caotropheus Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Greetings. I know, this topic is worthless without a picture, so, here it goes: I bought this flypress in the scrap yard. It cost me about 100 USD and I was not able to reduce the price. The guy was a tough negotiator! It weighs 100 kg and according to references that I saw in the website www.flypress.com for screw diameter, working height, and weights, it might be #2. I disassemble it completely to clean, and I intend to remove rust and repaint. The problem is that I looked inside the ram and I cannot understand how to remove it from the screw. Probably a die broke inside, probably someone played with a pipe and smashed it inside the ram, I do not know. Please guys, help me on this issue. I will try to remove what seems like a thin wall smashed pipe inside the ram by drilling it. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Actualy $100 is a great price for that flypress. You did well so far. While I understand your desire to pretty up your new machine, if you can't figure out how to take it apart you are likely to do more harm than good. Much of the surfaces should never have paint anyway. The surfaces that should be painted can be addressed with the press complete. If there really is something wrong, and it is beyond your abilities, find a competent local machinist to help you, preferably a retired guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I agree that all that should be painted can be done without disassembly. Sand blast or use a knotted wire cup on an angle grinder to clean it up, then spray paint. I can recommend a color scheme if you like.... As far as the ram vs screw, sorry, I've never had the urge to take mine apart to see how it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I'm with Arftist , if that puppy's functional, leave it alone - clean it up and put it to work - I'd love to have found it for $100! Post some pics when you get it working! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Greetings. I know, this topic is worthless without a picture, so, here it goes: I bought this flypress in the scrap yard. It cost me about 100 USD and I was not able to reduce the price. The guy was a tough negotiator! It weighs 100 kg and according to references that I saw in the website www.flypress.com for screw diameter, working height, and weights, it might be #2. I disassemble it completely to clean, and I intend to remove rust and repaint. The problem is that I looked inside the ram and I cannot understand how to remove it from the screw. Probably a die broke inside, probably someone played with a pipe and smashed it inside the ram, I do not know. Please guys, help me on this issue. I will try to remove what seems like a thin wall smashed pipe inside the ram by drilling it. Cheers Looking at the pic, it seems usable as is, Telepathy and psychic vision would be handy, (or a good picture of the 'problem' and surrounding area). The 'pipe' may have been a sleeve to fit tooling that a previous owner had used. There should be a standard bore for tooling to fit, on the ones I have it was 1" nominal diameter, However blacksmiths tend not to use flypresses as intended ie with tooling fitted to top and bottom platens, running guide bars. If it is a sleeve, just make your tooling to fit it and keep that as your standard size shank. Hope this helps, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fciron Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 It's also hard to diagnose problems based on verbal descriptions. Pictures of the problem area could help a lot, especially if all grease or old scrapyard dirt is removed first. I would not sandblast the press, you don't want sand or grit in the screw or in the ram guides. even if you get it apart you don't want those surfaces roughed up with the sandblaster. I have not separated the ram and screw on mine, but there appears to be a collar around the end of the ram that is threaded into the top of the ram. could this be the piece you think is smushed tube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 And don't forget that there is NO standardized numbering system! My Hopkins #2 is an H frame, stands over 7' tall on the original stand and uses a toroidal wheel 42" in diameter Looks several times larger than that one. Pretty much every manufacturer had their own "system". I also paid about US$100 for it about 8 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Do a google on flypress and there is a good video out there which gave me great ideas!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalgnome Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 looks like a great deal wish i found. How big are the counter weights. Could not see in the pic. As for the problem with ram I would drill and try easy-out. I would also not disamble to clean up leave as is. Just paint with rust bonding primer, I like loctite brand used it on my little gaint save alot of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 When you "looked inside" was that from the bottom? if so the tool holder hole may not even connect with the top of the ram where the screw/die connection is. Note that there has to be a sliding connection there to allow the screw to rotate and push the ram down. If you have to take it apart careful cleaning around the upper part of the ram may show a pin setscrew or other means of keeping the two together upon retraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caotropheus Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thanks everyone for your answers. Here it is a full picture of the "beast". Weights are about 7 to 8 kg, screw around 5 cm, total height 64 cm, working height 12 cm, frame height 50 cm, weight distance 72 cm, total weight 100 kg. After cleaning some gunk, it appears that there is a collar on the top of the ram that attaches to the screw. I will try to open it and remove any objects from within the ram. I intend to paint it after some cleaning, one colour static parts, some other colour moving parts. This is the paint I elected. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Learnin' Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Thanks everyone for your answers. Here it is a full picture of the "beast". Weights are about 7 to 8 kg, screw around 5 cm, total height 64 cm, working height 12 cm, frame height 50 cm, weight distance 72 cm, total weight 100 kg. After cleaning some gunk, it appears that there is a collar on the top of the ram that attaches to the screw. I will try to open it and remove any objects from within the ram. I intend to paint it after some cleaning, one colour static parts, some other colour moving parts. This is the paint I elected. Cheers Caotropheus, it appears there may be a virus in your external pic. It tried to say my pc was infected and I got out ASAP. The flypress looks like a good find though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fciron Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Caotropheus, it appears there may be a virus in your external pic. It tried to say my pc was infected and I got out ASAP. The flypress looks like a good find though. For what it's worth, I didn't have any trouble with the imageshack link. SL, you may want to run your virus scanner to make sure it's not a problem on your end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopshopchopper Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 That is a great deal. I think I am going to spend the summer in the scrap yards. Northeastern Ohio has so many and I never head out to look. I will this year though, a second fly press could be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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