[TheForge] RE: Hydraulic Forging Press

Thu Mar 13 18:13:00 2003

Hey Ralph,
I uploaded  several pictures of my modified "H" frame press to your new
folder.
The press is my old design that was later modified by Jim Batson then again
later by Uncle Al.
I'll upload my latest design when I finish building it.
The die plates are held in the side groves by twisting the butterfly lock
into the vertical position, and giving the pivot nut a 1/2 turn to tighten
it with a snub handled socket wrench. The whole process to change dies takes
about 45 seconds
You're entirely correct  that Jim's  hydraulics primer is essential to
building a good functional press.
He put a lot of time and effort into it to make it understandable by the
average person.
If you don't understand the basics, you can do some serious damage to
yourself in the blink of an eye.
In addition to changing the press design I also built my power pack with 15"
of quick connect hydraulic hoses, so that I could minimize the danger of
high pressure hydraulic leaks near my face and body.
I witnessed several of these types of accidents on shipboard, and decided
that they  weren't a lot of fun.
chuck

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ralph Sproul" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 7:03 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] RE: Hydraulic Forging Press

>         Thanks Chris, I was looking on the upload page........ so I went
and
> just started a new Hydraulic Forging album and it has seven pictures to
> check out.  This ram guide system is the one Batson has in his book.  It
> works well, the open anvil you'll notice on my press comes in really
handy.
> The other pictures are pretty self explainatory.  The straightening die is
> amazing how well it works.  Add wood if you don't want to damage already
> created textures.  *Be careful puting wood on hot metal in a
> press.........the flames will shoot three feet to eithe side when you do
> this.......it works well, but you must be aware of this.  Once thru that
and
> you'll know what I mean.  :-)   (spoken with less hair on one arm!)
>         Batson's book is invaluable for information on how to figure your
> piston travel speed.  The two stage pumps run low pressure yielding higher
> speed than the high pressure end of the pump that yields about 1/4 of the
> ram speed as the low pressure side of the pump.  This is nice to get in
and
> out of the heated object, and have the ram go to a really controlable
speed
> when getting into the actual work.  You don't see things about to happen
> with hydraulics like you do with other mechanical devices........when a
tool
> or die is subjected to 20-50 tons......there is no difference in
appearance
> until a tool comes apart or something shoots across the room(hopefully not
> hitting you).  This is why a die lock in system is important, the slow
> controlable speed of a ram is advised with the two section pumps, and
having
> a pressure guage makes you aware of how much pressure your exerting on an
> object.  As you press something the heat is absorbed into the dies, the
> material becomes less workable, and tool stress can become extremely high.
> Using a lot of common sense around these tools is mandatory (especially
with
> cold work).
>
>         I'd like to see other H frame and die ideas, as well as hand held
> tools if folks have pictures of them.   I'll try to take pictures of my
hand
> held press tools.  They are just like power hammer tools, but four times
the
> size to absorb the heat transfer.
>
> Ralph
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Worsley" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 7:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] RE: Hydraulic Forging Press
>
>
> > Ralph,
> > When you get to the site, click on the "organize & share" tab, then
click
> on the
> > "new" icon on the right hand side of the panel.
> >
> > Chris
> > Alexandria VA
> >
> > Ralph Sproul wrote:
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > >         I tried to start a new album and can't figure out how to do
> > > that......any help appreciated.  Figured it would be Hydraulic Press
as
> a
> > > title.
> > >
> > > Ralph
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> > theforge mail list group photo site is
> > http://www.photoaccess.com
> > Login:  [email protected]
> > password:  anvil
> > ___________
> >
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  [email protected]
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>