Mini forging press, build

JTknives

JTknives

Blade Heat Treating www.jarodtodd.com
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jun 11, 2006
Messages
8,633
Well its been a little while since i have built any shop tools :rolleyes: so i have decided that its time to build a small press. like the one in the picture below.

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but has anyone used the new air jack from harbor fright? here is a pecture of it. it is a low profile jack.

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It is the same price of the other one but just shorter. would that make a difference in ram speed?
 
I think the only difference is ram travel.
Check out the video on my space to see one in use. This is also pinned in bladesmith forums "D Fogg"
I need to pick up some steel for mine.
Take Care
TJ
 
A youtube search for minipress or TAToler will bring up several videos.
Several BFer's have built and use these "mini-press's"
Tom
So.Ga.
 
Chuck Gedraitis Knives said:
I think that they are both going to be too slow. I'm also not sure if hollow tubes would be the way to go for a base.
Click to expand...

Nope on both counts! The picture shown in the first post is my press before I welded on a 1/4" plate to reinforce the base...probably not needed but I did it anyway. The press works great for its intended purpose...squishing billets of pattern welded steel and similar tasks. It was not meant to duplicate the performance of larger, faster presses so the limitations have to be kept in mind. The tubing is 2" square 1/4" wall A36. Plenty strong for handling the pressure of a 20 ton press with a significant safety factor left over. Weld quality is critical so if your welding skills are shaky get someone else to weld it for you with a good low hydrogen rod like 7018.

Yeah, it's a little slow but I can get about 6 good squeezes in with every heat. Like I said, for the purpose intended, given the inherent limitations of the press, it is a very useful tool that won't break the bank to build.

Believe what you want about the hollow base but in practice it works fine with no deflection at max pressure.

Ken
 
How do you like the die holder. Is there anything you would change for the better he you where to make another one?
 
The die holders work great. I originally used socket head screws to keep the dies in place. That was a mistake because when the dies get hot it's too hard and slow to swap them out. Now that warm weather has made my shop more comfortable to work in I will switch to pins to secure the dies.
 
Ken would never show off his stuff so it is up to his Friends to brag on him
This is a pic of a blade made from his first mini-press Damascus billet
Pretty nice I think
 
I also made a version of this press. It won't do what a big press will do, but it does the work that a friend and I could do in the same amount of time, without the friend and at the end my arms don't hurt! And it only cost me a couple hundred bucks! Great little tool.
The problem with having the bolts that hold the dies in next to the dies is everything around there gets real hot making quick die changes next to impossible, I think I'm going to drill through the cross pieces and thread the die plates so I can tighten and loosen the bolts from the other side ( I hope this makes sense)

Matt

Matt
 
I got it all mocked up and i'm heading back to the shop to weld it all up. man i love welding. i will post some pictures when i get back.
 
Ken Kelley said:
Nope on both counts! The picture shown in the first post is my press before I welded on a 1/4" plate to reinforce the base...probably not needed but I did it anyway. The press works great for its intended purpose...squishing billets of pattern welded steel and similar tasks. It was not meant to duplicate the performance of larger, faster presses so the limitations have to be kept in mind. The tubing is 2" square 1/4" wall A36. Plenty strong for handling the pressure of a 20 ton press with a significant safety factor left over. Weld quality is critical so if your welding skills are shaky get someone else to weld it for you with a good low hydrogen rod like 7018.

Yeah, it's a little slow but I can get about 6 good squeezes in with every heat. Like I said, for the purpose intended, given the inherent limitations of the press, it is a very useful tool that won't break the bank to build.

Believe what you want about the hollow base but in practice it works fine with no deflection at max pressure.

Ken
Click to expand...


Hey, I like that, my current situation, dosent allow me to get much use out of my power hammer, are there a set of plans avaliable for that thing?

thanks
 
I would have posted that picture if my good computer was working, Tom. It got hit by a virus and is in the computer fixing place. Hopefully, the computer bubba can save my pictures. Larnt a lesson there. I'll be sure to back up important stuff to a flash drive or CD's in the future.

Continuing on the die subject...in addition to improving the way I keep the dies secured I am also going to come up with stops so that I can quickly register the dies without having to juggle hot metal back and forth. I'll probably just put the dies where I want them and weld a couple strips of steel on the anvils on the back side of the die plates.

That brings up another point. It's critical to keep the uprights as close to parallel as possible, then make sure that the bottom anvil fits to the closest sliding fit tolerance you can manage. This will help keep the bottom anvil from tipping and binding under load. It's also essential that the jack ram be centered exactly under the bottom anvil and that you keep your work in the center of the dies. This machine doesn't handle asymmetric loads very well so keep that in mind when you are squishing things.

In general, since you are dealing with some pretty hefty straight line forces in this machine, keep everything as square as possible during construction. I probably spent more time lining everything up than I did doing anything else. Use more clamps than you think you will need and then add some more before you start welding. Chain weld and go slow to minimize warping.
 
atakach said:
Hey, I like that, my current situation, dosent allow me to get much use out of my power hammer, are there a set of plans avaliable for that thing?

thanks
Click to expand...


There's no plans but if you go over to Don Fogg's Bladesmithing Forum and look in the Tools section there is a sticky about the little press. Ponder that section for awhile and I don't think you will have any problems at all building your own. I checked the price of steel last night and it has gone down a lot. Should be much cheaper to build one now than when I built mine.

K
 
well its all most done. i just need to weld the top anvil inplace and do i a little work on the die retention set up. put just a little more work an its done. :)
 
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