The Superior Express -

For the last 44 years a 14 foot tall, 150 ton press, owned by Reinke Shakes, has been standing in what was once the Yost Lumber Yard, of Hebron and manufactures shingles. The press stamped its last shingle on April 24.

For the last 44 years this 14 foot tall, 150 ton press, owned by Reinke Shakes, has been standing in what was once the Yost Lumber Yard in Hebron, Neb. The press stamped its last shingle on April 24, when the die-set in the press broke and the company decided to quit using it.

This stamping press was built for the military in October of 1951. It was bought by Reinke Mfg. Co. in 1976 to stamp out Reinke Shakes metal shingles. At that time the machine had never been used and still had cosmoline (a wax) coating over the entire structure. Every shingle sold by the company, millions of them, was made in this press till 2019 when a new roll-forming and bundling line was installed. The new line uses heavier metal, and wider coils, but will run the old thinner metal as well.

Reinke Shakes had a lot of coil stock bought for the original press, so they were still running some of it through to make the old style of shingles. When the die-set in the press broke, they decided it was time to quit using it. In the early 90s, the press had already run an estimated six million shingles. The copper shingles on the tallest building in Mobile Ala., and the those white aluminum shingles covering the Olympic Water Park in Oklahoma City were made in this press, as well as shingles shipped to all 50 states and several foreign countries. The special die-sets needed to make the shingles have more than 70 moving parts, and 42 nitrogen pressurized cylinders in each of them. The press could stamp 1,740 shingles per hour.