I got the blacksmith bug a couple years ago at age 50. I was extremely fortunate to quickly find a pristine old Kerrihard 25lb power hammer for a very good price. An old shoulder injury made it impossible for me to swing a hammer more than a couple hours without lots of pain.. Now I can do most of the initial work on the power hammer and just finish up by hand. Without that power hammer, I don't think I'd have been able to stick with it. Now I'm building a 22 ton log splitter press. UA-cam has been a tremendous learning aid. I really respect the work you and your wife are doing to add to the community.
As a certified structural welder and fabricator i work w presses and 5 ton over head cranes the most dangerous stuff one can use and u are right! The press the sheer the crane are so dangerous! 16 yrs in the industry not a single injury and its because i respect and know how dangerous theese thing's are!!! Great vid!
This is why I have dropped the Power hammer a d press builds in priority. I would like to one day make them, but as you see I have a lot to learn before I am needing one. Plus, my arm is still strong enough. And thank you for slumming with my hammer lol. Hearts and health brother!
Thanks Roy for sharing this. You are correct, Hydraulics can kill easily and quickly. I’m very glad to hear that you didn’t get hurt too badly with your press failure.
If you want faster travel on larger hydraulic presses, you can use a double acting cylinder/flow divider as opposed to single acting. Or you can use a screw press, with a multi start acme thread. I've built and rebuilt screw presses for blacksmiths (I am a machinist not a blacksmith). On a screw press, generally the larger it is, the faster the die platen moves, due to the ever increasing coarseness of the thread.
Roy, I'd agree with you for sure. If you do not change the pump, it will slow down. I used to design automotive safety test equipment. If you want the ram to move fast and have high force, you can. It just needs a larger pump (among other things). The small NHTSA 207/210 machine we had could exert 90,000lbf over 3 cylinders and was accurate enough to control down to the OZin of energy. Not only was it that accurate, but it was FAST. We sometimes have to do a quasi-static test and that could required applying energy into the system at a rather steep rate. Something like 10,000lbf static to 90,000lbf+ in under 5 seconds (sometimes longer, depends on the exact test). The main difference, the pump and accumulator system for this was $20K of the cost of the system. If you do not adjust the pump to garner the CFM at the pressure you need to get the PSI and ultimately the LBF you need, yeah, the cylinder will just SLOW down as it is dictated by fluid dynamics.
One has never lived until one has seen a 4" I-Beam snap off an a-frame support structure and bust through a safety cage, then embed itself into a concrete wall 30' away, all the while having been bent up like a pretzel. We told the customer we would not take things to failure again (just to demonstrate the hardware). Although he was free to do as he wished once it arrived at his place of business. :-) I guess I now understand regarding using 6010/7018 welding...none of that would have held up to that force profile.
Sure I have power hammer and press envy, but I also want to learn the fundamentals as well, have fun and enjoy my smithing journey. It's not really a necessity to have either to be able to blacksmith.
Talking about speeding up the hydraulics and then loosing capacity , a lot of people will not know ( or try to ignore ) , the basic fluid power formula ... " It requires one HP to move one gal per min @ 1500 psi " ...
A lot of good points. hydraulic anything whether it's a press to the brakes on your car are dangerous. Everybody knows what a water jet cutter is, that's what it'll do to you. I completely agree with getting the fundamentals down by hand first before you rely on other equipment to do it for you.
My press is killer! C frame press, 35 ton, interchangeable dies 90 degrees rotation. Foot petal controll, 12" I beam 1/2" wall. Running about 4" per second. I’ve made Damascus knives. It has such precision controll shaping metal and straightening blades hot. Crazy part, Built it before I made my first knife.
That was interesting until you tried to instill fear into people, and the suggestion that a press is for advanced users only. Don't tell people what to do.
I got the blacksmith bug a couple years ago at age 50. I was extremely fortunate to quickly find a pristine old Kerrihard 25lb power hammer for a very good price. An old shoulder injury made it impossible for me to swing a hammer more than a couple hours without lots of pain.. Now I can do most of the initial work on the power hammer and just finish up by hand. Without that power hammer, I don't think I'd have been able to stick with it. Now I'm building a 22 ton log splitter press. UA-cam has been a tremendous learning aid. I really respect the work you and your wife are doing to add to the community.
As a certified structural welder and fabricator i work w presses and 5 ton over head cranes the most dangerous stuff one can use and u are right! The press the sheer the crane are so dangerous! 16 yrs in the industry not a single injury and its because i respect and know how dangerous theese thing's are!!! Great vid!
Thanks for the talk it really opened my eyes. I was thinking on building a press. I now think I will take your very good advise.thanks again.
This is why I have dropped the Power hammer a d press builds in priority. I would like to one day make them, but as you see I have a lot to learn before I am needing one. Plus, my arm is still strong enough. And thank you for slumming with my hammer lol. Hearts and health brother!
Thanks Roy for sharing this. You are correct, Hydraulics can kill easily and quickly. I’m very glad to hear that you didn’t get hurt too badly with your press failure.
Great video!
advise for the pump a 50 -100 ton press need a 24 gpm 2 stadge pump moter or better
If you want faster travel on larger hydraulic presses, you can use a double acting cylinder/flow divider as opposed to single acting. Or you can use a screw press, with a multi start acme thread. I've built and rebuilt screw presses for blacksmiths (I am a machinist not a blacksmith). On a screw press, generally the larger it is, the faster the die platen moves, due to the ever increasing coarseness of the thread.
There's a very valid reason I'm just kicking back and waiting until I can buy what I want to use new. I'm too prone to dangerous missed steps.
Roy, I'd agree with you for sure. If you do not change the pump, it will slow down. I used to design automotive safety test equipment. If you want the ram to move fast and have high force, you can. It just needs a larger pump (among other things). The small NHTSA 207/210 machine we had could exert 90,000lbf over 3 cylinders and was accurate enough to control down to the OZin of energy. Not only was it that accurate, but it was FAST. We sometimes have to do a quasi-static test and that could required applying energy into the system at a rather steep rate. Something like 10,000lbf static to 90,000lbf+ in under 5 seconds (sometimes longer, depends on the exact test). The main difference, the pump and accumulator system for this was $20K of the cost of the system. If you do not adjust the pump to garner the CFM at the pressure you need to get the PSI and ultimately the LBF you need, yeah, the cylinder will just SLOW down as it is dictated by fluid dynamics.
One has never lived until one has seen a 4" I-Beam snap off an a-frame support structure and bust through a safety cage, then embed itself into a concrete wall 30' away, all the while having been bent up like a pretzel. We told the customer we would not take things to failure again (just to demonstrate the hardware). Although he was free to do as he wished once it arrived at his place of business. :-)
I guess I now understand regarding using 6010/7018 welding...none of that would have held up to that force profile.
you can use a 2 stage pump.
my 25ton home made runs pretty fast.
Great info.
Sure I have power hammer and press envy, but I also want to learn the fundamentals as well, have fun and enjoy my smithing journey. It's not really a necessity to have either to be able to blacksmith.
Talking about speeding up the hydraulics and then loosing capacity , a lot of people will not know ( or try to ignore ) , the basic fluid power formula ... " It requires one HP to move one gal per min @ 1500 psi " ...
I've heard you mention your shoulder in another video. It must have got you pretty good, so I'm glad you're healed now.
Thanks for the warning!
+thedillestpickle yep its been healed for quite some time now but has always been a great reminder of what can happen :-)
Good timing, Roy, I'm in the process of making myself a new press, just waiting on a cylinder. My design is more like Walter Sorrell's press...
If I buy one, what ton rating should I be looking for?
16 ton - 50 ton price dependent
A lot of good points. hydraulic anything whether it's a press to the brakes on your car are dangerous. Everybody knows what a water jet cutter is, that's what it'll do to you. I completely agree with getting the fundamentals down by hand first before you rely on other equipment to do it for you.
My press is killer! C frame press, 35 ton, interchangeable dies 90 degrees rotation. Foot petal controll, 12" I beam 1/2" wall. Running about 4" per second. I’ve made Damascus knives. It has such precision controll shaping metal and straightening blades hot. Crazy part, Built it before I made my first knife.
Great video Roy.. Safety First.. Martin
You talked about weight...
How much weight do I need to be able to forge with it?
Is that a WRABA shirt?
Yeah he picked it up from us at quadstate
One thing about building presses- if you're only an amateur welder get someone professional to help you!
That was interesting until you tried to instill fear into people, and the suggestion that a press is for advanced users only. Don't tell people what to do.