This vid was just a little late for me. I had watched a ton of vids about this and built one out of a log splitter. I finished it probably around the time this vid came out and finally tested it out today. The results were abysmal. ...and for PRECISELY the reasons you had mentioned. Also, one of my welds broke, due to both sides moving upwards. I now see the errors and tomorrow I plan to lug the press down from my forge to the garage and give this another go. Thanks so much for the vid. I was thinking I needed a bracket to reduce movement, but my plan was to make one that the pull side could pass through. I dont know why it didnt occur to me to put my 'long' section on the stationary side as you noted. I was pretty bummed today thinking this was total fail, but I've got renewed hope now! Thanks!
Sorry you had a rough time with it, mate, but I'm glad my video was able to give you the vim to get it up and running again! They're such a handy thing to have in the workshop!
Finally a good video on log splitter forge press! I saw all the other and the majority hasn't understand the problems of the design. I'm actually building mine right now and to solve the die lifting problem i just made the fixed die base shorter and i will make shorter the rods that holds the moving die too (i will just cut them and thread the ends for the bolts), this way there should be less flexibility. I'm filming the building process too so if you want to see mine when will be ready it will be a pleasure for me👍
curious how that worked... from watching this video I'm thinking the steeper angle of pull would mean losing more force wanting to push up even if there is less flex in the system
haven't actually started my build yet had the splitter 2 ears , heat my bussiness with wood ( no more ) really like your die configuration simple and quick ! thanks
Well done sir! I have newly discovered this application for my log splitter as my sons and I begin our forging learning curve. You have thought it through well and proper for an affordable hobbyist option. Thankyou for sharing your insights.
That was an awesomely instructional video. Thank you for posting this. I would have never known any of that. But now I’m a tad bit wiser. So thank you again
Dude. Thank you for doing this video. Like others have said, I have watched as many videos on converting as I possibly could. Most of them are concerned with keeping it dual function, which is great, but I bought mine specifically to convert. I really like your solution to the 'slop' issue on the static side. Will definitely now add a fin to help counteract the lift. And the permenance of welding directly to the blade.
Yeah that's the route I'm going just so you know my pennies to buy me a 7 ton log splitter and I will definitely be taking your advice thank you very much for the video
Belated Happy Birthday! Love the warning stickers, and appreciate the time it took you to do this video, to say nothing of the time spent building and tweaking the press.
Well sir I stumbled upon your channel looking for someone with knowledge of how these devices work and what I could possibly do wrong and how to avoid them…. That being said you’re breakdown of how each support, brace and part function together to ensure that the most energy is used for the desired purpose has been eye opening and I have greatly enjoyed your breakdown
The Collar was a fantastic idea so thanks. I have seen a big increase in squish after popping that puck of wootz and im glad I'm not the only one who has the issue with the motor engaging but no ram movement. Stand is on the to do list 😆
Great video, thinking out loud. Wouldn't shortening the pull rods 18" or so and extending the actual slide portion to reduce binding give a overall straiter force and less " extension type pieces that want to move out of position?
It absolutely would! Only catch would be that it'd make for a more complex conversion, and you'd have to be damn sure of your heat treatment on those rods to withstand the tonnage over time. Totally doable, though!
Great video Alex! Very informative and insightful. I've actually just started my press build when I saw the video you pointed, out last week, totally changing my plan and going that rought. Thanks for sharing! 👍⚒
thought about making one of these for knifemaking because i’m living in a suburban area and i don’t want to be the neighbour making all the noise by using my anvil for my forging projects, looks like it would make forging so much easier
It makes processing down larger stock easier, but you wouldn't get the nuance out of it required to do any sort of accurate forging. For that, nothing beats a hammer and anvil unfortunately.
Mine is on an I-beam, head pivots moves alot on the ram, i gotta keep flipping my billets for a square face, and trying to get something square tends to make it a rhombus. The flat dyes are 4" wide, 5" tall, the "anvil" is a 1" thick plate welded to a railroad track and bolted down clamp style to the i-beam so it could still be used as a log splitter if need be. The ram head is cast, and not fit well on the ram, and I have as little slack as possible for the guides that go under the lip of the i-beam. And the ram is on the higher side of the face. Like yours, its a horizontal design, but, i would like to try modifying it to pivot up and be vertical if desired. Which would also require reversing the place where the tounge for towing is. I'm guessing it is about 20 tonne. I might buy a shorter ram, and some quick disconnects so i could use the engine and pump with the old ram for a different project now and then. Lol, got to watching Elijah's build from firecreek forge minute after typing all thus, and thought, dummy, ya want a shorter ram, quick disconnects and a better frame, just build the press, with the new ram, and use the splitter as a splitter 😂😅
Hey there. Man....great video. You explainled the physics behind the press really good and I will stick to your advices when building mine. And you earned my subscription ;) You seem to have a lot of interesting videos on your channel. Looking forward to watch them. Greetings from Germany.
I've seen a lot of these small forge presses online and most of what I see people using them for is to make Damascus with is this the limit of their capabilities or can i forge pretty much anything that can be forged on the anvil also did you improve the single hand operation controls on your forge press and do the die's need to be heat treated
G'day! They're handy for anything where you need to do a lot of compression but don't want to do the hand-work to achieve it. So because of this they're great for making damascus, re-shaping large scrap material into more manageable sizes, making projects from thicker stock such as hammers and axes, and drawing long tapers on large dimensioned stock. I put a foot pedal to control this one, that leaves both hands free to work. My dies certainly aren't heat treated and they're holding up just fine. Since it's compression and not impact, the dies don't actually take much brunt of force, and so heat treatment shouldn't be necessary.
It's a handy thing to have, for sure! It sits completely unused since I got my flypress, though. I had built it originally as a temporary stop-gap until I got my flypress, so it was only ever meant to last a little while - in the end it lasted a couple of years! My design was based off of a design by Rune Betram Nielson, and I highly recommend his video on it! ua-cam.com/video/Nmru3hXj47U/v-deo.html
@@ValhallaIronworks cheers good video, someone elses work to explore. Great tooling for it too and intelegent use of a sledge head as a bottom hardy hole.
Do you think it would be possible to forge a full size post vice with this press say 6'' jaw or bigger or would that be to much for a press of this size
I reckon you could do it, yeah. It'd be a lot of work whatever tooling you have. Daniel Moss has a great series on his channel of forging one from scratch.
Good video Alex, I may have missed something but I didn't see the link to the other video on building a forge press you recommended watching at the top of the screen or in the description below. Can you provide that link to us please? Cheers Andy ⚒
I love your simple foot pedal setup. As far as the problem you mentioned about the switch, simply change the switch to light switch. That way all you have to do is operate the lever, the hydraulic valve assembly should have a built in bypass circuit for when the lever is in the neutral position.
The only problem with that is that it leaves the motor running for the entire time you're using the machine, which adds undue wear on the machine and will lead to mechanical problems. You need to only be running the motor when you're running the press.
I watched the linked video i didn't think that a 7 ton log splitter could be put vertically as it would affect the ram some how . By messing with the hydraulic fluid i don't really understand how the hydraulic's work but it was a question that I had any help with understand this would be greatly appreciated thank you
Great video! Just about to do one of these myself! Can I ask what thickness of steel plate you have used for the back ofr the dies (the plate the dies sit against), and the angle iron used as the frame for the dies? About to order the steel, so very interested in this! :)
Hey mate! The backing plate steel is maybe 10mm thick, and the angle iron we used was just 3mm wall thickness. Pretty small stuff, but this is only a 7 ton press!
I am! And it's going very well! I have built a second one now from a much larger 26 tonne petrol driven splitter as well. But still use this little one more often as I usually do smaller projects these days.
@@ValhallaIronworks Fantastic... I am finally starting my build. What you said it the video makes total sense. I will be doing what you recommend. Thank you for all the information. Cheers.
hey i dont know if youll see my comment but i tried modifying my logsplitter to work like a press it worked great for two weeks eventually it busted and now it wont start i got all new wires and a new circuit breaker but ro no avail can you help me
G'day! Was the pressure relief valve open while you were using it? Most hydraulic presses have a small vent valve (sometimes just looks like a bolt you can unscrew) it often lives right next to where the ram comes out of the body. The press' manual should help you locate it. If you don't have that valve open while using the press, the excess hydraulic pressure build-up inside can blow out the ring-seals in the hydraulic system. Take a look at some log splitter repair videos ( like this one ua-cam.com/video/PhBlphaK06U/v-deo.html ) to see if any of the things they describe match what's happening with yours!
Assistant operating a spliter "press" is bad, bad idea. I know this from splitting many cords of wood heating my home as a child then spending 3 years splitting thousands of cords as a job every day. One mind holding and operating.
I think your "force pulling down" is incorrect. If the moveable riser was indeed being pulled down towards the right hand corner, you would not need the collar on the blue section to hold it down. I fail to see or understand your physics of "triangular force". There is no angular force. The rods are parallel to the action of the ram, this means the action is indeed a linear force. For the action you describe, the rods would have to be on an angle and attached just behind the moveable riser. With the rods being level with and parallel with the ram, it makes absolutely no difference if the moveable riser is pushed or pulled, it just doesn't. Your analogy of the swaying bridge is not down to a "sideways force" but what is called "synchronous lateral excitation". This means that when the bridge starts to sway a small bit, people will adjust their gate to keep balance. After a while, the people are synchronized as they all react the same to the swaying in a similar manner. The more the bridge sways, the more the large crowd adjust their gate TOGETHER. This is why in the early days when large groups of soldiers would march over a bridge, they would give the command to "break step" so that the foot strikes are not all synchronized. I'm not hating your video mate, I appreciate when people go to the effort to make videos and share shit, but I just have to disagree with your physics.
@@ValhallaIronworks I would probably do it very similar to the way you have done it. No where in my post did I make negative comments about your log splitter conversion. Rather than make a log splitter conversion myself to elucidate my point, perhaps i could point to your video. If you pause your video @6:44 and then use the > key to go frame by frame. In a perfect world where everything was made to fit perfectly, there would be no slop in your log splitter and we wouldn't be able to visualize the forces in play. Luckily for us, the Chinese have a reasonable tolerance in their machines. Now, IF your theory was correct, once the moveable die is pulled back and it meets the stationary die, the moveable die and the assy it is bolted to should rotate slightly clockwise to take up the "slop" in the machine, because as you contend, the moveable die is being pulled down towards the right where the rods are connected to the ram. Now if you did indeed watch it frame by frame, you will have seen that the assy to which the moveable die is bolted to rotated COUNTER CLOCKWISE. This would be impossible if your "triangle" theory was correct.
This vid was just a little late for me. I had watched a ton of vids about this and built one out of a log splitter. I finished it probably around the time this vid came out and finally tested it out today. The results were abysmal. ...and for PRECISELY the reasons you had mentioned. Also, one of my welds broke, due to both sides moving upwards. I now see the errors and tomorrow I plan to lug the press down from my forge to the garage and give this another go. Thanks so much for the vid. I was thinking I needed a bracket to reduce movement, but my plan was to make one that the pull side could pass through. I dont know why it didnt occur to me to put my 'long' section on the stationary side as you noted. I was pretty bummed today thinking this was total fail, but I've got renewed hope now! Thanks!
Sorry you had a rough time with it, mate, but I'm glad my video was able to give you the vim to get it up and running again! They're such a handy thing to have in the workshop!
Awesome video mate, probably the best in depth look at splitter presses on the platform!
Oh you. It wouldn't have been complete without a point to your video on the big boys.
Finally a good video on log splitter forge press! I saw all the other and the majority hasn't understand the problems of the design. I'm actually building mine right now and to solve the die lifting problem i just made the fixed die base shorter and i will make shorter the rods that holds the moving die too (i will just cut them and thread the ends for the bolts), this way there should be less flexibility. I'm filming the building process too so if you want to see mine when will be ready it will be a pleasure for me👍
Best of luck with the build! They're an invaluable piece of equipment to have!
curious how that worked... from watching this video I'm thinking the steeper angle of pull would mean losing more force wanting to push up even if there is less flex in the system
best log splitter vid i have seen,,, pretty sure ive seen them all
Thank you!
I love the warning labels.
haven't actually started my build yet had the splitter 2 ears , heat my bussiness with wood ( no more )
really like your die configuration simple and quick ! thanks
Well done sir! I have newly discovered this application for my log splitter as my sons and I begin our forging learning curve. You have thought it through well and proper for an affordable hobbyist option. Thankyou for sharing your insights.
Glad it was helpful!
You are brilliant! 😄
Thank you! 😃
That was an awesomely instructional video. Thank you for posting this. I would have never known any of that. But now I’m a tad bit wiser. So thank you again
Glad it was helpful!
Dude. Thank you for doing this video. Like others have said, I have watched as many videos on converting as I possibly could. Most of them are concerned with keeping it dual function, which is great, but I bought mine specifically to convert. I really like your solution to the 'slop' issue on the static side. Will definitely now add a fin to help counteract the lift. And the permenance of welding directly to the blade.
Glad I could help! It seems quite a few people have gotten a lot out of this video so I'm very glad! Happy forging!
Yeah that's the route I'm going just so you know my pennies to buy me a 7 ton log splitter and I will definitely be taking your advice thank you very much for the video
Have fun!
Belated Happy Birthday! Love the warning stickers, and appreciate the time it took you to do this video, to say nothing of the time spent building and tweaking the press.
Awesome video, thank you for sharing.
great ideas! will use your suggestions tx.
Best video on this build yet! Imho
Glad you think so! It's exactly what I was shooting for!
Well sir I stumbled upon your channel looking for someone with knowledge of how these devices work and what I could possibly do wrong and how to avoid them…. That being said you’re breakdown of how each support, brace and part function together to ensure that the most energy is used for the desired purpose has been eye opening and I have greatly enjoyed your breakdown
Glad that it helped! Thanks for popping by!
The Collar was a fantastic idea so thanks.
I have seen a big increase in squish after popping that puck of wootz and im glad I'm not the only one who has the issue with the motor engaging but no ram movement.
Stand is on the to do list 😆
It's the bane of my existence haha I swear a lot when it happens
Great video! Super informative
Love the physics lesson eventually I will build a press and this is quite insightful!
Good explanation Alex !
Great video, thinking out loud. Wouldn't shortening the pull rods 18" or so and extending the actual slide portion to reduce binding give a overall straiter force and less " extension type pieces that want to move out of position?
It absolutely would! Only catch would be that it'd make for a more complex conversion, and you'd have to be damn sure of your heat treatment on those rods to withstand the tonnage over time. Totally doable, though!
Thank you very helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video Alex! Very informative and insightful. I've actually just started my press build when I saw the video you pointed, out last week, totally changing my plan and going that rought. Thanks for sharing! 👍⚒
Excellent! They make a huge difference to your work, you're gonna love it!
@@ValhallaIronworks I'm definitely looking forward to getting it done and trying it out.
for the NAME of the channel-LIKE!!!
thought about making one of these for knifemaking because i’m living in a suburban area and i don’t want to be the neighbour making all the noise by using my anvil for my forging projects, looks like it would make forging so much easier
It makes processing down larger stock easier, but you wouldn't get the nuance out of it required to do any sort of accurate forging. For that, nothing beats a hammer and anvil unfortunately.
@@ValhallaIronworks yeah i think it would be great for doing very rough shaping on thicker steels
Awesome thank you!
Mine is on an I-beam, head pivots moves alot on the ram, i gotta keep flipping my billets for a square face, and trying to get something square tends to make it a rhombus.
The flat dyes are 4" wide, 5" tall, the "anvil" is a 1" thick plate welded to a railroad track and bolted down clamp style to the i-beam so it could still be used as a log splitter if need be. The ram head is cast, and not fit well on the ram, and I have as little slack as possible for the guides that go under the lip of the i-beam. And the ram is on the higher side of the face.
Like yours, its a horizontal design, but, i would like to try modifying it to pivot up and be vertical if desired. Which would also require reversing the place where the tounge for towing is. I'm guessing it is about 20 tonne. I might buy a shorter ram, and some quick disconnects so i could use the engine and pump with the old ram for a different project now and then.
Lol, got to watching Elijah's build from firecreek forge minute after typing all thus, and thought, dummy, ya want a shorter ram, quick disconnects and a better frame, just build the press, with the new ram, and use the splitter as a splitter 😂😅
Hey there. Man....great video. You explainled the physics behind the press really good and I will stick to your advices when building mine. And you earned my subscription ;) You seem to have a lot of interesting videos on your channel. Looking forward to watch them. Greetings from Germany.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you
You're welcome
I've seen a lot of these small forge presses online and most of what I see people using them for is to make Damascus with is this the limit of their capabilities or can i forge pretty much anything that can be forged on the anvil also did you improve the single hand operation controls on your forge press and do the die's need to be heat treated
G'day! They're handy for anything where you need to do a lot of compression but don't want to do the hand-work to achieve it. So because of this they're great for making damascus, re-shaping large scrap material into more manageable sizes, making projects from thicker stock such as hammers and axes, and drawing long tapers on large dimensioned stock.
I put a foot pedal to control this one, that leaves both hands free to work. My dies certainly aren't heat treated and they're holding up just fine. Since it's compression and not impact, the dies don't actually take much brunt of force, and so heat treatment shouldn't be necessary.
i have noticed a treadle hammer in the background of your videos, How effective is it. I would be interested in a video in that direction too.
It's a handy thing to have, for sure! It sits completely unused since I got my flypress, though. I had built it originally as a temporary stop-gap until I got my flypress, so it was only ever meant to last a little while - in the end it lasted a couple of years! My design was based off of a design by Rune Betram Nielson, and I highly recommend his video on it!
ua-cam.com/video/Nmru3hXj47U/v-deo.html
@@ValhallaIronworks cheers good video, someone elses work to explore. Great tooling for it too and intelegent use of a sledge head as a bottom hardy hole.
Do you think it would be possible to forge a full size post vice with this press say 6'' jaw or bigger or would that be to much for a press of this size
I reckon you could do it, yeah. It'd be a lot of work whatever tooling you have. Daniel Moss has a great series on his channel of forging one from scratch.
Good video Alex, I may have missed something but I didn't see the link to the other video on building a forge press you recommended watching at the top of the screen or in the description below. Can you provide that link to us please? Cheers Andy ⚒
Thanks mate - the UA-cam app is a bit hit and miss for putting up the links. - ua-cam.com/video/swSyJTibIb4/v-deo.html
@@ValhallaIronworks Thank you kindly.
I love your simple foot pedal setup. As far as the problem you mentioned about the switch, simply change the switch to light switch. That way all you have to do is operate the lever, the hydraulic valve assembly should have a built in bypass circuit for when the lever is in the neutral position.
The only problem with that is that it leaves the motor running for the entire time you're using the machine, which adds undue wear on the machine and will lead to mechanical problems. You need to only be running the motor when you're running the press.
I watched the linked video i didn't think that a 7 ton log splitter could be put vertically as it would affect the ram some how . By messing with the hydraulic fluid i don't really understand how the hydraulic's work but it was a question that I had any help with understand this would be greatly appreciated thank you
This video may help! ua-cam.com/video/G9k8aua86To/v-deo.html
It's posible to put it vertical?
It sure is!
I wondered why no one was putting a collar on to reduce the upward movement. It's just common sense to keep all the forward momentum going forward.
100%
Great video! Just about to do one of these myself! Can I ask what thickness of steel plate you have used for the back ofr the dies (the plate the dies sit against), and the angle iron used as the frame for the dies?
About to order the steel, so very interested in this! :)
Hey mate! The backing plate steel is maybe 10mm thick, and the angle iron we used was just 3mm wall thickness. Pretty small stuff, but this is only a 7 ton press!
@@ValhallaIronworks cheers! I have an even smaller one - 5t log splitter - on the way, just about to order the steel for the conversion ;)
@@ValhallaIronworks Sorry, another question! What size is the square bar you use on your square bar dies, out of interest?
If you wanted to build something vertical, can you operate the log splitter vertically?
Sorry I just read the comments after asking. You already answered. lol Thank you.
Well thanks alex, at least i know i built mine almost The best possible way as a multitool press. Because SCIENCE!
I want to do a 14 ton
Only 7-800 for the splitter 😊
Just a update question. Are you still using this little press? If so how is it going ..
I am! And it's going very well! I have built a second one now from a much larger 26 tonne petrol driven splitter as well. But still use this little one more often as I usually do smaller projects these days.
@@ValhallaIronworks Fantastic... I am finally starting my build. What you said it the video makes total sense. I will be doing what you recommend. Thank you for all the information. Cheers.
hey i dont know if youll see my comment but i tried modifying my logsplitter to work like a press it worked great for two weeks eventually it busted and now it wont start i got all new wires and a new circuit breaker but ro no avail can you help me
G'day! Was the pressure relief valve open while you were using it? Most hydraulic presses have a small vent valve (sometimes just looks like a bolt you can unscrew) it often lives right next to where the ram comes out of the body. The press' manual should help you locate it. If you don't have that valve open while using the press, the excess hydraulic pressure build-up inside can blow out the ring-seals in the hydraulic system. Take a look at some log splitter repair videos ( like this one ua-cam.com/video/PhBlphaK06U/v-deo.html ) to see if any of the things they describe match what's happening with yours!
Round die=horn?
I'm sure there's a question in there somewhere, but I'm not sure what it is.
Where do i get those warning labels?😂
Haha I got mine from a fellow in Sydney called Dar Lu
First 😁
Assistant operating a spliter "press" is bad, bad idea. I know this from splitting many cords of wood heating my home as a child then spending 3 years splitting thousands of cords as a job every day. One mind holding and operating.
I'm not sure of the relevance of what you're saying to the content in the video...
@ValhallaIronworks you mentioned having someone else run controls. Thats what I was referring to. Dangerous 😳
Ah yeah - most of the time, sure. But it is very situational.
I think your "force pulling down" is incorrect. If the moveable riser was indeed being pulled down towards the right hand corner, you would not need the collar on the blue section to hold it down. I fail to see or understand your physics of "triangular force". There is no angular force. The rods are parallel to the action of the ram, this means the action is indeed a linear force. For the action you describe, the rods would have to be on an angle and attached just behind the moveable riser. With the rods being level with and parallel with the ram, it makes absolutely no difference if the moveable riser is pushed or pulled, it just doesn't. Your analogy of the swaying bridge is not down to a "sideways force" but what is called "synchronous lateral excitation". This means that when the bridge starts to sway a small bit, people will adjust their gate to keep balance. After a while, the people are synchronized as they all react the same to the swaying in a similar manner. The more the bridge sways, the more the large crowd adjust their gate TOGETHER. This is why in the early days when large groups of soldiers would march over a bridge, they would give the command to "break step" so that the foot strikes are not all synchronized. I'm not hating your video mate, I appreciate when people go to the effort to make videos and share shit, but I just have to disagree with your physics.
We'll have to disagree with one another, then. Perhaps you can do a log splitter press conversion video with how you'd recommend it be done!
@@ValhallaIronworks I would probably do it very similar to the way you have done it. No where in my post did I make negative comments about your log splitter conversion. Rather than make a log splitter conversion myself to elucidate my point, perhaps i could point to your video. If you pause your video @6:44 and then use the > key to go frame by frame. In a perfect world where everything was made to fit perfectly, there would be no slop in your log splitter and we wouldn't be able to visualize the forces in play. Luckily for us, the Chinese have a reasonable tolerance in their machines. Now, IF your theory was correct, once the moveable die is pulled back and it meets the stationary die, the moveable die and the assy it is bolted to should rotate slightly clockwise to take up the "slop" in the machine, because as you contend, the moveable die is being pulled down towards the right where the rods are connected to the ram. Now if you did indeed watch it frame by frame, you will have seen that the assy to which the moveable die is bolted to rotated COUNTER CLOCKWISE. This would be impossible if your "triangle" theory was correct.
I love it when people elucidate