[TheForge] Upside down press - followup

[Chuck Robinson]

Hey Steve,
If you all ready have the components, go for it. I would recommend that you 
make the bottom die plate thicker to act as sliding guides against the 
vertical I beams.
Flip your ram upside down to minimize grit contamination on the ram seals.
And finally articulate both eyes on the cylinder to minimize side loading on 
the ram.
What size hydraulic pump do you have?
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <smith at blacksmithing.org>
To: <knife-list at kepler-eng.com>; <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2005 2:50 PM
Subject: [TheForge] Upside down press - followup


I appreciate the comments -- the major points were the essential nature of
the beast, i.e., upside down, and the narrownest of the system.  There were
also comments about Jim Batson's book (which I own).  --and I did mess up
the directions of the slashes in the URL
(http://www.ironflower.com/plans/press.htm).  That had nothing to do with
the direction of the horn on my anvil, since I have one of Chuck's
knife-makers units which is hornless <grin>.

Part of the story which I neglected to post, was I already own the
hydraulics (a 5" cylinder of the dimensions in the plan), a 5HP motor, a
control value set, filter, pressure guage, reservoir, and hoses I wouldn't
trust (when the rubber flakes off in your hands...) - all of which set me
$200.  I figure if I can weld up a frame from what I have lying around (the
I-beams,etc), then have new hoses made, I'll have a "learner" press for
relatively few bucks.  I intend to use it for Damascus production and give
my 50lb Little Giant a break (before it breaks!).  I like the idea of the
upside-down nature since it drops the center of gravity, shortens hose
lengths, and makes an overall unit more compact and more "portable".
However, since I've never used a press, I have no real idea if the
lift-to-crush aspect is a problem (it does seem wierd given the years I've
spent in front of the power hammer, but maybe someone can address this issue
if they have actually used an upside-down press).  Eventually, I'll move to
a two-speed press, made by someone who knows what they're doing, but in the
meantime, I may be able to defray the costs of that press with this one.

In any event, I do appreciate the feedback and will post whatever happens
down the road.

Steve Bloom
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