On 03/02/2019 01:06, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 2 Feb 2019 20:08:20 +0000, David Billington

wrote:

On 02/02/2019 00:26, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Sat, 2 Feb 2019 00:19:54 +0000, David Billington

wrote:

On 01/02/2019 06:11, Cydrome Leader wrote:
It's some sort of press with a heavy wheel that spins back and
forth and
presses on the work using a heavy screw.

No audio needed, just watch about 10 seconds

https://youtu.be/CLcAms8GgeM?t=427

What's the history of these, any is it something uncommon in the
US?

I've not seen a powered one like that but it's basically a fly
press as
others have mentioned. For manual operation they're quite nice as
you
get a feel for the energy input required to do the job so you
adjust
accordingly. I have one and they're quite common in the UK. The
pic
posted of a bunch of them in Texas looks a lot like Norton or
Sweeney &
Blocksidge but I expect they were made in the US as well.
What do the heavy balls do for getting a feel for the work?
The balls just store the energy you apply to the handle when
swinging it
around and that energy is released when the tooling strikes the
work.
It's normal to keep a hold of the handle so you feel the interaction
between the tool and work, not always required but it's nice for
some
things. The balls and fly presses come in different sizes depending
on
the job requirement. The ram runs in precision guides so location is
consistent which is useful for thing such as punches and dies which
I
have a decent selection of, once the bolster has been located to
hold
the die the punches and dies can be swapped quickly and easily which
is
really useful for the likes of punching holes in sheet metal.

They still make the things new in the UK
https://www.jameswshenton.co.uk/norton-presses-ccm5 .

After putting my pea sized brain to it..I can see some processes
where
they would be handy indeed.

I have a Dumont 5 ton broaching arbor press and a 60 ton hydraulic
press...plus a handful of small arbor presses....and of course a
couple sets of Greenlee hydraulic hole punch dies and hand pumped
power sources. Is there any reason for me to find one of those
presses as you discussed? If so..I will most certainly start hunting
for one;

Thanks!!
I'd rather dedicate the shop space to one of these:
https://www.roperwhitney.com/our-pro...h-deep-throat/



Nice but I think a fly press is far more versatile especially if you can
make you own tooling. I use mine for punching but also forming,
shrinking, bending, punching louvres.