So I'm looking to buy this fly press

[Aaron J. Cergol]

Hi all,

a friend pointed me to this fly press he saw an ad for in my area. All we know is that it's 6' tall, weighs a good 700 pounds...and that's about it. I'm going to check it out this week.

at any rate, if this is a good press, the price is certainly right, and I'm going to buy it. here's a pic from the ad.

what are your thoughts on this press? is it a known brand, or does it look to be of good quality? what sort of things should I be looking for, and checking over when I check it out?

if it helps, I'll be using it for heavier gauged repousse, slitting, drifting, riveting, and tasks like that. (mostly hot)

Thanks!

[Timothy Miller]

Its got a slow screw on it it needs a fast screw with a 2 or more lead thread. What you have is a screw press not a fly press. If it is very cheep get it otherwise I would pass. This kind is better for cold work .

[Aaron J. Cergol]

so there is a difference between a screw press and a fly press then?

I'm new to this, but what difference does the speed make? or does it affect the momentum thus equaling the force exerted on the piece?

it's $300 and within a 15 minute drive. I've been looking for a press for a while, so I think it's a decent deal. do you think it's worth the $300?

[peacock]

Pass on it. It won't do what you say you want to do. You will have to turn it 3 or 4 turns to get it to move an inch
A flypress will move about 2 inches in 1 turn. If nothing else it will work you to death.

[Mainely,Bob]

From what I have read the biggest difference between and fly and screw press is a screw press will"squeeze" the work like a hydraulic press does.A fly press will deliver a single "hit" to the work,more like a power hammer does but with not as much force.
This is coming from what I have read and not from personal experience.
If I were looking at this press one of the first things I would consider is how easy would it be to resell.In other words if it didn`t do what I had hoped could I easily sell it and get my money back to put toward something that fit the bill better.If the answer is yes,and only you know what the economy and market for your area is,then I would not hesitate to buy it as it would be like money in the bank and at least give me something to experiment with.

BTW-Hard to make an assessment of condition using such a small pic.

[Timothy Miller]

Its worth 300 bucks might be a good learning tool. But it is not really what you want.

[Fosterob]

300 dosnt seem overpriced and you can make tooling for it that you can use on your flypress later so it has a little use. I have a 12 ton arbor press that I am using until I get a flypress and it is really handy for cold work.
Like Southshore said it is a good learning tool.
Rob

[Aaron J. Cergol]

I figure, it's at least worth my time to check out. If it's all in good working order, I'll offer him a bit less, or a trade. I figure I can still use this, and as you said southshore, it'll be a good teaching tool and help me figure out what I eventually want in an actual fly press. plus, I've been looking for a while, and this is the only thing that comes close to my budget, and size, so what have I to lose?

What sorts of things should I be checking over when I view this press? obviously that everything turns freely and that everything else is tight, but should I bring along any metal (non ferrous) to test out? I don't really know what to look for while viewing/testing, so any advice is appreciated.

wait! I could bring my forge and... if only it were that easy.

Thanks for all the great help guys!

Aaron

[Mainely,Bob]

For evaluation info I`d do a search on "flypress" on the forums as there was an excellent post a while back that included a video where you were walked thru the parts and function of a flypress and told step by step what to look for when buying one.
If your anything like me pics are worth more than 1000 words and a video is the next best thing to being there.

[nuge]

Pass on it. It won't do what you say you want to do. You will have to turn it 3 or 4 turns to get it to move an inch
A flypress will move about 2 inches in 1 turn. If nothing else it will work you to death.

Gotta agree with peacock. You're going to spend a bunch of time buying, setting up, making tooling, all on something you wish was a flypress. And then you will have a 700lb semi-useful thing in the corner of your shop.

[Aaron J. Cergol]

Well I checked it out yesterday. the thing is a monster, much bigger than I had imagined it. Everything works smoothly and tight. But, I decided to pass after a lot of thinking. I thought, I might as well ave up another X hundred dollars and get something that I can really use. the whole speed issue really hit home with me when I actually got to test it out. he says he's taking it off CL and will still be available to me in a few months if I want it, otherwise he's keeping it.

Thank you all for the input and help. This next Thursday I'm going to Bob Bergmans' shop to see his setup and try out some fly presses there and get his input.

Aaron

[kerrystagmer]

$300? and you guys would pass on it? If it where in my region it would already be in my shop.

I do of course do a fair amount of cold work, this would dish and form quite well.

[fciron]

Just because I would grab it (I would) doesn't necessarily mean it's a good buy for someone else. If $300 bucks is your entire tooling budget, this is a hobby, or space is limited then it makes sense to concentrate on hot work tools.

If you've got a huge shop full of tools and then it's a different equation. ;)

[clang]

so there is a difference between a screw press and a fly press then?


The difference is that this will give you more force , but slower and with less travel, per rotation of the flywheel.
For hot forging, speed counts . The dies suck the heat away pretty quickly.
For heavier cold work, it's probably better than a fly press.

[clang]

so there is a difference between a screw press and a fly press then?


The difference is that this will give you more force , but slower and with less travel, per rotation of the flywheel.
For hot forging, speed counts . The dies suck the heat away pretty quickly.
For heavier cold work, it's probably better than a fly press.

[Mainely,Bob]

The difference is that this will give you more force , but slower and with less travel, per rotation of the flywheel.
For hot forging, speed counts . The dies suck the heat away pretty quickly.
For heavier cold work, it's probably better than a fly press.

I believe if you factor in velocity you may look at things differently.
Other than having a little more control what operations would a slower screw press do that a quicker acting fly press coundn`t?

[tala9]

For 300 bucks you could spend another 300 bucks buying a multi-lead acme screw and nut from McMaster Carr and spend a week ends making one very nice $600 press.