Baby hydraulic press!

[Gary LT 203]

Oh God, just when I thought “enough of this hammering crap”..........gonna build me a DIY mini-press like what we’ve seen before on You Tube.......then here comes the Dream Machine!!!

And it looks like the whole arrangement can fit within a 4’x4’ area? (I did take Johns advice and looked at Coal Forge 12 ton). This is sweet as well

I already thrown Her a bone about building an outside shop, (didn’t include running electrical cost yet!), now this beauty and more sleepless nights. Good night!  When does it all end? LMAO!

 

Gary LT

 

[Mike Gracia 0]

3 hours ago, John N said:

 

A 'log splitter' press is a very good option, just try and brace the frame, and remove some slop from the moving parts, the frames are really not designed for the 'dead stop' every 1 second you get forging! The power pack on this press is basically 'log splitter' with non standard pump / motor configuration!

 

 

Good point re: Bracing - any tips? Triangles are strong so I guess brace the body to the legs etc - Just wondering if the legs are built of sturdy enough stock & bracing is okay, or if they need replacing... I guess we'll see.

 

V interested in your forging presses... Have you considered a quick mailchimp email list sign-up to get notified when you've worked out a cost etc? I'd sign up and reckon others would, too!

 

[KenH 9]

If you're considering a log splitter be sure to check diameter of cylinder because you'll need at least 3.5" for a 12 ton at 2500 psi.  Also check the GPM of the pump.  Most log splitters have a low GPM giving a slow ram travel.

 

Most of the log splitters I've checked had very little that could be used with a decent forging press.  By the time the log splitter got large enough to have useful parts, the cost was close to what it cost to build a good press.

 

 

[KenH 9]

3 hours ago, Gary LT said:

(I did take Johns advice and looked at Coal Forge 12 ton)

Be sure to talk with them before ordering.  Their 12 ton press only has a 3" cylinder which gives 9 tons, NOT the 12 ton advertised.  As mentioned before I replaced the 3" cylinder that came on my Coal Iron press with a 4" cylinder that works good.

[Charles dP 584]

That looks awesome John (though a foot-switch option may be required). Financially speaking it’s probably just a pipe dream for me at the moment, but I would definitely want to know the price of one once you have it sorted. Thanks.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Charles dP

[DFurguson 1]

On 10/5/2021 at 12:08 PM, KenH said:

You did a good job on that press.  On this side of the pond I understand that's called an "H" frame.  As you said, perhaps the strongest design around for a press.  Is that 1"X3" solid steel columns on the side?  WOW, you're right, way overbuilt for 12 tons.  Is that a 4" cylinder?  Looks like a long stroke? 

 

I've recently got a Coal Iron press, the one they call a "12 ton", but is actually only 9 ton.  The one I got was only 8 ton due to mis-adjusted pressure on control valve.  My understanding from email correspondence with Coal Iron they designed the "12 ton" with a 3.5" cylinder running at 2550 psi which gives 12 ton.  Due to cost (or "ease of sourcing" is the phrase they used) a 3" was selected to run at 2550 psi which gives 9 ton.  My press was adjusted to only 2250 psi which is 8 ton.  I installed a pressure gauge so I could see the actual psi.

 

Link to calculate tons:  

https://www.baumhydraulics.com/images/calculators/cyl_calc.htm

 

I have since changed to a 4" cylinder ($133 shipped) which gives an honest 12 ton at 1925 psi.  I'm running it at 2250 psi for 14 tons and the frame seems to be holding just fine.  I ran some calculations and increasing 12 ton to 14 ton gives only an extra .001" of stretch to column.   

 

Link to calculate stretch of column: 

 https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/stress#an-example-of-calculations

 

I don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but thought some folks might like the calculation info.

 

Ken H>

I have the Coal 12ton. Am doing the Wen 4" x 8" (CC4008) cylinder upgrade. Would like to add a PSI gauge as you did, but I'm not sure what t-fitting size I would need. Will you post a link to parts or DM them, please? Just want to verify I'm getting what I paid for - 12 tons. Thank you.

Edited January 14 by DFurguson

[DFurguson 1]

With all the information on here I wanted to crunch some numbers for my Coal 12 ton. I couldn't find info for the motor on their website. They paint over the badges. 2HP motor with 4" cylinder is what their 16 ton is. Am I reading that correctly, if you rewire it from 115 to 230 it goes from 1430RPM to 1720RPM?

Edited January 15 by DFurguson

[Ted Stocksdale 83]

Huh... 50 Hz is the European spec - I'm pretty sure US standard is 60 Hz. The RPM difference would really only make sense if it's 50/60 Hz, not the voltage. And doing some math...

 

10 hz is 20% of 50

20% of 1430 is 286

1430 + 286 is 1716

 

Which I would think is quite reasonably within rounding distance - I'm quite willing to bet it is neither precisely 1430 nor 1720

 

I think that placard might be trying to show too many things at once, to be honest.

Edited January 15 by Ted Stocksdale

[Ted Stocksdale 83]

Or google confirms it with less math

 

FAQ - Vyper Motors

[DFurguson 1]

*update* I asked Ken H what size fittings he used because the hosing says 1/2" but the fittings measured closer to 3/4". Unfortunately I did not get a response. Reached out to Coal Iron. They said the 12 Ton's cylinder uses 1/2" NPT fittings. So I bought a 1/2" running tee and 1/2" to 1/4" adapter from Grainger. Then bought a Winters 5,000 PSI gauge. from Amazon. Success. $40 is small price to pay to know you're getting what you paid for.

 

Parts list for anyone else looking to add a PSI gauge to their Coal Iron Works 12 Ton:

 

Eaton 1/2" NPT running tee - 4VPV9 (Grainger)

Eaton 1/2" to 1/4" NPT adapter - 2F437 (Grainger)

Winter 5K PSI Gauge - B0087UYSPS (Amazon)

 

*edit* Added pictures of gauge installed and max PSI reading of 2,500. 2,500 (PSI) x 7.069 (3" bore) / 2,000 (lbs per ton) = 8.83625 Ton.

Edited January 27 by DFurguson

[dragoncutlery 85]

On 10/5/2021 at 3:11 PM, John N said:

not quite yet. there is some heavy spread sheet action going on at work! 

 

I have substantially improved and simplified the design, and need to finalise that, and grow a bit of confidence to 'pull the trigger' to make them in batches. Its a bit outside my current comfort zone, as we generally work on 'one off' very big forging machines 

dont leave out the option of selling the frame and letting the customer source the hydro parts

[John N 326]

2 hours ago, dragoncutlery said:

dont leave out the option of selling the frame and letting the customer source the hydro parts

That may well be an option going forward! - Ive had people asking for power packs without the press as well 

 

Re the tonnage calc above, in Europe we work on 2240 lbs to a ton, so the Coal is sub 8 metric tons. 

 

Ive got some nice photos of the Massey '12' first batch in work, I've put them on instagram (@non_jic) - Ill post them up here soon. Im too tired to remember how to do it now! wife has the covid so cant do the school runs etc, so Im doing Daddying from shit o'clock in the morning - work for a full shift, then daddying to fall asleep time. grrrrrr

[Charles dP 584]

Harsh Jon. Hope the missus gets well soon.

[Warren Thacker 7]

That's a serious little press.  Great design!