Fly press help

[rawtiron]

Any ideas on the size of this? The brand is 'Beere'. They say approx 3 ton but as there is no ID plate it's hard to tell. What do you think?http://www.machine.co.nz/index.php?search=Fly+press
Thanks for your input.

[HWooldridge]

Looks to be in good shape and a reasonable price. All the manufacturers used different numbering systems so it would be tough to quantify an exact pressure rating but it should work fine in a blacksmith shop.

[Pug}{maN]

for 500 , it looks like it would work...

[Jim]

Hello Rawtiron,

The press looks like it was setup to break sheet metal. Look like a copy of a Norton fly press. Seams to be in good shape and good price at that. Check the condition of the screw thread also check the base of the column for cracks if any.

Regards,
Jim

[rawtiron]

Thank you all for your input. It will be arriving at my place at the end of the month. Turns out they were manufactured here some years back
Jason

[ThomasPowers]

Nice! If you are willing to put the time into tooling they can be a great help in the shop especially for incising lines, *punching* or *slitting*, making indents in your work for screws, etc.

I like the old ones better than the new ones---a personal foible

[MOblacksmith0530]

Looks like a nice press. One thing to keep in mind is that on that style the handle position is more or less fixed. When you make your tooling try to get it so that the handle ends up in a good position when the tooling hits the work. Some of the newer ones use a flywheel instead of the arm and counterweight and they have an easily movable handle so the tooling height makes no difference withing reason. The nice thing about the flypresses is that they can do pretty much anything that a treadle hamer can do and with a little more control for most folks.

[ThomasPowers]

Well most of the ones like that I have seen have a faceted polygonal top where the cross bar sits and so you can pop it up and adjust it to a better position; *HOWEVER* it is a lot easier and faster in the long run to make your tooling sized so that you *don't* have to move the arm every time you switch tools

[HWooldridge]

I worked almost 30 years without a flypress then lucked across one on the local Craigslist a few years ago. I have some tooling made for it and more to do when I have time. They are great tools and you'll find yourself using it more often than not...

[rawtiron]

Well I got them to send some more pics as I noticed some damage when looking at it closer. Turns out to be a nice crack at the bottom of the ram. They won't drop the price any so I'll give it a miss.
What about this other one?
They don't know the capacity or who made it but it has a 2inch screw and travels 58mm per revolution. They reckon it weighs 300-400kg.
The only thing is that it is not a solid frame like most I've seen, but a steel frame. I'm waiting on some more pics.
What do you all think?

Thanks, Jason

[MOblacksmith0530]

I think you are making the right decision on the pass of the crack. I would too. As to teh other one it looks solid enough that I don't think it will be any issue. If it did become a problem you have room to add more bracing in between the other already there if you had to. I really like that it has a flat table that is wha tI have pu ton mine to accommodate tooling and such. If you go to our groups webpage bamsite.org, then go to newsletters, go to the november december 2012, then go to page 10 it shows a pic of our recent meeting demonstration being done on my buddy's flypress (same as mine) with my baseplate. Not the greatst pic but if you want more detail just PM me and i can take some better pics of mine and send them to you

[rawtiron]

Thank you for that. I'll PM you over the weekend. The owner is holding it for me for a couple of weeks, so I can get up there to look at it.

Jason

[MOblacksmith0530]

I will be looking for it

[Bruce Beamish]

Hello Jason, I don't see anything wrong with the fabricated frame types.

The ones I've seen haven't shown any damage but maybe they were looked after.

A mate of mine has one that he said was a 12 ton press and it didn't look any bigger than a 6 ton to me but he showed me the maker's id plate and sure enough 12 tons.

In general if there are any issues a fabricated frame is going to be easier to repair and probably a better repair, back to original if your welds are good.

This particular press you are looking at has the removable cap for clamping the shank of the tooling a highly desirable feature. It provides positive clamping on the shank with no danger of damaging it or the machine.

This is unlike other presses (some of them well known names and highly sought after) which have a simple theaded hole in the head in which a bolt or grub screw goes into and clamps directly onto the shank of the tooling.

Obviously overtime burrs or other damage can occur to the sha k of the tool or the bolt making it difficult to extract the tool and at worst cause scoring or galling on the inside of the head where the shank is recieved.

It only takes a bit of overzealous or careless tightening to do this. Both John Heine and APLever presses manufactured in Australia and the fabricated ones I've seen here have the removable cap feature.

 

The one you're looking at looks a fine well built machine with plenty of steel wher it matters and as I found out you maybe surprised at it's capacity.

 

Good luck with the press you'll find it invaluable.

 

Cheers

[rawtiron]

Thanks for the info Bruce. It's a beauty!! The day after I bought this one I ended up picking up a John Heine 186a series 1 6 ton fly press for $150. They both run the 2 inch cap set up which is great. Just mucking around setting them up with some tooling now. The only other fabricated ones that I have seen on the net are made by Selectron industries in Aus. But they look a bit different to this one.
Jason

[Bruce Beamish]

That's great Jason and you've reminded me of the name on my mates (he's in Tasmania, so I couldn't just duck round for a look) it is a Selectron.

A 186 a for $150 that's an absolute bargain. That is a toolmaker's try out press, I fiddled about on one of them an missed our, it  was in perfect condition too, could've gone straight back into the toolroom.

It was $ 800 dollars though, the old story one that got away. So i ended up with a John Heine 86 a series 2 ^ ton for about the same money delivered from Sydney. Of course it wasn't as good as the one that got away but it is a bit lighter to move around the shop. I had enough by then though and I've made good use of it. I then picked up a 7 or 8 ton AP lever for $ 150 also a little rough but fine for the Blacksmiths shop.

I've just checked ebay and there's a press for sale about 15 Km from here so I might have to go and have a look. I've got the bug! What I really need now is 3 to 4 ton unit to complete the group. I do find it handy being able to have two presses set up for sequencial operations and if the shank sizes are the same it is easy to swap and change as needed.

 

Cheers,

 

Bruce.

[ThomasPowers]

Build a tool holder so the shanks *are* the same size. Makes using tooling a lot easier! I suggest you pick a size that's easily (and cheaply) available. I know a fellow who uses cut down 1" bolts so he has a stem and a plate premade and then welds on the tooling.

[Bruce Beamish]

Very true Thomas, I do have a tool holder as you describe and I have gone down the 1" bolt route even though my existing presses are 1 1/2" shank. The 1 " bolts have a decent sized head and remove the need for a collar a lot of the time, therefore tooling manufacture is quicker than cutting the 1 1/2" stock and welding a collar to it and then the tool.

 

Cheers,

 

Bruce

[ThomasPowers]

I had a friend lathe me a tool holder as my large screwpress only came with a flat top die

Some things I have found useful is a slitter of high alloy, mine is S1 and I'll be making a H-13 one as well, also round topped trailer hitch balls and domed RR bolts. I also use a lot of my handled top tools with it.

Unfortunately the screw is only a 2 lead but with the 42" toroid with the handles it does put some smoosh on things and was dirt cheap; about US$100 after paying the bid, buyer's reaming and fee for a rigger to load it in my small pickup. (whereupon I drove 25 mph all the way home and *nobody* complained and they all gave me a wide berth!)

[AndrewOC]

Hi Bruce, 

Are you watching the Heine or the Selectron at Dee Why?

  ( I wouldn't want to 'cut your grass' ;) )

A.

[Bruce Beamish]

Hello Andrew, I'm looking at the Selectron as it would fit in nicely with my others, I am leaving my AP Lever at my mates for him to use.

The bloke that is selling the Selectron sold me my John Heine, I think the company he works for is Power Machinery.

Thanks for the consideration mate.