Hydraulic Press Anvil Design

[Bob Sigmon]

Ed,

There are certainly many designs for Hydraulic Presses.

What are your feeling on the design of the lower anvil support?

The Imagination Xpress has the lower anvil mounted to the frame (Picture 1)



while designs like yours have support directly to the base (Picture 2)



I'm just getting to that point in the design and construction of my press and need to decide which way would be best to go.

Also Ed do you have any closeups of your controls (hand and foot)


Anyone else that has an opinion, please post your preference and experiences!

Bob Sigmon

[Ed Caffrey]

Hi Bob!

If you look closely at both those pictures, there are a whole lot of similarities. The reason is because I had the top one for 12 years before the bottom die holder finally gave way. I kept all the parts off the Imagination X-press and used them to build the new press. My origonal Imagination X-press was #2 or #3 ever built, and since then they have beefed up the design a great deal. I went with the bottom support simply because I did break the bottom die holder off my Imagination X-press, but that was after 12 years and a few miles of damascus billets pressed in it.

Truthfully, I would rather have the support to the frame under the bottom die. Whatever you do, don't skimp on the wall thickness of the square tubing used for the bottom die support. It should be a minimum of 5/16" thick wall, and the plate covering the top end should be no less than 3/4" thick (I used 1" on mine)

I just don't think you can Overbuild a forging press.

[Dwane Oliver]

Not to get off topic , but what size is the " I " beam in the second picture?

[Ed Caffrey]

The beam is 10", with 1/2" flanges, and 11/16" web. I beefed up the front flange by overlaying a piece of 1/2" plate and also put 3/8" gusset plates on both sides of the web (that's the stitch welds you see in the picture)

[plain ol Bill]

The anvil being cantilevered off the frame in the top picture is inherently weaker than the rebuild by Ed. I have heard of several original presses of that type that have ripped the anvil off like Ed did. I am a fan of beefy tools - figure out what will work and then make it stronger than that cause ya never know what you will use it for in the future. Plan ahead. To see how I did mine here is a link. http://www.billsblades.com/Images/combo%20press.jpg

[Ed Caffrey]

Now that is a press!!! Bill, I've been inamored (spelling?) with your press since the first time I laid eyes on it!

[Bob Sigmon]

Ed & Bill,

Thanks for the replies. I had planned on a thick wall rect tube for the anvil support.

I'm also using 1" plate at the base of the anvil.

Bill,

I've seen pics of your metal muncher before! Very Impressive!

I'm still buying metal, due to champagne taste and a beer budget (and incredibly high metal prices in this area)

It is coming together nicely. I'll be sure to post pictures when it gets to that point.

Thanks again for the use of your acquired knowledge. Such an invaluable source!!!!

Bob Sigmon

[Ackerman Arms]

Mr. Caffrey, I have enjoyed your basic forging video and I am looking forward to buying your other videos. My question is do you have a picture of your press with your cover off of it? I haven't decided yet to build a H-frame or one like you have, doe you have any suggestions?
I never post except when I have stupid questions; and that is most of the time. Thanks
Newbie Ackerman

[Ed Caffrey]

Hi Sean!

There are no "stupid" questions......only stupid answers! I have a student in the shop for the rest of the week, but will try to get some photos this weekend and post them up on this thread.

If you have the room in your shop, there's nothing like a well built "H" frame press for strength/durability. I chose the "C" design because of it's compactness (takes up about 1/2 the room that a similar tonnage "H" frame does). I also liked having the ability of getting at the dies from three directions, where as the "H" frame only allows the dies to be accessed from two directions.

I think it's all in what a person gets used to, but I find it hard to work on an "H" frame press now that I've used the "C" frame for so many years. Either would be a great choice, as long as it's built to do what you want it to.

[Bob Sigmon]

Ed,

If you could get some pictures of the controls while you are taking pics of your press, I would really appreciate it.

I can fab up just about anything I need for the controls but seeing a picture would really help me with the basic concepts.

Bill,

I'd ask you for pics of your plumbing but I'm afraid of having nightmares about the hydraulic octopus getting me in the night and feeding me to the metal muncher!

Actually, if you do have any pictures, I'd love to see them. I'll try not to infringe on any patents.

Bob Sigmon

[plain ol Bill]

I will get you some pics Bob. But be warned - it does look like an octopus went beserk behind that big "I" beam because of using double cylinders and a by-pass valve. I tried really hard to keep all my hydraulic lines behind that big beam and on the other side of where I would be standing just in case of a line failure while a 2300 degree billet is under the dies. I had visions of a really large flame thrower with me in front of it.

[Bob Sigmon]

Thanks, Bill!

I'll brace myself. I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Having never worked with Hydraulics or Pneumatics, I'm getting a real education. I've been very lucky to find some decent distributors for both Hydraulics (about 1 mi. from my house) and Pneumatics (about 15 min from my house). I've been putting off pestering them with questions until I was closer to finishing up the project and could ask them some solid questions. The company for the pneumatics said that they have an in-house design team that could help me with any questions that I have even though it is a one-off project. Pretty nice of them.

I'll be looking forward to your pictures.

Bob Sigmon

[Bob Sigmon]

Here are some more of the pictures that Bill sent to me, helping me with the design of my hydraulic press.

Bill put a tray on his press under the dies to catch all the flux and scale while forging.



What a terrific idea! It's already hard enough to keep the shop clean and this would surely help.

Bill's Metal Muncher created it's own storage space for dies and stop blocks.



The Metal Muncher dual cylinder design makes for a plumbing extravaganza. This has to be the ultimate press design. I wish that I had enough space for a beast like this.



Thanks very much for the pictures, Bill! I love seeing other guy's equipment and yours is really an inspiration.

Bob Sigmon

[Ackerman Arms]

Mr. Bill that is some press!
Mr. Caffrey, thanks for your reply. I'm in the very early stages of planing a press and I'm trying to soak up all the info I can. My 'Shop' aka the small garage I work in is getting cramped so I was thinking of building a press on wheels that I can move out of the garage when in use. Any good? Perhaps to much movement when in use?
Also, what about a gas powered 5-7hp engine compared to a electric motor?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Hopefully one day I will be able to save up enough money for a visit to the Great Caffrey Shop for some lessons.
Sean

[plain ol Bill]

Sean there is not reason you cannot mount a press on casters and roll it around. All the pressures, stresses, and strains are contained within the press itself w/o any transfer to the floor. Machine weight is the only limitation.