Bonvoisin Electric Hydraulic Hole Puncher Φ1/4"-4/5" 1200W Punching Machine 110V Metal Hole Punch with Carbon Brush 5 Dies for Iron Copper Aluminum Plate Angle Steel

I bought this about two years ago and learned a thing or two. One essential thing is to make sure you always have the hydraulic reservoir filled. You can get hydraulic oil anywhere and cheaply. I thought my unit was bad after a while as it started to stick, and the ram would come down slowly. I bought a gallon of hydraulic oil, which should last me a long time, and it fixed the issue.It's a heavy unit. If you'll use it frequently, a mount of some sort would help. But otherwise, I've not had issues with this punch and the price is attractive now. Not to mention the time I saved drilling repeated holes vs. using this puncher makes it worth it. The issue with the drill over time is the wear & tear on the bits, and while you can sharpen them, that's an added cost if you were to buy a sharpener. At that point, you might as well just get this puncher and save some time and money.

I have bought the Bonvoisin puncher and I put it immediately to work without doing anything, unpacked and started punching. I have punched more than 500 holes 1/2 in 500 holes on a 1/4 in beam (used daily for 1 month) and worked perfect using the same 1/2 in puncher head. It takes less than 2-3 seconds to punch through a 1/2 in hole in a 1/4 in beam. Worked perfect. This machine has only one weak point which is the support side Handle, it broke in the first hour using it. But within 10 minutes I had to make very strong one using bolt and small piece pipe and worked perfect there after. The handle needs to be resolved by making a stronger one. But the rest of the machine works perfectly. It really saved me a lot of time if i had to use the drill to drill these holesMikeUSA

REVISED REVIEW: The first unit I received was defective and would not function as intended, at all.Initial responses from customer service were not as expected but they quickly changed their attitude when provided evidence the unit was defective. CUSTOMER SERVICE DID EVENTUALLY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO MAKE THE PURCHASE RIGHT. I did receive a new unit and it is now (after adding hydraulic fluid) functioning as intended.I have tried all of the dies out, punching holes various materials and thickness. Total of ~50-60 punches for testing.I have now raised my review rating to 3 stars from the initial 1. I only give 3 stars for several reasons:1. The initial unit received was not functional at all.2. The initial customer service response was not stellar. It took a little prodding before they took the issue seriously.3. The second unit received also did not function properly but was corrected by adding hydraulic fluid to the very low factory level in it. This should not be required for a new unit out of the box.4. The second unit received some damage to the case during shipment. The way the unit is packaged in the case could use some work to reduce that likelihood.5. The unit works and will punch through 1/4" material without hesitation. However, I will say that the punches themselves are a bit sloppy. The dies are significantly larger than the punches, so the holes kind of 'blow' out the backside. Not as noticeable on the larger punches, but is on the small one. The holes do come out conical. I would imagine for many applications, this would not be an issue at all.6. Cheap build quality. The units are very inexpensive for what they do, but I would be remiss if I did not indicate the lower quality of the casting for this model. There are less heat dissipative fins vs others out there I looked at. Sloppy grinding spots, sloppy paint and sharp edges left on the stand. There were sloppy welds on ancillary items included, like the stand. (Weld, grind and paint issues are more aesthetic than anything. I will have to wait and see how the lower heat dissipative fin count affects performance during heavy use.7. Last one is the commercial difference in costing from some of the other units of the same wattage units. Costing needs to be looked at.While I did ultimately only give the unit 3 stars, I would recommend the unit to purchase if you have a need for such a device. If it holds up, it will save a tremendous amount of time over drilling.And the warning label is entertaining!

The media could not be loaded. I quoted a customer to punch 5/16” holes on 3/16 x 2 Hot Dipped Galvanized Flat bars cut to size. 500 pieces 24” long with 2 holes and 500 pcs 48” long with 4 holes. After having a fall out with the machine shop that quoted me the work, I quickly went on Amazon to find a solution.This machine came with 5 punch and dies. My only complaint is that it didn’t come with an 8mm punch and die. Luckily, my neighbor made one for me at a reasonable price. Honestly… this machine was worth every penny! I was able to punch all 3000 holes in less than two days.This machine comes with a stand that I was not able to use. The stand holds the machine upright, but at a slight angle. However, I was able to fabricate the stand you see in the video that holds the machine upright at 90 degrees and bolts onto my fixture table (which I also fabricated months before).As you can see in the video, with the help of the fixture table, I was able to make a removable stop for the two different sizes. Each hole took approximately 2 seconds to punch. Using it two days straight non stop for 8 hours each day, the puncher never overheated. It surpassed my expectations and allowed me to make my customer extremely happy and satisfied with the workI highly recommend this machine to any looking for a portable hole puncher that can handle mostly anything you throw at it.

STAY AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN FROM THESE PEOPLE. THEY WILL NEVER ANSWER YOU BACK..I used this this item 4 times punching threw mild angle iron less than 1/8" and 5th time machine started smoking and burnt up. motor runs but hydraulics dont work. Tried to contact them several times and no response. I will be contacting Customer Service for Amazon but not very hopeful. Save your money and buy a better brand. Suppose to have a one year warranty but no luck contacting anyone..

Give the drill press a break, this is a gotta have tool you are popping holes in flat bar or angle iron. I use a lot of 14 gauge and 1/8” metal. This has been a total game changer for me. I do a lot of fabricating and it makes life easy. It’s portable as well, you can throw it in the truck. It saves a lot of time, time = money