bogmonster Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Hi, Having just bought a fly press I thought I would try drawing out with it. I know that this is not the strong point of a fly press so was not expecting much. Well, I was very pleasantly surprised. I am posting this because I have seen this topic discussed before and the general reply is that fly presses are not good for drawing out - not disagreeing with this, just adding my perspective. Some context: I have not been blacksmithing long so low on skills and technique. Low stamina and wasted muscles wastage due to continued slow recovery from an illness. Working on smallish dimension stock - 16mm round yesterday. I made a top and bottom tool from a leaf spring - about 1/2 inch in diameter with rounded edges and almost flat on top - bit like a loaf of bread shape. Not a traditional radius for a fuller tool although I did start with that. I used the tool as a fuller to draw out and then turn the stock 90 degrees to take out the uneaven fuller depressions using the length of the tool and the flatish middle section. Only using it to create a square taper and then moving over to the anvil. I have found I can draw out far easier and with much less effort using this approach. Clearly with a manual fly press you get out only what you put it similar to a hammer. I think what has helped me is with a fly press much of the effort is spread to the whole body so less strain on my feeble arms. Also it is easy to get a very precise action with the press and little force is lost. Part of my issues might be sub-standard fullers on the anvil. I have tried a bottom fuller and a spring fuller. I suspect that a fuller tool in a blacksmiths helper with top and bottom fullers would be much more effective. I suspect that poor technique also plays a big part. Of course a power hammer would beat it every time but that is difficult for me due to noise and cost (a fly press is cheap in the UK). I am also sure an experienced and healthy blacksmith would be able to draw out quicker at the anvil than I can with a fly press. All I am sqying is that in my limited experience a fly press has been a massive help for my drawing out and speeded the process up considerably. Cheers, BM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knots Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 The bottom line is that if you can execute a process easier with one tool than with another available tool, then go for it. It is always good to have alternate means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Greetings Bog, Sure you can draw on your flypress... It depends on the weight and style... Flywheel ball weight..... First make some offset dies.. about 3in w 2in deep and 2 1/2 high.. with about a 4in radius top... Off set so you can get long stock through the throat... You can make combo dies with a flat... One trick is to limit your travel to about 2in above your dies.. If you have to spin the flywheel more than one foot it becomes work... Your arm will tell you . Keep it short.. You will find a less hard blow and more frequent will serve you better . I hope this helps A picture of your press would be nice... Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOblacksmith0530 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I also would like to see the tooling and flypress setup you are using. I have a flypress and use it a lot and have made quite a bit of tooling for it. I always want to see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Greetings ,, Mo and Bog, I only have a few flics of my flypress available at this time.... I have alot of tooliing for special operations and it would take all day send pictures to you... All it would accomplish is questions on how I use them... Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOblacksmith0530 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Hey you have my flypress, okay yours is cleaner maybe. I have put a counterweight on mine that balances the weight of the ram so when I stop it it stays where it is so makes changing tooling easier. As to the tooling pics you could post them and we could have a guess the purpose game. I recently did a set of top and bottom grooving fulllers that I use to groove leaves. It is really nice to have both sides worked at the same time instead of putting all the detail on one side only. I like your handle clamp. I saw a modification done by a friend of mine where he put a sleeve over his handle that is free turning and that reduces the friction on the hands and cuts down on the calluses/blisters. He is the guy I swiped the counterweight design from. I have some pics of my setup if anyone is interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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