Finally built myself a press. 5" cylinder, 16/3.5 GPM pump running at 1740, so cut that in half. I am very happy with the speed.

Here's a pic:



Fired it up and all the oil stayed on the inside. I've stress tested to 2500 PSI so far (about 24.5 tons) with nary a creak. Probably leave it there for a while.

Now to plop it in a permanent spot and build some dies!

Dave

Finally built myself a press. 5" cylinder, 16/3.5 GPM pump running at 1740, so cut that in half. I am very happy with the speed.

Here's a pic:



Fired it up and all the oil stayed on the inside. I've stress tested to 2500 PSI so far (about 24.5 tons) with nary a creak. Probably leave it there for a while.

Now to plop it in a permanent spot and build some dies!

Dave

Looks like a clean, well thought out machine Dave... Nice job

Any special reason you made it to push from the bottom up instead of from the top down like most other hyd. presses? Armand

Thanks for the kind words!

On the bottom-push topic: I went back and forth on that. I really wanted to build a top-push just because that seems more intuitive. On the other hand, I had been using a bottom-push press I built from a 20 ton air-over-hydraulic, and you get used to it very quickly.

The biggest problem with the bottom push is height. I didn't just put the pump and motor underneath to save on footprint, although it certainly did. (Hard footprint on this is about 24x30 including reservoir - add a bit for hoses and conduit) Look at the Batson H-frame plans (that was my starting point) or the McNabb press (also based on Batson) - the die height is too low in my opinion. I am 6'2". So many pictures I see of guys running presses have them bent over with their heads cocked, trying to eyeball the work. I have neck problems and hanging my head over like that would kill me in short order. The way I am going to use this press, I want the work right there in front of me. Some guys want their dies at an anvil-like height. Definitely a plus if you do heavy work. Mostly what I will be doing is making damascus and other blade-related work, so the pieces are relatively light. The control lever falls to hand easily while I am standing erect, and the work gets handled with my left hand as if I was forging. (I run with my forge on my left and my anvil on my right so my left hand does all the work handling)

To do a top pusher with the die height I wanted would have made the press well over 7' tall - close to 8' IIRC. Too tall to get out the roll-up door on my shop, (heck the ceiling is only 8') and also top-heavy. And top-heavy for no great reason - there would have been upright length in there that served no purpose but to raise the die height. This design, to me, is cleaner - there's no real wasted space to speak of - and I like clean.

The other thing that swayed me is that I am not thrilled with the idea of the cylinder right in front of my face. It can be shielded, though. This one is going to need shields, at least to keep scale away from the hoses, cylinder and filler cap. Work in progress. Working on a foot control, too.

A couple more pics to show the general arrangement. Pardon the, um, mess.





Dave

Looks good Dave, way to go! I like the guides, take a real off-center load to wrack that very much. Rather than putting the valve high and rigging a foot control think about putting the valve low and rigging a hand control, makes for nice short hoses.

Put an "ell" on the motor and you could tuck the liquid tight conduit into the frame. Looks like you're gonna have fun for sure.

Nice looking press! That's the style I'm going to build when I get around to it. I had not thought about putting everything underneath, though. Good idea.

Jamie

I was indeed going to go shopping for an ell to tuck that conduit in closer to the frame. I salvaged that stuff from a bunch we pulled out at work years ago - it's the good stuff with spiral metal lining - not a bad idea around hot metal. Glad I finally found a use for some of it.

I could drop that lever quite a bit, for sure. I don't know why I thought I needed it so high. So many little things you learn on press #1... And I haven't even used it on hot metal yet! That top die holder is going to be nice and easy to use, but it needs a pair of stops at the back instead of just the one in the middle. They could even be integral with the shelves.

Thanks for the comments!

Dave

Good looking press! I to was going to try to make a bottom up press. I'm still savaging steel and stuff for it, but someday I'll have it. Chad

Nice build, now for the fun part putting it to work.

The biggest problem with the bottom push is height.

I ripped this text today to reply to the same question from another guy, and I see that I should have said "The biggest problem with the TOP push is height."

Nice work!, but there is just one thing that is a little strange.... You gotta mess that floor up a bit. It's way too clean...

Any chance for some more pictures and a few measurements.

Any chance for some more pictures and a few measurements.

Sorry for the delay.

Sure, no prob. What do you want pictures of?

On the dim's, it's pretty much a Batson H-frame (from the book) built on an 24"W x 18"D x 13.5"H base. Uprights are 3x5x0.25 angle, throat is 10"W. Changed the ram to use 1" plate (10"W x 8"H) for guides, pinned and bolted so that I could disassemble for rework if needed. I can dig up my drawings (or a tape measure, LOL) if you want more dims - no prob.

Dave

Great looking press! Wait 'till you get some dies and start squishing. Only thing I would change is to flip over the valve, attach rods and foot pedals for operation. It will free up your hands and give you better control.