brian

Wondering if anyone can tell me the size of iron used in gates similiar to the attached photo.
They seem to be quite common in the UK and Australia . The flat bars across the gate seems to be 25x8mm but don't know what the frame is made of. Is there some kind person willing to go down the back yard and run their tape over one? Not worried about the dimensions of the gate just the thickness and width of the steel.

Thank you Brian.

Candle stand made for local church. I twisted the 12mm round cold with a homemade twister ,a car diff with a 3 foot crank. I think I may have reached the limit with this size twist and will have to gear it down as it was a real struggle as the twist got tighter! Then forged the cross and legs.

Helmet I forged copied from the original on display in the museum in Victoria ,Australia. Bullet dents and all !

Gave up on making a flypress last year but still needed a press of some sort. Gathered the motor,pump and ram from various sources over a few months and finally got it all together. The original 2 inch ram was too small but I had the good luck to find a 4 inch ram just before it went to the scrap heap. Had to cut 10 inches off the ram and cylinder and then weld the cap back on the cylinder, pretty pleased all my welds have held so far and no oil leaks.I estimate the press capacity at somewhere between 15 and 20 ton .It'll bend 1 inch flat bar cold fairly easily and 3/4 into a right angle with no effort.I'll see if I can get a photo in here and there are more in the gallery.

Homemade Hydraulic Press - Blacksmith Photo Gallery

Silicon sounds great.......thanks to all.

Not sure what the problem is. Do you have any pics? A picture is worth a thousand words.

Sorry ,no pictures yet ,haven't made the frame until I can work out the simplest way to fit the mirror.
Thought I'd start with a square frame of 1 1/2 by 3/8 flat bar ,just a small frame 12" square .

Has anyone got a simple way to fix a mirror in an iron frame?
Have been racking my brain but can't come up with a solution that doesn't involve drilling holes and tapping threads.

Hope someone can help me with this.
I'm trying to make museum wax using Brian Gilbert's formula which involves mixing the wax with white spirits but I don't know what the Australian version of white spirits is.
I thought it was methylated spirits but have since been told it is mineral turpentine .To add to the confusion I found some white spirits which is used for stain removal in dry cleaning.:confused:
I don't want to waste the wax that Brian kindly sent me so can anyone can tell me the name it is sold under in the land of Oz ?

Thank you for your tips Thomas. Still a bit scared of the gas, which is probably a good thing,I guess I'll relax a bit the more I use it.

I've used acetylene regulators on the gas side of things---as long as they are rated for propane as the seals can be trashed if it's not rated. A regulator is handy to keep the flow fairly constant as the gas in the bottle level changes.

Welcome to the dark side and watch the Dragon's Breath!

Forgot to mention I've got a lpg regulator on the gas bottle,Trouble is it's marked in 50 kPa increments which makes it hard to be sure exactly what pressure the forge is running at.I think I can mount a low pressure guage in the gas line to be more accurate but don't know if this is necessary.
Can anyone tell me when it's running at the right air/gas mixture or is it trial and error until I get it right?:confused:

Hello Folks,
Just finished my gas forge and fired her up for the first time.Used a 9kg gas bottle for the body and an old fan from a Volkswagen motor. No jets used, just a 1/2 inch gate valve to control the gas and 1 1/2 inch valve for the air flow.Once I got the mixture right ( after scaring myself a few times ) it heated steel up to white heat running at about 2-3 psi with the gas tap just open, think I'll put a valve off an oxy torch on it for finer gas control and a solenoid shut off valve in case the power fails to the blower.
:confused:Can't remember how to put photo's here so I've put them in the gallery section.

Just finished building an lpg gas forge with blower .Tried it out today and it works fine ,red-yellow heat very quickly at 5 psi but have read that there is a safety risk if the blower cuts out while the forge is going .
Has anyone had experience with this or know about it?
Can I do anything to make the forge safer?:confused:

Bit off the wheel chair subject.
I have only 20 percent use of right hand ( hammer hand) due to grabbing a wire with 6000 volts running through it when I was a kid.

I can usually find a way around this eg. using a power hammer for as much possible ,using a heavy hammer with a thick handle .
This has enabled me to become more skilled with the power hammer and making different dies plus safer for visitors as they don't have to duck out of the way when a hammer flys across the shop!!!
You can find a way to get things done if you stop and think for a while.

I have here an extract from Maneklal and Sons website

" FEATURES FOR 'P' SERIES SINGLE AND DOUBLE SIDED FLY PRESS .
Top end of screw with hexagonal tapered reception for the wheel to ensure no slip
Mild Steel screw with heavy duty square angular thread"

Would anyone be able to tell me what steel is used in their fly press screw or are they all mild steel?

Know this is a difficult one to answer.
What size flypress would suit me for general smithing?:confused:
Mainly work hot mild steel up to 30 mm maximum .
I am thinking 5 to 8 ton would suit but need all the advice I can get as I will have to get it shipped over and want to get it right first time.

they are a very elegant machine, that, IMHO cant be improved on ( I build presses and hammers for a living) - they are also cheap for what they are, even cheap at $1000, youll get your money back if you even choose to sell. (so, effectivley they just cost the shipping, and the cost of the capital (yup, im an accounts boy originally).

I think you're right John, the time I spend making one (which probably won't work) would be better spent earning money to buy the real thing.
It's been good watching this idea being kicked around on the forum and the old brain cells being stretched to the limit,plus the interesting input from various people with a wide knowledge of the subject.

Makes you realize how skilled those people must have been a couple of centuries ago to turn a thread like that with the machinery they had.

no one noticed my delibreate mistake on this one then..... :rolleyes:

I meant 1/2" per quater turn...... o o o o p p p p s.

Look forward to the photo's.
Hey,do you remember when phone's were something you cranked a handle on and spoke to people !!!! Amazing.

I do alot of work on 'eccentric shaft' forging presses, and in a nutshell its got absolutley no chance of making a useable open die (free forging) press.

They are good for closed die work but the forces involved are massive.

The medical bills youll cop from building a machine like youve sketched will make the $A 1000 ish for the flypress seem very reasonable indeed.

really, dont even try it. (I do know what im on about, and can give numerous reasons why not to do this, but it would take about an hour, trust me on this one.)

I will bow to your greater wisdom John, pity ,I thought I had something there but I think I'll try and find a proper press rather than risk the injury.

In the case of the cam operated press, something else must be adjusted to keep the working zone in the 2/3 to 7/8 range of cam travel. This would require an adjustment system, such as a threaded rod or turnbuckle in the force transmission system or blocks under the work, adjustment of the bed or the location of the camshaft. I have not yet been able envision an adjustment system that would be anywhere as simple as just giving the flywheel another turn or so.

I think a large threaded rod combined with spacers under the work.
Want to use it mainly for repetitive work.I can use the power hammer for drawing out.

Point taken John,
I have never used a fly press but I get the idea you don't use the full rotation ,just sort of bump it down.

If I get a bit of free travel before contact and use a fairly heavy flywheel would it build up enough momentum to be useful?

Also thought of putting two cams side by side,one from 0 to 2 inches and another from 2 to 4 inches the second cam running in a step in the ram so I get 4 inches of travel in two rotations.

As drawn I think it will work...once. Assuming a heavy enough flywheel to get any work done I think the axle will bend. Could move the supports in near the cam though. Interesting.

Yeah,there's quite a few things to work out,move the supports closer,rig up a spring to keep the ram up.
I think a truck axle would take the twisting but may have to be fairly massive to stop it bending on impact.May be a tractor axle?
Think I'd use plain bearings rather than ball or roller ,shaft isn't going to move fast.

I think I like your thinking. How about a sketch?
Matt

Rough sketch Matt but I think you'll get the idea.


Cam Press - Blacksmith Picture Gallery

I'll see if I can get a sketch up Matt.Might take me a while to figure out how to upload it.

Another thought(lot of thunkin' going on here)

I get my trusty gas axe and angle grinder and carefully cut a cam out of 3/4 inch or so plate.Cam to go from 0 to 2 inches in one revolution, approximately same amount of travel as a flypress.
Attach cam to shaft made of torsion bar to give it a bit of flex and put a fly wheel on the end of shaft .
Make a ram with a roller on top end so cam won't jam (hopefully) when I spin the fly wheel.Bore a hole in the other end to take tools.
Mount it on a two pillar frame with a substantial plate under the ram
Reckon if I adjust the ram so the flywheel gets some speed up before it hits the steel it should give the same force as a fly press.

You think this might work or would it just destroy itself?:cool:

Man, don't try to make a flypress. Find a way to buy one and spend your time making tools and jigs and actually squishing metal. You really do get a lotta tool for the $ and it will work right the 1'st time.

You may be right Nuge.
Much as I hate buying stuff,I like making it, but the cost of cutting a 4 start thread is more than buying a second hand press .Add to that the time spent making it plus the chance that it may not work and I may be better off buying one.
Then again...... might phone a few of my old mates and see if I can find an old lathe or some other machine that has a thread of the right type on it,must be something that uses similar lying around somewhere.

Just goes against the grain to buy stuff. ;)