Crimping press comprises an anvil and a die which is movable towards and away from the anvil. The anvil is moved by a rotating shaft having a crank-type coupling to the die. The shaft is capable of limited movement in the direction of movement of the die towards the anvil. The shaft is supported against such movement by a yieldable shaft support that is calibrated to resiliently yield upon development of a predetermined reaction force in the die during the final stages of crimping. When a terminal is crimped onto a relatively small diameter wire, the shaft will not be moved at all or will be moved by only a slight amount if the predetermined force is reached. When a terminal is crimped onto a larger diameter wire, the predetermined reaction force will be developed before the die reaches the limit of its travel towards the anvil and the shaft will move away from the anvil to accommodate the remaining movement of the crank pin.