Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Carson

Members
  • Posts

    2
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location
    SE Tennessee
  1. Ok, first let me say I'm new here and no one should take anything I say as gospel. That said, I'm going to try this one more time. I did do a search in presses form back a couple of years and do not think anyone has discussed this type of press. So here it goes. This is not an arbor press or a dedicated punch press. What we are looking at here is an industrially produced mechanical press with an air clutch. It is not a blacksmithing tool any more then a mig welder would be. It is a machine for hot and cold forming, punching, and shearing. It is not a hammer and can not do what a hammer does. It can, however, do some things a hammer can not do. Basic operation goes like this: You plug it in and the motor provides direct power for the press operation. The power from the motor can not actuate the press until air pressure is applied to the clutch. The regulated air pressure determines the point at witch the press will kick out. Maximum air pressure gives the rated pressure at the linear shaft by allowing a sun/planet gear to turn a crank. There is no ratchet or progressive lock pin. Foot pedal plus air to the clutch makes it go down and when it reaches the limit of the clutch or the foot is released, it goes up. Unless this machine has been thrown down a flight of stairs, it has a 50% catastrophic failure rate well beyond a hammer or hydraulic press. What it does and how it does it: Simply, it will use open or closed dies to preform work. If your dies can reliably work at rated pressure, and you don't seriously overload them or use hot short iron, this is as safe as it gets for the pressure. Hammers will rip top dies off handles and send them flying. High pressure steam or hydraulic fluid will cut pieces off of you before you can flinch. This will only do the rated work. It will not send rays of hot metal through the air. If metal exits the die, it stops moving. Maybe it could fall, but probably just oozes like cookie dough. This is not a drop hammer. The dies do not have to contain the metal. The active stroke is in the range of 0 to 1 or 2 inches. The daylight maximum is 6ish inches. More or less on a machine this size. You have to set the stroke, the throat and the dies. That takes 2 minutes or more. The kick out of the clutch can be adjusted on the fly. This machine will reduce, taper and form cross sections in material with open dies and can leave a smoother finish then a hammer much like a hydraulic press but at a faster rate with shorter stroke. It can head bolts, pins and rivets with closed heading dies. It can crimp, cabbage, bolster, and yes, pierce with either open or closed dies. It's limitations are a short stroke, it's smallish size and it's need to have both electrical and pneumatic service. As with any machine, it would need to have all moving parts thoroughly examined up to and including a magnaflux. Tl;dr: It's not that bad Edit: Thanks Frosty, I'll do that. Only just read your reply. This is sheet metal sized, but Chambersburg was making air clutch hot work presses I know in the early 1970s. Not common, especially now with linear drive, but they do more then an ironworker.
  2. Mechanical presses were preferred over hydraulic for hot forging for about ever. The only reason you see hydraulic used now is because they are easier to build and for modern operations, they can be set up to given strokes and pressures more easily. That is of course just my opinion, but not totally unfounded. The fact is that mechanical press will move metal and fast. There is no pump lag, fluid cavitation or anything in the way.
×
×
  • Create New...