Fly Press as Powerhammer Base?

[Astro_Al]

Hi guys, does anyone have any thoughts on using a flypress as the basis for a pneumatic powerhammer?

I have a flypress here - I guess its a number 10, weighs about a tonne. The screw is a little damaged. Rather than fix it (which I will do otherwise) I wondered about making it the beginning of my powerhammer. Its got all the structure right there, plus the slideways built in. All I need to do is swap the screw for the cylinder I have already found, and make some tool holders, right?

I know it won't pack a punch like the Masseys I have been looking at, but its basically free and for a first hammer I reckon it could work pretty well?

Any thoughts, suggestions, uncontrollable hilarity etc etc? Anyone ever done it?

Cheers, Al.

[Mainely,Bob]

Hi guys, does anyone have any thoughts on using a flypress as the basis for a pneumatic powerhammer?

I have a flypress here - I guess its a number 10, weighs about a tonne. The screw is a little damaged. Rather than fix it (which I will do otherwise) I wondered about making it the beginning of my powerhammer. Its got all the structure right there, plus the slideways built in. All I need to do is swap the screw for the cylinder I have already found, and make some tool holders, right?

I know it won't pack a punch like the Masseys I have been looking at, but its basically free and for a first hammer I reckon it could work pretty well?

Any thoughts, suggestions, uncontrollable hilarity etc etc? Anyone ever done it?

Cheers, Al.

As long as you make the mounts for the cylinder so they don`t destroy the original base or cut anything off that would keep you from going back to the drive screw once you fix it then,as you say,what do you have to lose?
Don`t like the action,fix the screw and return it to service that way.

Oh,I almost forgot,BWAA-HAHAHA!!! You`re right, I feel much better.
(pay no attention to that man behind the curtain) :D

[nonjic]

Ive allways thought it would work brilliantly ! If you could get a flypress on a cast iron stand, and then a 3' ish section of 4"dia to use as an anvil you would be well on the way (turned down to poke through the hole in the flypress base, and welded to a plate to stop it punching through your floor) All the air stuff is well beyond me.

Never really been in my best interests to develop the idea though :lol:

[Astro_Al]

Thanks guys.

John - thanks for your time on the phone about that painted Massey that was on ebay (amongst others). I have all your wisdom scribbled on an envelope somewhere! I figure I could build this hammer for less than the cost of having the Massey delivered, so I started re-thinking. At least for now.

My flypress is a bit odd. It has a large rectangular hole in the base / foot / anvil part and a flat plate which bolts over it when not needed. I'd have to give some thought to the anvil side of things.

Bob - the voice of reason. Not sure why I hadn't thought that myself! (Oh, no, wait... 'the voice of reason' - I remember).

Hmm, the grey matter is grinding away...

Al.

[arftist]

Thanks guys.

John - thanks for your time on the phone about that painted Massey that was on ebay (amongst others). I have all your wisdom scribbled on an envelope somewhere! I figure I could build this hammer for less than the cost of having the Massey delivered, so I started re-thinking. At least for now.

My flypress is a bit odd. It has a large rectangular hole in the base / foot / anvil part and a flat plate which bolts over it when not needed. I'd have to give some thought to the anvil side of things.

Bob - the voice of reason. Not sure why I hadn't thought that myself! (Oh, no, wait... 'the voice of reason' - I remember).

Hmm, the grey matter is grinding away...

Al.

I personaly am not seeing it. Unless you have other large flypresses, it would be a waste and a morphadite at that. Simple power hammers can be constructed cheaply and work well, flypresses can not. Good luck either way.

[nonjic]

Flypresses in the UK regularly go for less than £100 ($150) on ebay, you can pick them up at industrial auctions for £20 ($30) very often. Doubt you could make a solid hammer frame, guides and tup for that!

[Astro_Al]

Flypresses in the UK regularly go for less than £100 ($150) on ebay, you can pick them up at industrial auctions for £20 ($30) very often. Doubt you could make a solid hammer frame, guides and tup for that!

Exactly. This press was from a scrap yard. I was speaking to a local machinery dealer the other day who said they had a large stock of number 10 flypresses for years and could never sell them at any price, scrapped the lot in the end. Anyway, I'll always be able to rebuild it (though I probably never would).

Just wondering if the 12" of daylight is going to be enough, and if the large base plate will get in the way. But its only to speed up basic operations like drawing etc.

Al.

[Mainely,Bob]

Please remember one thing Al.
We love pics.

Even if they are tough to post.

[Astro_Al]

Right, I'm back on this again. I have the press torn down to its constituent parts, after no small amount of heat & slugging with a sledgehammer (got to love scrapyards who keep nice old tool out in the rain).

So, it all looks pretty straightforward - most of the work has been done for me. I have a couple of questions at this point:

1. The part which slides up and down has an odd flat plate integrated into it (see pic) - which I will cut off. I need to know how long to make this piece. For that I need to know when the top tool should strike the stock in terms of the pneumatic ram's travel. I know it depends on the stock being worked, but a guide would be good. Is the best bet to get the top and bottom tools to 'strike' (interfere) at about 90% of the ram extension? If not, what do people use and why? Presumably I want the strike at the point of max velocity (kinetic energy being proportional to the square of the velocity).

2. Again in the pic above you can see this odd press had a kind of Massey Clearspace hammer approach - a hole in the base for the 'anvil' to sit. So any inputs on how people would make the anvil / lower die mount? I'll have to raise it up on a frame / 'table'. I have some 10" x 10" I-beam sitting outside, so I could make a vertical support for the anvil from that down to the ground. Can I use a flat plate with the press sitting on it as an anvil? How much of the presses weight in this case would be considered 'anvil mass'? Half? the tup will weigh about 100lbs when cut down to size. The whole press is a tonne.

3. Given the fairly large flat plate style base, how far above that surface would people have the top surface of the lower die/tool? I guess for access having it raised up is going to be a good thing.

4. What are your opinions on the wear to the slides using this as a powerhammer? Its going to be a lot busier than in use as a flypress, should I line the ways with something to take the sliding wear? How about lubrication for these surfaces? Drill through for a grease nipple? I can see the ways have a groove 'cut' into them - looks like a kid did it with a crayon.

Thanks for any input. Getting excited about this now, and I think I may need it soon...

Looking at this thing, I'm quite surprised no-one has started selling a kit of parts to convert a flypress into a (small) powerhammer - it's basically just the ram, tooling mounts and pneumatic components you need.

Cheers, Al.

[arftist]

Responding only to question 4, The slide as is should be grey cast iron, already an impressive bearing surface. I doubt you could improve on it much. As to the grease fittings, IMHO, oil is a far better lubricant than grtease for this type of thing, at least that has been my experience.

[Mainely,Bob]

Responding only to question 4, The slide as is should be grey cast iron, already an impressive bearing surface. I doubt you could improve on it much. As to the grease fittings, IMHO, oil is a far better lubricant than grtease for this type of thing, at least that has been my experience.

I`m with Arftist on using oil for the slide.Grease tends to hold any contaminants in place and soon becomes lapping compound.Oil will flush the grit away and help keep things cleaner,but only if you use plenty of it.
I`d try using things the way they are for now(with additional oiling) and if they wear quickly then you can always machine them back and line the slide to take up the slack.If it ain`t broke,don`t fix it.