AndrewOC Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 My new toy, a fly press by Sweeney & Blocksidge, Birmingham. Vital stats are; 5" throat, column to centre of screw 7" clear from bed to guides 18" swing of handle Screw diameter; (very approximate) 46mm pitch; (very approximate) 63mm Four start thread. Stop nut handle is broken off and it has no balls (where have i heard that before?!). But I'm definately not complaining; price was below $200. Appeared on the Bay-of-E, from a dealer i've known for years, realised this once I heard his voice on the phone. I am curious to know the rating; no such marking. I had a quick google images search, which tells me they are relatively common in the UK, can be bought for twice as much , and may be a number 2 to 5 model. Also I wonder the age of the thing. Does any one out there know them? regs, AndrewOC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Remember that markings were on a manufacturer by manufacturer basis and do not correspond to force across the whole span of fly presses. My "#2" is a large H frame machine that can take another manufacturer's #2 under the die....on the original manufacturers stand it's about 7' tall with the dies touching and has a 42" wheel with dependent handles. Can you get away with getting a couple of hollow metal spheres and casting them full of lead around the uprights? Or quick and dirty find some cast iron weight plates that will slip over them---folks are always discarding weight sets/exercise equipment over here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngdylan Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 I've seen a "needs must" approach to a fly press with no balls .... the owner just clamped two moderately sized vices to the pegs where the balls normally sit using the jaws of the vices to grip the "pegs" .... mass is mass is mass ... worked pretty d. well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratel10mm Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Andrew you lucky man! Where's the green with envy smiley? lol. I've seen a fly press with coffee cans full of lead used as weights. The owner cut a hole in the base of the cans & brazed in a bit of pipe to leave the hole for threading the weight onto the spigot. It worked very well. As for the size, I'd guess bigger than 3 since it has 2 weights. Comparing them in terms of physical size I'd hazard a guess at a no. 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share Posted July 22, 2010 Andrew you lucky man! Where's the green with envy smiley? lol. Hehe! I thought that would get ya going! It is a nice thing despite being a steer, the screw glued with muck and a score in the dovetail. If u see one u like down my way, buzz me and i might be able to inspect/ pick it up for ya. Has anyone done 'lost foam' casting with lead? I'm thinking of a 4"-5" styrene craft ball with an apropriate square taper stabbed in it; ramming up in casting loam and pouring lead in a sprue. Question is; would molten lead be hot enough to cleanly burn out a styrene pattern like cast iron does? AndrewOC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David E. Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Yours looks to be the size down from mine, 2" screw 20" swing 8" stroke (bottom of guides to base) approx 3 feet from top to bottom balls are about 5" dia. (you can get these solid balls from blacksmith suppliers) drill 1/2" hole right through heat up and drift with 1" square taper. I always thought mine was a no 4. a very handy tool. and it has a 1" spigot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbas Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 My new toy, a fly press by Sweeney & Blocksidge, Birmingham. Vital stats are; 5" throat, column to centre of screw 7" clear from bed to guides 18" swing of handle Screw diameter; (very approximate) 46mm pitch; (very approximate) 63mm Four start thread. Stop nut handle is broken off and it has no balls (where have i heard that before?!). But I'm definately not complaining; price was below $200. Appeared on the Bay-of-E, from a dealer i've known for years, realised this once I heard his voice on the phone. I am curious to know the rating; no such marking. I had a quick google images search, which tells me they are relatively common in the UK, can be bought for twice as much , and may be a number 2 to 5 model. Also I wonder the age of the thing. Does any one out there know them? regs, AndrewOC Andrew, how much do she weigh? This is one indication of what it could do. I like the heavy ram guides. life begins at sixty (lbas) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisblackduck Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 My new toy, a fly press by Sweeney & Blocksidge, Birmingham. Vital stats are; 5" throat, column to centre of screw 7" clear from bed to guides 18" swing of handle Screw diameter; (very approximate) 46mm pitch; (very approximate) 63mm Four start thread. Stop nut handle is broken off and it has no balls (where have i heard that before?!). But I'm definately not complaining; price was below $200. Appeared on the Bay-of-E, from a dealer i've known for years, realised this once I heard his voice on the phone. I am curious to know the rating; no such marking. I had a quick google images search, which tells me they are relatively common in the UK, can be bought for twice as much , and may be a number 2 to 5 model. Also I wonder the age of the thing. Does any one out there know them? regs, AndrewOC G'Day Andrew I have one of these and it also had no ball weight I purchased from a sports shop two shott putts and drilled holes works fine they also come in different weights depending on competion and age group. Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 G'Day Andrew I have one of these and it also had no ball weight I purchased from a sports shop two shott putts and drilled holes works fine they also come in different weights depending on competion and age group. Cheers Mark Not a bad idea... .I was thinking the big ocean fishing net weighs but I think 20lbs is as heavy as they come... I got one that just simply had some big square chunks of mild steel with a hold drilled in... If you took a grinder to all the sharp edges I think you could end up with a "ball-ish" square that would do nicely.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sask Mark Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Go down to your local prison (or marriage chapel...) and get ankle weights. :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger604 Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 I am new to 'smithing for the most part. So pardon my ignorance, but what do we use the flypress for? Guy should know, in case he should have one!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted July 25, 2010 Author Share Posted July 25, 2010 Welcome to forging Ranger. I would sum up work that could be done press as; - when there is repetition involved - for accurate work and - just for the heck of it 'cos you have the tooling. Examples i've done on employers presses are; (with fly press) making 'grapes' in balling dies, bends in flat bar for brackets, broaching square holes in round (done by the toolmaker) and rivet heading. On bigger (crank) presses I have trimmed with little guilotine blades, stamped semi- finished forgings to an accurate form, bent hundreds of brackets for a production run, trimmed fin off closed die forgings, upset small heads on pins/ rivets, stamped numbers on jobs where there were a hundred of them. There is all sorts of different ways of thinking between power hammers and the various presses. Generally speaking power hammers have more 'whack' power per footprint of machine. Presses have more of a 'squeezing' type squish (even though it is still real quick), like cutting wire/rod with pliers or bolt cutters compared to belting it with cold chisel/set and hammer. MOST important is that overloading a press is positively dangerous, they have little or no 'cushion' in the stroke, there is no 'fuse' in the system. Whereas any hammer will bounce off an oversize job and not have much effect, a press could smash something or jam. Well thats exhausted my thoughts for the moment, I know there are many others on this forum with vastly more experiance than I. We shall look forward to their words of wisdom. regards, AndrewOC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalky Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Did you ever find some ball weights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 My small flypress has a date cast on it, Nov. 7, 1873. It looks similar to yours. My bigger one does not have a date, but looks much newer, no ornamentation. Yours looks more like my older one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 Hi guys! Thanks for the interest. As it happens i was making (finally!) the new improved base for the press on Saturday. Balls haven't appeared, so i'll try it without them for the time being, then sand cast lead jobbies may be the answer for more momentum. In the long term i could forge some up out of mild steel next time i'm under a big hammer, though i do know someone with dies for mill balls... I agree it does look old, what with the crusty paint; probably why there were no other bidders. Need some of our UK friends to check their old machinery catalogues for Sweeney products to get a firm idea of age. regs, (got to go to work now) AndrewOC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 MOST important is that overloading a press is positively dangerous, they have little or no 'cushion' in the stroke, there is no 'fuse' in the system. Whereas any hammer will bounce off an oversize job and not have much effect, a press could smash something or jam. By "press" I'm assuming you just mean crank (OBI) type presses as there is not that danger with a fly-press. Hard to classify a fly-press as they depend on impact too. Kinda in between a press and a hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 hi all, Grant said 'there is not that danger with a fly-press' and i stand corrected. Where i used to use a flypress, i made a steel 'U' to hold the screw up out of the way for passers-by. 'Cos eveything was grotty, the machinist didn't see my new accessory and tried to squish something with the extra stopper in it... didn't worry the press at all, just made the stroke ridiculously short. I've only seen one broken fly press- on ebay; most of the base was busted off. This would more likely be from being dropped... what have others heard of? Any dramatic crashing stories about fly presses? regs A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forgemaster Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Do you want some MS balls Andrew, 135 dia,? and how many? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fciron Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 It was fixed when I got it, so I don't know how it got broken. Oh, and STOCK! instead of a counterweight, Grant's favorite modification, this one came from the factory with return springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 forgemaster said; 'want some MS balls'? ooh yes please, say two for the press plus one or two to make sheet metal stakes with Toolie club is planning to have a blacksmithing day at the Heritage Shipyard 1st of May 2011. regs, AndrewOC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forgemaster Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 forgemaster said; 'want some MS balls'? ooh yes please, say two for the press plus one or two to make sheet metal stakes with Toolie club is planning to have a blacksmithing day at the Heritage Shipyard 1st of May 2011. regs, AndrewOC Consider it done Grasshopper. I'll keep 1st May clear too. do you want the ones for sheet metal steaks out of something better, 1045? (yes I know I spelt steaks rong androo) Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fciron Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 dang it. Now I'm hungry for stake! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 ya beat me to it fc! a nice steek can't be beat! A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Just goes to show them Aussies DO have balls of steel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Stage II Stripped the Sweeney down, cleaned it up and put it back together recently. 'ere be pics of the separated bits; Arm, screw, claspnut/ height stop, sliding head. some close ups The half nut that holds the screw in the head. Stay tuned for more details. A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now