New forging press build

PierreR

PierreR

Well-Known Member
So as of late, I haven't been forging damascus. A friend and fellow knifemaker, whose shop space I rented, decided to raise his rates, for a few different reasons. The one that got me was his expectation for recognition/branding on my work for the use of his space. I payed rent for the space, and equipment use, and do all the work... Oh well, I could rant, but on with this build!!


The inspiration for this build comes from a couple sources. Walter Sorrels has videos on YouTube showing his press. That is the one I want! It looked functional, compact, low center of gravity (some designs have the cylinder over the dies, creating a tall, top heavy build) and powerful!


Shortly after seeing those videos, Randy (HHH Knives) unveiled his new press. Pretty near the same one, so I contacted Randy, and Jr., and they were kind enough to help me figure it out. (Thank you Randy! I appreciate your help!)So with photos in hand, I sat down, and drew out the plans to scale to build it. Acquired the steel, and am finally getting at it!


Some of the pieces of steel.


Welding the eyes for the ram to connect to.



Frame laid out. The frame will double as the tank for the hydraulic oil.

Inner frame is going to be doing all the work, positioned/test fit.

Starting to take shape!
 
Making progress! This thing is heavy!! 924 pounds as it sits here...


These are the tracks for the dies.
 
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Now I just need the pump and motor, and I'm done! Taking longer than I hoped, but why rush a good thing?
 
nice build...
let's see it move when you finish getting it hooked up..
t
 
The stuff dreams are made of! That's looking great. Is the range of motion about 10 or 12 inches? I've been dreaming of building a power hammer some day, but this might be a more doable project. Can you give an estimate of how much $ you have into material as it stands? Did you buy all the steel? I'll have to check out Walter Sorrel's videos- haven't seen the ones with his press. Thanks for posting. I'll be looking forward to updates.
Bill
 
Bill Hubbell said:
The stuff dreams are made of! That's looking great. Is the range of motion about 10 or 12 inches? I've been dreaming of building a power hammer some day, but this might be a more doable project. Can you give an estimate of how much $ you have into material as it stands? Did you buy all the steel? I'll have to check out Walter Sorrel's videos- haven't seen the ones with his press. Thanks for posting. I'll be looking forward to updates.
Bill
Click to expand...

Hi Bill. You are correct. The press has a 12" stroke, I hope to hit 35-40 tons pressure, at a minimum rate of 1.5" of stroke/second. To date, I purchased the cylinder new, and the 2" keystock. I used keystock because of the higher tensile strength, and its a true square. Cold and hot rolled not so much. The bulk of the steel, I acquired from a friend who does fabrication in the oilfield. So far I am in for $600 ish?

I can safely say this one is over engineered. As it sits in the last picture, I'm at 1180 pounds!!

Best I can tell, my build is likely heavier gauge than Walters.

[video=youtube;mCQ824rA41A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCQ824rA41A[/video]
 
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Nice build.

What is the reason you chose this design over a top mounted cylinder? Just curious, as I hope to build one at some point.
 
With a top mounted cylinder, I need to raise the whole thing up to a comfortable working height. I'm 6'4", that would make a tall set up, and a high center of gravity. Worst case scenario, a heavy, maybe tippy setup, more vibration/wobbling. Gravity, being the fickle mistress it is, I'd hate for it to somehow tip and fall while moving it for example. I looked at several designs. Compact bench ones, cylinder over "H" or "C" builds. There is more involved in this style of build, but I like it. And I dont need a hydraulic oil tank, and my motor and pump will mount on the back side likely. My footprint is 32" X 32".
 
Well, I'm not sure how,but when I ordered my cylinder for this build, I ended up with a smaller one. I based my decision on the stroke I hoped for, plus the tonnage I wanted to hit. When I placed my order, the guy at the order desk, at a hydraulic specialty shop ran the numbers, and found a cylinder that would work for my application. He assured me it was rated in excess of my needs based on his calculations. I took him at his word, proceeded to create drawings that would maximize this cylinder. I kept my "wiggle room" to no more than one inch of piston travel. Had it cased! Built without a lot of care, the numbers worked. Once done, I had 1/4" of wasted ram travel.

After I posted my pictures here, I started to wonder which pump and motor combo I would go with, talked with a friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer, and asked for his help, he said he would crunch some numbers. Being curious, I did some quick math, looked up the cylinder specs from the supplier. It was a 6" cylinder... 5" bore... CRAP!! Down loaded a cylinder calculator, ran the numbers... CRAP!! At 3000 PSI, I cant even hit 30 tons!! Because of the weekend, and a holiday Monday, I had to wait 3 days to call the company I bought it from, got to talk with the same guy who remembered me, and assured me he ran the numbers, and I was good to go. I asked him to double check because I was getting considerably less, and asked him to help me figure what I was doing wrong. Sure he says, hang on... then I hear a "What the..." and he says can I call you back in a bit? Sure, says I.

Any way, he calls back and confirms he made a mistake. His numbers turned out 58,000 ish pounds. He quoted me 58 tons... :34:So he said he would refund the purchase price in full, as it was not used, and found a cylinder that I can use that won't cost me any stroke loss. It will be a 6" bore, with a 3" ram, @3000 PSI. WHEW!! So a slight delay, but I'm happy they are gonna work with me. Now to see if they will charge me a pile more... Fingers crossed!
 
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