According to :
So what does the "drop" mean?

The upper part of the die, a "striker" is quite massive, and is
raised under power, and then released, letting gravity do the job. This
has the advantage that if something is thicker than expected, and can't
be crushed all the way, you don't wind up breaking gearing inside the
system -- the striker just *stops*.

You could even raise it with a hand-cranked system, and release
it by pulling out a pin or something similar. It would just be a lot
slower that way, so you would have to put the workpiece back on to heat
every time you start cranking the striker to its "cocked" position.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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