Well.... that sucks.

tomang07 said:
I purchased it along with a bunch of other tools from a smith who closed his shop.
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Man I feel better now I thought someone was making those and selling them to people with the crappy welds. So this was a project he did for himself and you bought it with other tools. Another option you can perhaps explore is local trade schools where you may can get it repaired cheaply. It would be students doing the welding but they are supervised by an instructor who knows if they are doing it correctly. Or maybe you could contact the local welders union and ask. I hope you can fix it I know I would cry without my press now for bigger jobs.
 
Chris Railey said:
Man I feel better now I thought someone was making those and selling them to people with the crappy welds. So this was a project he did for himself and you bought it with other tools. Another option you can perhaps explore is local trade schools where you may can get it repaired cheaply. It would be students doing the welding but they are supervised by an instructor who knows if they are doing it correctly. Or maybe you could contact the local welders union and ask. I hope you can fix it I know I would cry without my press now for bigger jobs.
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No, a fellow DIY'er.... there's a lot of similarly designed pressses out there.... I think it succumbed to poor welds and fatigue. It just sucks. Seems the second I make progress somewhere I lose it elsewhere. This certainly puts damascus forging on hold.

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Tom, have you had any luck finding anybody to do the welding yet?

Do you have a welder - Stick or Mig? You might consider taking a welding class, or visiting someone for welding pointers. Getting a good strong flat weld isn't all that hard if you follow a few solid steps.
 
Not a single reply. I can weld, I have an old Century 250 Stick Welder and plenty of 7018 rod. I am debating giving it a try.

I should add I'm completely self taught, via YouTube academy and the Ol' School of Hard Knocks.

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Well Heck Tom, if you can flat weld, doesn't have to be any vertical or overhead beads welded, just roll that frame around so all welds are flat and go for it. Grind the old welds out, put a Vee in them to get better penetration and build up a nice big bead. Do a bit of looking around and see what size welds are needed. and for sure go over all the old welds that are holding and make them larger. Best would be to actually grind them out a bit to get good penetration into the I-beam.

As mentioned above be SURE to support that bottom die holder with a long support, if not all the way to floor, at least down the vertical leg so that butt weld isn't carrying the load. There is too much good steel in that frame to junk it. Don't forget the top where the cylinder support attaches, that needs to be re-enforced some also. I think I might consider adjusting the control valve for 2,000 psi max for 20 tons. Maybe even 1700 psi for 16 ton or so. I'm concerned about that single vertical I-beam for support.

You got a nice project ahead of you :)
 
At this point I'm thinking I'll try. I feel I need to remove the whole lower shelf first tho so I can get some good welds and reinforcement on the I- beam. I wish I had an acetylene torch tho. I do have a plasma cuter however. I have some thick plate I can use to reinforce the lower shelf as well, IF I can cut it.

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Good for you and good luck in the effort. An acetylene torch would be nice - there are places where heating the metal to make it easier to bend back to position would be nice. I've not experience with a plasma cutter so can't offer any ideas there. Can a plasma cutter be used to "wash" out the old welds?

Perhaps a grinder to remove the old welds? You'll use the grinder to "Vee" the ends so the new weld will have 100% penetration.
 
tomang07 said:
At this point I'm thinking I'll try. I feel I need to remove the whole lower shelf first tho so I can get some good welds and reinforcement on the I- beam. I wish I had an acetylene torch tho. I do have a plasma cuter however. I have some thick plate I can use to reinforce the lower shelf as well, IF I can cut it.

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If you are near me you are welcome to use my torch. If you have the ability to bend pieces of that plate to 90 degrees would welding them above and below on that I-Beam where the welds failed help? It seems like that would reenforce it.
 
KenH said:
Good for you and good luck in the effort. An acetylene torch would be nice - there are places where heating the metal to make it easier to bend back to position would be nice. I've not experience with a plasma cutter so can't offer any ideas there. Can a plasma cutter be used to "wash" out the old welds?

Perhaps a grinder to remove the old welds? You'll use the grinder to "Vee" the ends so the new weld will have 100% penetration.
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I have a cheaper plasma cuter. It will handle up to 1/2" pretty easily but thicker is a challenge.... and the heavy plate I have is closer to 3/4".... guess I won't know until I try. You can gouge with the plasma cuter, I'll have to weld up some scrap and see how it does, if it works and I can control it I may go that route. I'll have to use it on the lower shelf to remove that tho, I don't see any other way to remove it, short of using the ram..... but that'll just do more damage to the I-beam. I suspect I'll be putting a lot of grinder time in this weekend.

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Chris Railey said:
If you are near me you are welcome to use my torch. If you have the ability to bend pieces of that plate to 90 degrees would welding them above and below on that I-Beam where the welds failed help? It seems like that would reenforce it.
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Not sure what you mean to be honest.

I'm in Maine, so as much as I appreciate the offer I'll have to pass, lol

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