FORGING PRESS

[CookieEFC1]

Guys I am completely new to this and want a hydraulic press to make canister damascus, cannot for the life of me find what im looking for and have come for some help. Where, how much and what am i looking for in my first press.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

It would be a lot of help to know where in the world you are located.

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

Besides knowing where you are, generally, it would help to know more about your skill level and shop set up.  A press won't be much help much if don't have a heat source to get the canister up to welding heat.

First, I should say that I do not have a press and have never used one.  However, a hydraulic press is just one way of "hitting hard."  Other ways include a power hammer, treadle hammer, one or more minions with a sledge hammer, etc..

Some folk have converted log splitters to shop presses.

I'm also not sure that you really need a hard hitter to make canister pattern welded billets.  Forge welding is a lot more delicate than many folk think and is more tapping or light hammering at the right temperature than lots of impact or pressure.  I suggest that you try the technique more conventionally and then decide if you really need big equipment.  Just because they use a big press on Forged In Fire does not mean that it is a necessary tool.  A lot of what they do is because it looks cool and dramatic on TV.  FIF is not a tutorial on best tools or practices, e.g. the silly little blowers they use on their coal forges.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Stash]

I haven't done canister damascus, but the gentleman I bought my press from used it for pattern welding billets, which I would imagine needs roughly the same kind of oomph. The press is a 12 ton, from Coal Ironworks and he squished a lot of billets together with it.. He sold it to me so he could upgrade to their 25 ton.

Steve

[CookieEFC1]

Sorry guys I didn't realise it was an international forum, I'm in the UK. And as for shop setup, I have an open space with a gas forge in it waiting on my anvil. 

[Latticino]

Hydraulic presses are arguably one of the most dangerous and expensive  pieces of equipment that a smith can introduce into a shop.  Until you have a lot more experience I strongly recommend that you  avoid getting one.  Only a very small percentage of smiths have even used a hydraulic press, much less owned one (regardless of what you see on FIF).  

Also, if you are completely new there are a bunch of other techniques that need to be mastered before you look at cannister, mosaic or other pattern welding.  As George N.M mentioned, most of these can also be done without heavy equipment (albeit more slowly and less efficiently).

[ThomasPowers]

Welcome to the World Wide Web, what the WWW at the start of a URL stood for back in the earlier days of the internet.  We have a number of UK smiths that participate here and BABA is the association over there like ABANA is on this side of the pond.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

9 hours ago, CookieEFC1 said:

I'm in the UK

We won't remember this once leaving this post, hence the suggestion to add it in your profile so we see it with every post.

The one thing I learned about presses and power hammers after about 15 years with just hammer & anvil. When I got a power hammer it allowed me to make mistakes much faster and harder to correct them.