a 85 ton machine. Again, this is using the tonnage tables that are widely published and all seem to agree with each other to within 0.1 tons. Some of the confusion could be due to the fact that mechanical press brakes develop their full tonnage at the bottom of the stroke so some machines are rated something like 35 tons @ midstroke, 55 tons near bottom. I believe it is okay to use the higher figure (the tonnage at the bottom) in conjunction with the tonnage tables out there.