MeltedSocks Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 My rotator cuff surgery didn't happen on December 23rd. Deep down inside I was relieved. I was happy to get back to my long-shelved forge press project. I was going to buy a Coal Iron Works 12 ton press, but I found out it isn't really 12 tons. It's more like 9 tons. Plus it is about $3.5K. So, I designed this a year ago using James Batson's booklet and CIW's faux-12 ton H-frame setup and bought all the materials. My nephew is a fresh Mech-E grad, so he did some stress simulations to backup my calculations. The verticals are 3x3x1/4, the die plates are 1x4, the lower cross plate is four 1/2x4 plates welded together (I had plenty of 1/2x4 flat bar). I welded with 1/8" 7018. The cylinder is 3.5" diameter with an 8" stroke. Pump is a 7/1.8 GPM hi-lo gear style attached to a 3 HP 230V 3600 RPM motor via a Lovejoy coupling. Ten gallon reservoir. 4-way open center valve. It will be mounted on a stainless steel table on casters. Hydraulic Forging Press 3D 1.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeltedSocks Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 Question 1: Does anyone have a simple and elegant way to add a pressure gauge to the hydraulic system? I've been looking for a tee that has a 1/4" NPTF along with either JIC and/or NPT on the other two ends. I don't like piecing together too many fittings. Fewer fittings, fewer places to leak. Ideally, I'd like a 1/2" NPT male (to go into the top side of the cylinder) and a JIC 8 male to connect to the HP line, and a 1/4" NPT female to accept the pressure gauge. Question 2: The snubber. Does it go between the aforementioned tee and the gauge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Put the gauge on the valve. There should be a ftp port for the purpose. A short "pigtail" hyd hose gets the gauge out of the way in necessary. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeltedSocks Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Do you mean NPT port? Grok didn't know what an FTP port is. It did mention "file transfer protocol" for those with hydraulic internet connections. Here's my valve. The spec sheet I have doesn't specify a particular port for a gauge. In the picture, do you think it's the top port? Also, the sheet doesn't explain how to adjust the pressure. It's preset at 2250 psi, and I want to increase it to 2650 psi. Any ideas? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeltedSocks Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Answering my own questions for anyone who reads this thread: To adjust pressure, remove orange cap, loosen nut right below it, turn slotted bolt with a screwdriver (righty tighty increasy). Small increments. To add a pressure gauge, install it using a tee on the pump side, or the "P" side of the valve. Snubber isn't necessary. Surplus Center tech support wasn't familiar with the thing. It's function is to dampen pressure spikes so the gauge needle doesn't jump around wildly. Using a glycerin-filled gauge accomplishes the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 3 hours ago, MeltedSocks said: To add a pressure gauge, install it using a tee on the pump side, or the "P" side of the valve. ONLY if you want to know the pump psi. you might as well put it on the output side of the pump. If you can't figure out where to put the gauge to know the psi that's doing the work for you you don't know enough about hydraulics to be messing with it. What ever how to's you are reading are wrong to the point of getting you hurt. Believe me PLEASE hydraulics is life threateningly dangerous. A second's wor4th of invisible spray can put enough hyd fluid in your bloodstream to shut your liver down trying to filter it out. Or if you're a little less lucky a stream of oil WILL slice you like butter. Bone is pretty resistant with any pressures you're likely to deal with but TO THE BONE is not an exaggeration. Snubbers are more of a plumbing device though a poorly designed hydraulic system might have one. An experienced hydraulics tech can easily route the circuit so it won't hammer. The surplus tech wasn't any help because he only sells the stuff. He's almost as clueless as you are. The gauge needle won't jump around if you put it where it belongs. Seriously, hydraulics is VERY dangerous, not something to learn by doing or from blogs, social media, twitter, etc. If you MUST build your own hydraulic system go to the local hydraulics supply store and buy a how to book written by professionals. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeltedSocks Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 Thank you for the lecture. You don't know me, my background, or mechanical aptitude. I did go to my hydraulics supplier and the owner helped me with the few things I wasn't understanding and helped me piece together all the fittings, etc. I've got the bases covered. Hydraulic hoses have a 4X safety factor, so a 3000 psi rated hose won't burst until 12,000 psi, so that's good. I picked his brain on how to torque down the fittings and what was the best thread seal to use. He showed me how to properly tighten down on the o-ring of a boss fitting...let's see...any other super-big-brained things we covered...oh yeah, we talked about hose protection. He didn't think the his woven nylon would protect against heat, so he suggested a foil-backed fiberglass wrap around the hoses that could possibly be anywhere near red hot metal. That blew my mind. I said I would probably install metal heat shields in certain locations, too. That blew his mind. We exchanged compliments on each other's intellectual abilities, his for being able to explain such ethereal, ineffable concepts, and mine for being able grasp them so quickly. You are like the electrician who warns everyone to not do their own electrical because they might "get killed" or "burn down their house." That electrician thinks what he is doing is akin to brain surgery, because relative to his own intelligence, wiring a house IS like brain surgery to him. Likewise, to you hydraulics is like rocket science, and you think everyone else can't possible understand it. Well, it isn't rocket science. P.S. The "how to" I'm reading is James Batson's Build Your Own Hydraulic Forging Press. I'm sure you're familiar. Man, it's like like reading the technical specs for the Space Shuttle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeltedSocks Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 "ONLY if you want to know the pump psi. you might as well put it on the output side of the pump. If you can't figure out where to put the gauge to know the psi that's doing the work for you you don't know enough about hydraulics to be messing with it." The P side of the valve IS the output side of the pump, silly goose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 30 minutes ago, MeltedSocks said: The P side of the valve IS the output side of the pump, silly goose! You don't need to confirm for us you don't know what you're doing over and over. We get it, you're way smarter than I am. I won't bother you with my years of experience again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeltedSocks Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 If you are genuinely interested in helping people with your "years of experience" you'd lose your buttload of condescending attitude. Seems to me you want to play "mine is bigger" and be territorial. I still don't understand what you don't get about the control valve. The P stands for "pump." The T stands for "tank." The other two go to the cylinder. The owner of the hydraulic store and I went over my diagram in great detail, selecting the right fittings and hoses, etc. Maybe he's playing a sick joke on me!?!?!? Yes, I am pretty much a superhero when it comes to traditional manly endeavors, and definitely well above average in smarts. This little forging press project is right in my wheelhouse. It's definitely on the low end of difficulty of all the things I've done in my life, except for the stick welding part. That was frustrating to learn! I'll post a video of me being decapitated by a pinhole leak. Should be epic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mod34 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 MOD NOTE: Everybody calm down. We’re all trying our best, and talking past each other isn’t helping. Let’s assume a little more goodwill and show a little more patience, and this will be a better experience for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeltedSocks Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 I'm just glad I didn't write anything that would get me banned. I typed and backspaced quite a bit. Okay, peace offering extended to Frosty. We're probably a lot alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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