[TheForge] riveting, press

[Steve howell]

Ries, 

I heard Zach Noble in NC uses an Enerpac C-frame ten ton press for riveting and can do up to 3/8". I suspect that is hot. The ideal riveting C-frame would be suspendable on a gantry, maneuverable, capable of driving 1 1/4" rivets and easily bolted to a table for fixed work. Kind of like the one I have arriving from Anyang in a week or so: http://www.chinesehammers.com/cp4.html<http://www.chinesehammers.com/cp4.html>.
Everybody is so hung up on hammers from them that no-one seemed to notice this tool is pretty capable, and cheap. 
Granted, it takes a 5000 psi pump. The WA Whitney line of metalworking stuff uses 4500 psi so I'm looking for an old pump unit from them or will piece one together from scratch. I suspect it could still probably do some damage at 2500 psi. so I'll have to play with it.

Andy G- the ram on my press is free to rotate any which direction. Most of the tooling is free to move around on the platen. Before doing a bend or offset, I just seat the tooling together with a little kiss of the ram and then go for it. For things like the riveting dies, only minimal means are really necessary to keep them inline. The ram is double acting but also double-ended. That keeps the ram in alignment throughout the stroke and is less susceptible to side-loading.

There are good pictures of Thorne's press on the Iforgeiron site under Caniron. I like what Bob E did on his using an old mechanical press frame. I think he's got pix of that on our photoaccess site.

Steve Howell
Seattle
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