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There are Indian/Persian recurve steel bows. No idea of the draw weights. From memory they tapper in thickness and width with a raised central rib. Andrew

I've seen the chain smiths at the Black country museum using this set up. Didn't hear any noises. I'd either have a cistern to automatically fill the tank with a indicator of water depth. In case the cistern stops working. Or refill the bucket at least twice a day to start. These look simpler to fabricate but harder to install then tue and boshe sets. Andrew

I understand the necessity of making the press correctly. What I want to do is understand "how" to calculate the forces and what beams are needed. Batson has his calculations of safety but doesn't explain how these are calculated, which is unfortunate as he shows his working for all the other parts. Though there are no calculations for the h frame. So if I want a wider mouth in the h frame do I just search the web for someone else's build and hope there sums work? Andrew

I'd also be interested in finding out how to calculate the forces in c and h frame presses. Batson has his calculated factor of safety in his c frame presses. But nothing for the h frame. I'd like to know what happens as the width is increased. So as to be able to calculate what could work or what wouldn't. I've found some calculations for beams under load but can't figure how these relate to press calculations Andrew

Don't think I can add much technical to your stamps. The first image of the stamp on the knife looks good except the curved face of the blade lost part of the stamp. What weight hammer are you using? To me your stamp shouldn't be difficult to get work. Have you seen the size of missaglia marks! Andrew

I used the same plans making my burners. I also couldn't find the tips suggested. I'd assumed that they were a us thing. I went with standard might tips. The first few I filled them to shape. I now used them as they come, and find it makes no noticible difference. Andrew

I think there is a picture of one made in "thawa forge" website. An h frame with a basic looking frame. Hydraulics in the UK are loads more expensive then us from what I can see. May be question of scale. Andrew

I have a copy of Batson's and keep looking at various parts to understand everything. Still trying to work out how to calculate safety factors as this isn't covered very well especially for the h frame. I am restricted in the size of motor available and pump. I went for a single stage as the easy option and some here suggest that a single stage pump can be better. Haven't had a chance to play with pressure and motor speed yet. I suspect there won't be any noticable difference. Andrew

Hi quick question on power (psi) versus speed of ram (or pump)? I have a 3 phase 2.2kw (3hp) motor run via a vfd. It has a 4cc (0.25"?) pump running at 1400 rpm. It will easily hit 3000psi at 50hz. My ram is 4" and moves around 1/2 per second at 3000psi. I have a pressure regulator before a solenoid block. The solenoid diverts to tank when not engaged. When the ram moves and contacts hot metal it takes about half a second to reach 3000psi during which time the dies suck out the heat. It does move a reasonable amount of metal. BUT if I increase frequency to 100hz this would give 3 gpm increase the ram speed and dropped the max pressure to 2000psi am I likely to see any real difference? As most of the work seems to happen at the initial contact of the dies especially when screaming hot. Andrew

Have you gone through all of Batson's trouble shooting? What speed had you calculated for this ram and pump setup? My only thought would be how sure are you that the motor is turning in the right direction? Andrew

Have a look at Brindleys of sheffield. They have mild steel balls up to 6"(150mm) and in EN31 up to 150mm. http://www.brindley-steel-forging.co.uk/acatalog/Mild_Steel_Balls.html No affiliation but have bought from them. Andrew

So if my static converter will actually under power the motor, would using a 240 VFD give full power? Having a busy time with work so haven't had time to look at the power pack. Tim I live in York, you have seen my workshop when you helped with my siemans VFD. Andrew

I have seen an other Pilkington that has a square bar in the hole that holds a wide belt control. Guiding the belt drive onto either drive wheel or idle wheel. These wheels are mounted on the same axle as Owens vpulley, though on the other side on the one I've seen. Andrew

I already had the 4kw static phase converter. I don't know much about these. But assuming a 1/3rd loss in power it should be able drive a 2.2kw motor without issues. The phase converter has an amp meter. I need to find time to clean everything and try and flush the system. Then try again with new oil etc.

Well I have finally had time to look at the power pack again. I tried frosty's suggestion on sourcing the problem. Unfortunately without success. Could be the low pressure, flow or the electric solenoids. The tank has crud galore in the bottom, the oil is like milky tea. So I'm going to drain the oil and clean everything. I suspect there may be issues with the pump. How difficult are these to take apart AND put back together and get working? Andrew

Hi all, Thanks to help before I have got my hydraulic power pack working. But as I have no info on this I am at a loss regarding the power pack drawing so many amps its tripping the fuse box? I was told the power pack came with a press that was used to push bearings and other garage type jobs. They never had the pack running so were getting rid. When I started to see how the pack worked I had the remains of a pressure needle (now missing). There appears to be two controls. one is a simple screw which increases or decreases the pressure. there is a second screw cap on the hose side of the solenoid that regulates the amount of oil going through to the ram. It runs well up to 1000psi drawing about 8 amps. When I increase the pressure to about 2500 the fuse trips in the fuse box. I am running the 3 phase motor through a phase converter from a 20amp 240v socket. What is slightly confusing me is the motor plate rates the motor as 4.7 amp at 415v or 8.1 at 240v. Do you think I have an issue with the motor (2.2kw/3hp) that is causing the overload? Or is it just a matter of setting the flow to a minimum for max pressure? Any other suggestions on getting this back working. As an aside is there an easy way to use a single acting ram with this power pack.? Andrew this is why we ask people to load the photos to the IFI site rather than off site places. we can do nothing to recover this

Hopefully here are a couple of pictures of my mill. Excuse the mess and ignore the g clamp beside the large v pulley. It isn't there if I use the mill. Andrew

Hi steamingpuds, My mill uses a 3hp motor geared down to about 80rpm that then uses vbelt pulleys to take it to about 20rpm. This isn't elegant but motor gear box and pulleys were very cheap off evilbay. The motor is held down giving tension to the v belts. I have had to loosen the motor to allow them to slip. I have been using this for a while and occasionally still stall the roller. No mater how much you think you won't stall this you WILL. Build in some fail system just in case. There is a lot of torque in this I have the lever arm and turn screw. I do find using the arm helpful just as a quick change of thickness and the possibility of tapering. It doesn't take that much work and if you find you don't like it push it back and ignore it. I have also used a VFD to control the speed. I havn't found much difference in speed but the motor sounds happier at about 65HZ then the 50hz it should run at. I'll try and get a picture to show my mill later. Andrew

I have made a rolling mill using the Macdonald plans. They are useful in getting everything together but are designed for you to finalise. Due to sizes of available stock. Most of the measurements are in imperial but some are metric. If you can design your own mill now you won't need the plans. If you need to ask some questions then I'd get a set. One point to design in is a slip point or shear pins. You will stall the mill and using a gearbox attached to the motor sounds like a good way to grind the gears up. Andrew

Hi Brian, Your discretion does help. Can you confirm that it should have power going to either end of the solenoid. I have been told it was power in on one din plug Andrew

According to the Rexroth site these are 110v the model number is we6 e51/aw110-50nz4. Doesn't seem to be on there present models. If you know different let me know. A generic solenoid to match this is around £170. Hence why I won't to get this right first go. Andrew

Hi Thanks for the replies. Your description of the coils confirms what I have been told. Now to wire up the controller do I put the 110v power into each end of the coil or on one end? A D 1 3 C (coil) E < (switch) > B F 2 4 A 110V + D 1 1-D 3-F C EARTH E B 110V -- F 2 2-F 4-D Does this scheme make any sense? Andrew

Hi all, I have a (2.2kw) 3hp power pack that I am trying to see if I can get to work. It has a Rexroth solenoid with bent three pin tabs. After trying several hydraulic companies to get a switch system made. The best I have managed to get is some three pin plugs and a up down switch. Now I need to wire up the solenoid? Obviously one side is power in. What happens on the other side? I have a four cable line which goes to two pairs of contacts on the switch side. How do I wire this to the three pin plug? I can’t get my head around how wiring two or three wires will get the ram moving in different directions? What I am concerned is that I don’t want to fry a potentially working solenoid control. Do I have all the parts to get this working or do I need anything else. I have tried looking on the web for wiring diagrams with no luck, or nothing I could understand anyway. Andrew

Had a quick look on Diderot encyclopedia with out luck. Maybe someone with better French then me can find it. Andrew http://portail.atilf.fr/cgi-bin/search2e?title=&author=&class=&speech=&objtype=plate_group+&word=&CONJUNCT=PHRASE&PROXY=moins+de&DISTANCE=3&OUTPUT=conc&SYSTEM_DIR=%2Fvar%2Fartfla%2Fencyclopedie%2Ftextdata%2FIMAGE%2F

Have you looked at buying a KMG grinder or making one? Here is a link for someone in the UK (I presume you are here) who makes different types of grinders depending on budgets. Think they start around £500 going up to around the £1k + depending on set up. www.downlandengineeringservices.com He also sells wheels etc to make your own. Andrew