I purchased a #5 fly press from Old World Anvil about 14 months ago. Been using it fairly regularly. The issue I have is when I set the handle up to pull the flywheel it causes golfers elbow, never played golf in my life. When I set the handle up to push it causes my upper back to knot up to the point it's uncomfortable to breathe. Has anyone had issues like this and if so how do I fix it? I am considering selling it. Thanks for any input.

Power it. A 2 way pneumatic cylinder will strike and return with a touch on a 2 way valve, hand or pedal.

Frosty The Lucky.

I agree with Frosty that a powered press might be a better option for you, although I'm not sure how one might convert a fly press to pneumatics.

I ran into the same golfer's elbow problem myself, which I addressed by adding a handle on a rope loop to the handle of the press. Because this is free to rotate with the natural movement of the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, you don't get the same issues caused by forcing those joints into less natural positions. I'll see if I can dig up a photo or take one when I get home from work.

If the issue is specifically “rewinding” the flywheel/ram, rather than pulling it forward and down to strike the work, you might try an idea the late Grant Sarver once posted.  He attached an eye on top of the ram, and added a cable and overhead pulley. At the other end was a counterweight about the weight of the ram and flywheel. 
 
He did it specifically so the ram would stay up on its own, but it should significantly reduce the force needed to raise the ram. 

I'd forgotten about Grant's fly press mods but he did production work, EZ tongs were a biggy and screwing the top die up and down just took too long besides being exhausting.

He didn't need to modify the press much if any, he just opened the split nut, pulled the rope and up it went or let it down. EZ PZ. It was counter weighted to the point of neutrality. Heck, you could use a crank or garage door opener. 

Hmmmm, I wonder how much hassle it'd be to make a pneumatic cylinder that would engage and disengage with the split nut? It's not like it'd require much force to turn the wheel and not much throw if connected near the hub. Heck, 15psi. on a 1.5" piston would be almost 27lbs of force. 

That'd be one hard hitter, eh?

Frosty The Lucky.

JHCC, I would appreciate a picture of your setup. The pneumatic cylinder idea is one to consider. 

I remember seeing drawings of a mechanical drive. There was a horizontal shaft centered above the flywheel, with rollers at both ends. The shaft could be pivoted so that the rollers contacted opposite sides of the flywheel, thus driving it in opposite directions (not at the same time of course). 
 

The biggest challenge might be allowing for the vertical travel of the flywheel — I can’t remember how that was done. 

Grant had a thread about his “friction screw press”, from which the photos are now gone. Here’s a photo of one from the web:

If I recall he ran this off a 3-4 HP motor didn't he?

I miss Grant.

Absent companions!

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Here's the thread about his press: 

 

And here's a video of Grant using his press to forge tong reins:

 

Definitely a commercial screw press and Grant brought us the Induction forge too thought not home builds. Grant ran a commercial operation and let us in on some of his expertise.

Great guy.

Frosty The Lucky.

Cool.  This one is a little closer to what I was remembering (more obviously a flypress).

 

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Looking at the picture I posted, it seems like a pretty clever design.  As the flywheel moved down (and accelerated) the "gear" ratio would increase.  Of course, bringing it back up would be like starting out slipping the clutch in fourth and then shifting down through the gears to first as you accelerated.  But it wouldn't matter as much then.

True, it is an infinite variability torque converter transmission. Very similar to the transmission in a snowmachine. (snowmobile for non-Alaskans)

This type transmission elegant in it's simplicity, efficiency and reliability, probably why it's been in use for at least a millennia.

Frosty The Lucky.

Good Morning,

When I was with Grant, he showed me that he had leather as the friction material, on both inner faces. The top shaft shifts sideways, to pick up the motion of the other direction. When he pushed down, the shaft shifted in the down direction. When it bottomed out, the impact would shift the top shaft and the inside face of the flywheel would lift the Top Die off the Work. Etc.. Etc...

The Magic of Motion.  Grant Loved Simple....

Neil

On 6/2/2025 at 5:32 PM, Laynne said:

JHCC, I would appreciate a picture of your setup.

Here you go. The wooden handle is attached to the press’s handle with a loop of rope tied with a prusik knot, which allows for easy repositioning. 

 

Thanks for the photo. Here's what I came up with and it works for me, pushing or pulling.