Hi,

Firstly I'm a complete novice!

Secondly, can you use eccentric presses for forging or is hydraulic better?

Please comment and tell me your opinions and thoughts on the subject!

Regards from South Africa.

 

Eccentric presses have a very limited use in forging.  The big problem is that they have a very limited size range as the shaft has to go over top dead center or else it can get stuck with catastrophic results.  So in a mechanical powerhammer I can stick a hot piece of 25mm steel in it and work it down to paper thickness with no changes needed to the triphammer, same thing with a hydraulic press; but with an eccentric press it could work a little reduction in size and then need to be adjusted to do the next bit and then adjusted to do the next bit.  If you had it adjusted to do the entire reduction at one go it might balk and break the press.

Hi,

Would you be able to forge with one of these? (or convert into a forging press)

http://thmachinetools.co.za/Home/MachineCatalog?section=ProductView&itemCode=4046&mainGroup=Used machine&subGroup=Presses

http://thmachinetools.co.za/Home/MachineCatalog?section=ProductView&itemCode=6376&mainGroup=Used machine&subGroup=Presses

Regards,

Ross.

speed is very important for a forging press, you would need a much larger motor and pump for a reasonable speed also use limit switches to save on unwanted stroke and wasted time, if drawing out something that starts at 25mm thick the top tool on my press would start at no higher than 30mm and probably lower and the bottom of the stroke would also be set ( I can get just over 1 stroke per second on some jobs and the switches are quick to change to a different stroke if wanted )

Some commecial 4 post presses are very fast.. They are made for commercial work.. 

 

Question becomes what is it you want to forge/make..  

54 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Some commecial 4 post presses are very fast.. They are made for commercial work.. 

 

Question becomes what is it you want to forge/make..  

I mainly want to forge damascus.

So would the 4 post press be a better choice?

Regards.

If your forging damascus a combination of press and hammer would be the best option.. 

For forge welding you want something to set the welds..  some prefer a power hammer for this task and some prefer a press.. 

 

A 4 post or a C frame would work.. Cycle times and tonnage become key..  If you have a lower tonnage it can stll work with smaller dies but it's not worth it.. 

A converted 24Ton and up hydraulic log splitter is a good starting point on the cheap or low down.. 

If you are serious and money isn't much of an issue. going with a dedicated and fabricated forging press would offer you anything you wanted.. 

There are many different types of presses out there and a 4 post is commercially more available as is a C press vs a 2post.. 

 

Now you didn't say what kind of nor what size material you want to weld together..  Not much of a hammer or press needed for 6mmX25mm.. 

but you start getting into 50mmX75mmX 150mm Well that is a whole different animal.. 

I'll probably be working with bigger Damascus billets later on.

getting a power hammer would be a bit of an issue, I am making one at the moment though.

I'll see if I can get a C frame or 4 pillar press.

I don't think I'd be able to get a proper forging press here in South Africa, and I don't think I would have the money.

One of the links I posted above goes to an H frame hydraulic press, it's not as expensive as some of the other presses.

Regards.

What tonnage do you think is best for a forging press?

 

Regards