[TheForge] Kick Press

[Jay Hayes]

Bob, Just like fly presses and arbor presses, kick presses come in 
several sizes. My smaller kick press is an Excelsior #10 and the larger 
is a #20. Somewhere I have an old catalog that lists their specs. In the 
mean time, I'll measure the table height on each when I'm in the shop 
tomorrow.  The #10 is shorter and the foot pedal is a few inches off the 
floor at the lowest point of the arc when it is kicked back. I have used 
it standing up, but it is usually used sitting down in a production 
setting. I find a taller stool is more comfortable with the #20.

For those who have never seen a kick press it is basically a punch press 
that is actuated by foot power. The foot pedal is connected to a long 
heavy curved lever that runs up the back side of the press. The fulcrum 
point of the lever is behind the upper part of the ram and is 
adjustable. A short cam shaped protrusion from the top front side of the 
lever extends into a pocket in the ram.  As the foot pedal moves back 
the ram moves down. The lever multiplies the kicking force with 
mechanical advantage and the shear weight of the lever adds additional 
force from inertia. It takes very little force to start the foot pedal 
moving, but it packs a nice punch when the ram hits the work. There is 
also a stroke adjustment on the top of the ram to limit how far the ram 
can travel, which is handy for some operations. The bottom of the ram 
has a hole that accepts tooling and the bed allows die sets or die 
holders to be bolted down, similar to on a fly press or punch press.

Here is a link to one on craigs list 
http://longisland.craigslist.org/tls/1792432539.html

Jay


Bob Ehrenberger wrote:
> Jay,
>
> I have a follow up question.  How tall is the base that comes with the 
> press?  Do you want it so the kick arm just miss the floor? or does it have 
> quite a bit of clearance so the work table is at a standard height? Do you 
> usually sit down to use it, or can you work it standing up?
>
> The kick arm on mine is about 26" from the bottom of the press.
>
> Robert Ehrenberger
> Shelbyville, Mo.
> eforge at centurytel.net
>
>
>