Hydrolic press

[MKustom]

Another Newbi question. I have corrected the temperature problem in the forge so a welding i can go. Thanks for all your help.

I would like to build a small press, what is a good minimum tons in otrder to press my welds?

 

[Aldo Bruno]

Most people are running 5" cylinders which should give you between 23 and 25 tons @ 2500PSI.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

The amount of pressure used is not a factor in welding, it's about temperature and flux. You can weld in a vise.
A press that will deliver 25 tons of force will perform most any function that a blade smith is required to do.

Fred

 

[SteelSlaver]

Also remember that the amount of pressure delievered to the work piece is also a function of the size of the die. If you have a set up that produces 2500 psi that number need to be multiplied by the size of the cylinder in sq inches IE a 5 inch dia clyinder using pi r squared is 2.5" x 2.5 x 3.14 = 19.625 now take that times 2500psi and you have 49062.5 pound to work with on a 1" die. This will yeild 24.5 tons on a die with a 1sq inch surface area. If you increase the size of the die to 2sq" it falls to 12.25. If you wanted to punch a 1/2" diameter hole the face of your die would be .25x.25 or .0625x3.14 for .19625 sq inches and with 24.5 tons of working force you would have 124.8 tons on the face of that 1/2" die. a 1/2" sguare die would be .25 sq" and you could bring about 100 tons to bear on that area. Make sure you have good dies and alignment and a face shield and safety glasses. I had a slot die come misaligned on a punch press and it shattered and a piece struck me in the jaw. It felt like I got hit with a hammer and stunned I thought it may have torn my face and broke my jaw and I could feel it inside, It turned out to be a small sliver about the size of a 1/4" of a toothpick tip was lodged in my jaw. I was not really any uglier.