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Ed Caffrey's Workshop Talk to Ed Caffrey ... The Montana Bladesmith! Tips, tricks and more from an ABS Mastersmith.

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  #1  
Old 06-14-2005, 10:01 PM
ian robbins ian robbins is offline
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looking at a press need a little help

I have a store that sells machinary by my home and i was looking at there hydrolic presses.
what am I looking for?? they have 8 or 9 diffrent types what are some of the speeds, and tone #'s i will want? what are the minimums I will be able to tolarate cause they have some small ones for not as much. I would like to be able to draw out as well as weld aso.

thanks-Ian
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Old 06-15-2005, 03:22 PM
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Ed Caffrey Ed Caffrey is offline
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What I'm going to tell you is my personal likes and dislikes on presses. There are many various points of views on different aspects of presses, and other opinions may vary....

1. Cylinder size: 6" diameter is the minimum I recommend. Using smaller cylinders forces you to increase the pump size and the pressure the system runs. This can be a very dangerous proposition since most hydraulic lines are only rated at 3000psi.

2. Force: I see more an more people wanting to build presses with supre heavy tonage.....and I don't understand why. 25-30 tons is about optimum for a forging press. A press manipulates the steel differently from a hammer in that is forges from the inside out. Using a press with too much force (40+ tons) often times creates more of a mess than anything. With a press this heavy you can literally squash the middle right out of a damascus billet, not to mention get a awfully lot of distortion on mosaics. An additional hazard with high tonage presses is the lateral forces you deal with. If your not careful with what your doing, you can easily shoot a billet, or a piece of a billet out of the press that will go right through something soft like a human body.

3. Speed: Is really a matter of personal preference, but since I view my press as a "Precision" forging machine, I want the travel to be slow enough that I can make minor positioning adjustements with the billet(s) as I'm working them. With that in mind, my press travels at approx. 1" per second.

The main issue that I think is very importatnt with any press is that it be built beyond anything you thin you'll need. The enemy of any press is flex. When a presse flexes during use it will tend to create diamond shaped pieces, which are a real bummer if your trying to create mosaics.


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Old 06-17-2005, 08:50 PM
ian robbins ian robbins is offline
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what would some of the draw backs of having less ton# and what do you think would be the minimum ton#? I actually have a couple that i can buy out of the store, which is why I ask. thanks you very much for your input.
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Old 06-17-2005, 11:19 PM
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I consider around 25 ton optimum for forging. With lighter tonnage you'll have the tendency to overheat the steel to make it move with lighter tonnage presses. With higher tonnage presses most folks will tend to not heat the steel enough, and in the process tear billets apart because the colder steel won't with stand the stress.

15-20 tons will likely do the job, but you will have to realize that your going to be heating more times and not really saving yourself much effort, nor will you be doing your steel any favors.


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