Mini Hydraulic Press

[Ken Kelley]

Here's a few pictures of a small hydraulic forging press I built based on a 20 ton air over hydraulic jack. It was inspired by a fellow member of Don Fogg's Bladesmith Forum. A few of us have built our versions of the original in the past couple of months. I finished miine up last Friday then spent a pleasant few hours Saturday squishing a billet of 1084 and 15n20. Works great and saves my old shoulder.

[Ken Kelley]

Whoops! Maybe I CAN'T post pictures?

[Ken Kelley]

Oh well, here's the Photobucket link instead http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t...20first%20run/

[Bikething]

Here's a few pictures of a small hydraulic forging press I built based on a 20 ton air over hydraulic jack. It was inspired by a fellow member of Don Fogg's Bladesmith Forum. A few of us have built our versions of the original in the past couple of months. I finished miine up last Friday then spent a pleasant few hours Saturday squishing a billet of 1084 and 15n20. Works great and saves my old shoulder.

or maybe you just clicked the wrong link in photobucket (you need to use the IMG code one )

[Ken Kelley]

Thanks for correcting my mistake. Looks like I fumbled this one.

K

[ZDP-189]

Thanks! That looks like the easiest implementation yet.

[DCL]

looks nice

Daniel CL.

[Kisu]

Great idea What speed does the ram travel at and what size compressor / air flow do you need? Sorry for the questions but I've just seen a 20 ton air jack for sale and fancy having a go at making one myself

[Ken Kelley]

Great idea What speed does the ram travel at and what size compressor / air flow do you need? Sorry for the questions but I've just seen a 20 ton air jack for sale and fancy having a go at making one myself

I power this little press with a 5 hp 26 gallon Sears Craftsman air compressor. It's rated at 9.4 cfm at 40 psi and 7.1 at 90 psi. At the rated 120 psi of the Harbor Freight jack I would imagine it passes around 5 cfm. The ram speed is sufficient to get 5 or 6 good squeezes in with each heat. It helps to adjust the dies so they just barely clear the work to save both air and heat. Judging from the experience of the handful of us who have built this project, any compressor capable of supplying at least 4 cfm would be sufficient to the purpose. Keep in mind this machine is not a replacement for a full sized hydraulic press. As long as you keep billet size down to an inch or so thick and maybe 1.5" wide it will work great.

[Colin KC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwZ-GYUZZEY

[Ken Kelley]

Yep! That's T.A. Toler, the guy that inspired the rest of us to build our versions of his oiriginal machine. He has two or three other videos of the press in action on YouTube as well.

[Colin KC]

Yup, it's been on my to do list since I saw it on Dons

[etorix]

squishtastic
love the size of them bolts/nuts/washers
hmm .. i have some Whitworth taps about the 1" mark falling about somewhere

[Kisu]

I power this little press with a 5 hp 26 gallon Sears Craftsman air compressor. It's rated at 9.4 cfm at 40 psi and 7.1 at 90 psi. At the rated 120 psi of the Harbor Freight jack I would imagine it passes around 5 cfm. The ram speed is sufficient to get 5 or 6 good squeezes in with each heat. It helps to adjust the dies so they just barely clear the work to save both air and heat. Judging from the experience of the handful of us who have built this project, any compressor capable of supplying at least 4 cfm would be sufficient to the purpose. Keep in mind this machine is not a replacement for a full sized hydraulic press. As long as you keep billet size down to an inch or so thick and maybe 1.5" wide it will work great.

Thanks Ken

[Aly]

I feel another project coming on,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20-TON-AIR-HYD...d=p3286.c0.m14

so much to do so little time