[TheForge] Kick Press

[Bob Ehrenberger]

Jay,

I'm not sure whether my kick press is a small or large, it's the same size 
as my friend Don has, and I haven't seen any others.   We didn't have any 
problem unloading it by hand so I guess it weighs under 200 lbs minus the 
base.

I like the idea of being able to use hand held tooling under it like for 
reposee (sp?).  And working sitting down sounds nice too.  I noticed that 
without tooling in it the ram stops 3"- 4" from the table, so not much 
chance of smashing my hand.  It also has an easy to adjust stop so setting 
the depth of the stroke is pretty simple.

Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.
eforge at centurytel.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jay Hayes" <xmas4lites at earthlink.net>
To: "Bob Ehrenberger" <eforge at centurytel.net>; "Blacksmithing List Sponsored 
by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 12:09 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Kick Press


Bob, I have two kick presses. Both have their own cast iron base. They
are indeed very useful for lots of things. In some ways I prefer them to
a fly press because you have booth hands free to hold the work and or
tooling.

Right now, my smaller kick press is set up for a job bending little
clips like a mini press brake.  I'm using my larger hick press like a
treadle hammer to do veining on a bunch of leaves that are being forged
for a railing job. It is very easy to control the hit and it has a lot
of power. I can knock out a leaf with several hundred hits in no time.
One hand guides the work while the other guides the punch, as I sit on a
stool and barely have to exert any force with my foot to deliver a each
blow.

The kick press can be fitted with all sorts of tooling. A fixed hammer
head on the ram and a lower doming die makes it a snap to dish out a
blank into a bowl, hot or cold. I also have a bunch of die sets that are
set up for various other jobs that either stamp out small widgets or do
punching, riveting, forging, or embossing. The die sets allow matched
tooling to be held in precise alignment and the whole setup can be
changed out quickly. Spring tooling can also be used fixed or of hand.

Jay

Bob Ehrenberger wrote:
> A couple years ago when I was visiting a friend's shop I was admiring his
> kick press, he said that they show up at the local industrial auctions 
> where
> he lives.  I told him that I wouldn't mind having one if he could pick one
> up cheap (like $50 or less).  I hosted BAM's hammer-in yesterday and he
> showed up early and said he had something for me.  There was a kick press 
> in
> the back of his pick-up. He had gone to an auction and they couldn't get a
> bid on it so the auctioneer added it to a pile of stuff that Don wanted. 
> He
> ended up with the pile and the press, only then did he remember that I
> wanted one.  Since he basically got it free he said I just owed him for
> hauling it and we could work out some kind of trade.  Well, later on he 
> was
> talking about how much work it was to ring out fleeces (his wife is into
> fiber) and it sure would be nice to have a working wringer washer. It just
> happens I had an old Maytag in the barn, so the deal was done.
>
> Before I can use the press, I need to make a stand for it, and it has no
> tooling. I was thinking that it would be good for sheet metal work.  Do 
> any
> of you have a kick press, and what kind of tooling do you use with it?
>
> Robert Ehrenberger
> Shelbyville, Mo.
> eforge at centurytel.net
>
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