Wood splitter as a press

[Tim simmons]

I am looking at getting a wood splitter to use as a press. My question is they come in different sizes. What would be the lease amount at ton pressure in the wood splitter? I was looking at a 25 ton but seen some smaller ones I can afford a little easier at this time. Any help would be grateful and thanks for taking to time to read and apply back

[MilwaukeeJon]

 

And, can you drift hammers with it? 

[Tim simmons]

Not sure is I can, sorry I don’t know what you mean about drifting hammers with it.

[MilwaukeeJon]

An attempt at blacksmith humor....ignore.

[Tim simmons]

Ok , would you know if a log splitter less than 25 ton would work for a press? I can’t afford a high dollar press at this time.

[BeaverNZ]

Just make sure its actual tonage they are quoting and not some BS psi force at the cutting edge, some of the wood splitter maufacturers work the force on the cutting edge area. So say they had 10000 pounds force which isnt that much but Im making it simple if that had one sq inch that would be 10000 psi if you worked it out with 1/2 sq inch then it doubles the psi force makes it much more impressive on the sales broacher Go for at least a 3.5 or 4"-75or 100mm ram bore that would give you 12 to 15 tons depending on the hydraulic pressure developed Cheers Beaver

Edited October 28, 2017 by BeaverNZ

[Tim simmons]

22 hours ago, BeaverNZ said:

Just make sure its actual tonage they are quoting and not some BS psi force at the cutting edge, some of the wood splitter maufacturers work the force on the cutting edge area. So say they had 10000 pounds force which isnt that much but Im making it simple if that had one sq inch that would be 10000 psi if you worked it out with 1/2 sq inch then it doubles the psi force makes it much more impressive on the sales broacher Go for at least a 3.5 or 4"-75or 100mm ram bore that would give you 12 to 15 tons depending on the hydraulic pressure developed Cheers Beaver

On 10/27/2017 at 8:05 PM, Tim simmons said:

Ok , would you know if a log splitter less than 25 ton would work for a press? I can’t afford a high dollar press at this time.

 

22 hours ago, BeaverNZ said:

Just make sure its actual tonage they are quoting and not some BS psi force at the cutting edge, some of the wood splitter maufacturers work the force on the cutting edge area. So say they had 10000 pounds force which isnt that much but Im making it simple if that had one sq inch that would be 10000 psi if you worked it out with 1/2 sq inch then it doubles the psi force makes it much more impressive on the sales broacher Go for at least a 3.5 or 4"-75or 100mm ram bore that would give you 12 to 15 tons depending on the hydraulic pressure developed Cheers Beaver

 

22 hours ago, BeaverNZ said:

Just make sure its actual tonage they are quoting and not some BS psi force at the cutting edge, some of the wood splitter maufacturers work the force on the cutting edge area. So say they had 10000 pounds force which isnt that much but Im making it simple if that had one sq inch that would be 10000 psi if you worked it out with 1/2 sq inch then it doubles the psi force makes it much more impressive on the sales broacher Go for at least a 3.5 or 4"-75or 100mm ram bore that would give you 12 to 15 tons depending on the hydraulic pressure developed Cheers Beaver

 

Thanks for the reply’s 

[BeaverNZ]

I believe from others coments that speed may be as important as tonnage see if you can find the max pressure it will develope as an example a 4" ram at 3000psi will develope 16.8 tons if I remember correctly read through what others have put my shop press has 100 tons but is a bit slow and I used to loose alot of heat to the tooling from my work Cheers Beaver

[ThomasPowers]

I think you would need to tell us what you wanted the press to do before *anyone* could tell you if that one would work.

[Tim simmons]

I plane on using it to make Damascus billets. I read a lot on using them but wasn't for sure of what size. I been reading on different sizes but was not sure of the smallest you can go down to.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning,

Hydraulic systems are all about MATHMATICS. Go to your local library and take out a book that explains Hydraulic Principles. You need to know the flow and potential pressure from the pump and then the diameter of the cylinder. Calculator, Please!!! Surface area of the piston is "Pie Are Square" (Cake are square, Pie are Round). LOL

Rated Hydraulic components use a formulae like an Accountant could use, "What would you like it to say?". Engineers use a principle of 60% (leaving a 40% safety margin).

Neil

[ThomasPowers]

That narrows it down from a couple of ounces to over 1000 pounds.  (Manfred Sachse's book on Damascus steel shows one that large!)

[Jclonts82]

I bought a "25 ton" log splitter for doing just that, splitting logs. However I decided to get some dual function out of it and made it convertible into a blacksmith press. I bought a cheap-o "Country-line" Tractor Supply Store brand, right around $900. That is available in most places in the US, where are you located?

I used 2 X  5" long pieces of about 75 weight railroad rail for dies. I ground a step in the face of each and welded a piece of heavy angle iron in each step to act as a flattening die, while allowing the drawing 1/2 to close completely. For me it works quite well. Does it work as good as a purpose-built press, no, but plenty good enough for my needs. I have used it to stretch out a 3" thick, 1.5" wide, 4" long damascus billet (W2 and 52100) to about 13 inches long in short order, IIRC 4-5 heats.

 

I hope this helps you. 

[Tim simmons]

I plan on using it to make Damascus billets. I read a lot on using them, but wasn't for sure of what size. I been reading on different sizes but was not sure of the smallest you can go down to.

Thanks every one for your reply's, it has be a great help. Thanks for all the time and info.

[Danjmath]

On 11/1/2017 at 2:53 PM, Jclonts82 said:

I bought a "25 ton" log splitter for doing just that, splitting logs. However I decided to get some dual function out of it and made it convertible into a blacksmith press. I bought a cheap-o "Country-line" Tractor Supply Store brand, right around $900. That is available in most places in the US, where are you located?

I used 2 X  5" long pieces of about 75 weight railroad rail for dies. I ground a step in the face of each and welded a piece of heavy angle iron in each step to act as a flattening die, while allowing the drawing 1/2 to close completely. For me it works quite well. Does it work as good as a purpose-built press, no, but plenty good enough for my needs. I have used it to stretch out a 3" thick, 1.5" wide, 4" long damascus billet (W2 and 52100) to about 13 inches long in short order, IIRC 4-5 heats.

 

I hope this helps you. 

My local tractor supply has the one on sale for $780 atm, was really thinking about doing that (dual function, although I would use it more as a blacksmithing press than as a log splitter). Did you just keep the gas engine on it, or convert it to electric? 

[Ross Moffett]

54 minutes ago, Danjmath said:

My local tractor supply has the one on sale for $780 atm, was really thinking about doing that (dual function, although I would use it more as a blacksmithing press than as a log splitter). Did you just keep the gas engine on it, or convert it to electric? 

All the log splitter presses I've seen have been converted to electric, remember electric motors are stronger than gas. 

[Jclonts82]

1 hour ago, Danjmath said:

Did you just keep the gas engine on it, or convert it to electric?

I kept gas on it, elctric would be stronger, but I like the portability for the dual purpose. Plus that is more work and time for a conversion than I had available. 

I purpose re-built it because I did a billet by hand with 52100 in it, and thought to myself, never again...

[Danjmath]

On 3/29/2018 at 9:11 AM, Jclonts82 said:

I kept gas on it, elctric would be stronger, but I like the portability for the dual purpose. Plus that is more work and time for a conversion than I had available. 

I purpose re-built it because I did a billet by hand with 52100 in it, and thought to myself, never again...

Any change you can send me some pics? Trying to decide if this is something I want to do, and wondering how viable it is to really have a dual purpose machine, how much work it would be, and if it is a cost effective way to build a press.

After today this goes back up to $900, and I need to decide if its worth pulling the trigger on this.

[Jclonts82]

Close fitting pipe around the hydraulic cylinder. Heavy Channel iron that fits inside the guides, made it long so it cant flex too much. And rails with heavy angle for the flats. 

 

Simply pull the bolt up and slide the wedge back in for conversion. 

 

[Tim simmons]

Thanks for the pics

[olfart]

On 4/2/2018 at 4:30 PM, Jclonts82 said:

Close fitting pipe around the hydraulic cylinder. Heavy Channel iron that fits inside the guides, made it long so it cant flex too much. And rails with heavy angle for the flats. 

 

The sleeve on your hydraulic ram appears to be scarring the surface of the ram.  If so, when it's converted back for splitting logs, that scar will damage the front seal on the cylinder. 

[Jclonts82]

Good call! 

I offset the pipe on purpose so on the back the bottom of the pipe touches the ram, and on the front the top touches, that keeps it from moving during cycling. But I did not even consider that it might damage the ram. I have do some teflon that I can cut to fit on the back end to make a thin bushing of sorts to keep the back from marring the cylinder. 

 

it doesn't move on the ram at all, but the pressure alone might be enough to scar it.

 

 

Thank you!

[Tommie Hockett]

So does anyone watch mountain men on history channel?

There is a guy on there that is a bladesmith and he made a press out of a logsplitter. It seemed to work purty well. But then again everything works on tv. 

 

Also if this should have been in the press/powerhammer section that's my bad. I thought it might belong here since it was an idea from a tv show. 

Edited August 31, 2018 by Mod34
Moved to proper section

[JHCC]

If you do a google search with the terms "iforgeiron.com", "log", "splitter", and "press", you get links to at least nine threads specifically about converting log splitters to presses. Check 'em out.

[Tommie Hockett]

Of course I would.