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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
I purchased a cheap hydraulic press to help flatten out warped pieces of
soft metal. Apparently the press does not come with a plate or die set. Can someone recommend a cheap attachment for a 12 ton hydraulic press that would work on soft metal, and I need a pressing area about eight inch by 12 inch. -- Will |
#2
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
"Will" wrote in message ... I purchased a cheap hydraulic press to help flatten out warped pieces of soft metal. Apparently the press does not come with a plate or die set. Can someone recommend a cheap attachment for a 12 ton hydraulic press that would work on soft metal, and I need a pressing area about eight inch by 12 inch. What variety of soft metal are you referring to? Copper foil? I fear you are going to be terribly disappointed with the results. If the metal you are flattening is narrow enough you would be far better served with a rolling mill. Not real cheap, but much more effective. If you persist with the press, you'll just have to fabricate two heavy plates to fit. ....but don't expect the metal to stay flattened once you remove the 12 tons. (Don't take my word for it. Give it a go. Then Google "rolling mill".) -- Jeff R. |
#3
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
Go to a welding shop and ask them for 2 plates of A36, 12" X 12 inches
and at least 1/2" thick. If they have anything the is close, but still small enough to fit under your press, ask them if you can borrow them. Take them home and try them out. Since your press may not have the power to flatten the whole part at once, also try to get a 6" X 6" piece of plate. Place your workpiece on the big plate, then put this smaller plate on top, squish, move the work, and squish in the next spot. If this works, you may have to bevel the edges of the smaller plate so it doesn't dent the workpiece at the edges. I have flattend 4" X 16" pieces of 16 ga steel successfully with this method using my 20 ton HF press. http://www.spaco.org/Press.htm Pete Stanaitis --------------------- Will wrote: I purchased a cheap hydraulic press to help flatten out warped pieces of soft metal. Apparently the press does not come with a plate or die set. Can someone recommend a cheap attachment for a 12 ton hydraulic press that would work on soft metal, and I need a pressing area about eight inch by 12 inch. |
#4
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
"spaco" wrote in message
... Go to a welding shop and ask them for 2 plates of A36, 12" X 12 inches and at least 1/2" thick. If they have anything the is close, but still small enough to fit under your press, ask them if you can borrow them. Take them home and try them out. Since your press may not have the power to flatten the whole part at once, also try to get a 6" X 6" piece of plate. Place your workpiece on the big plate, then put this smaller plate on top, squish, move the work, and squish in the next spot. If this works, you may have to bevel the edges of the smaller plate so it doesn't dent the workpiece at the edges. I have flattend 4" X 16" pieces of 16 ga steel successfully with this method using my 20 ton HF press. http://www.spaco.org/Press.htm Going to your web site, I have basically the same Chinese press you do. Doesn't anyone make some kind of die set that would fit the ram of such a press as an off the shelf piece of equipment? It seems like a real hassle to to have somehow balance two thick pieces of steel, then get a third one between it. My application is flattening rackmount rails on equipment or fixtures that slide into rackmount equipment. I need to have both hands on the piece I am working with and really wanted to avoid having to balance the plates on either side of the equipment. I'm willing to pay up to $200 for the die set. -- Will |
#5
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
Unfortunately, the metal tool business doesnt run like Priceline-
"I am willing to pay up to $800 for that new $40,000 BMW" That is to say, you dont get to pick your price, and expect the market to follow. I am unclear if you are just straightening angle and channel that bolts on the side of equipment that rack mounts, or if you are actually flattening pre bent angle into flat sheets? But either way, it sounds like you didnt exactly buy the right tool for the job. I often have to straighten bent pieces of sheet metal- and I use my big Chicago Finger Brake. Cost me 3 grand, used, which was deal as they cost well past 6 grand new. It will flatten and align channels as small as about 3/4" inside measurement, and works great on angles- the big main clamping bar weighs 500lbs or so, and is easy to clamp with one hand. Then, if needed, I can bend the lower leaf up and get correction on angles or channels. If the metal you are working with is 20 gage steel, which is what I would guess, then a $500 chinese brake might do the job. A hydraulic press is best used in places where no manual feedback is needed- not exactly the situation for fine tuning bent stuff.Unless your bent stuff is 2" shaft. Frankly, you might be better off with just a big, heavy vise, bolted down to the floor, with some jaw extensions. Then you clamp your piece in, and just yank on it by hand, or use a big crescent wrench to straighten it out. You can also do quite a bit of fine tuning on stuff like this with a hammer, and an anvil, or even the edge of a 1/2" plate steel table. On small, tricky stuff like this, patience is gonna get you a lot farther than tonnage. |
#6
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
On 2008-03-23, Will wrote:
[ ... ] I have flattend 4" X 16" pieces of 16 ga steel successfully with this method using my 20 ton HF press. http://www.spaco.org/Press.htm Going to your web site, I have basically the same Chinese press you do. Doesn't anyone make some kind of die set that would fit the ram of such a press as an off the shelf piece of equipment? Since most people don't use these for flattening things, and those who do are usually capable of making custom tooling for their needs, the answer to your question is "No". It seems like a real hassle to to have somehow balance two thick pieces of steel, then get a third one between it. Once you find whether you *can* do the job with your press as described, now is the time to build your own fixtures for attaching the plates to the press. My application is flattening rackmount rails on equipment or fixtures that slide into rackmount equipment. I need to have both hands on the piece I am working with and really wanted to avoid having to balance the plates on either side of the equipment. So -- make up a way to attach the lower plate to the support, and the upper plate to the ram of the press. There should be dozens of ways to do it, depending on what tooling you have. I'm willing to pay up to $200 for the die set. And I'm not willing to make it for that -- especially since I don't have the press to test it, or the tooling to weld up the fixtures which would be the best way to do it. I suspect that the same applies to most of us here -- at least the "not willing" part. This is a hobby newsgroup -- we are in it for fun, not to make things for money. You might find someone who will. Where are you getting rack-mount rails that are this badly distorted? The worst that I have seen could be fixed with a pair of duckbill vise grips. :-) Good luck, DoN. -- Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- |
#7
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
Will wrote:
I purchased a cheap hydraulic press to help flatten out warped pieces of soft metal. Apparently the press does not come with a plate or die set. Can someone recommend a cheap attachment for a 12 ton hydraulic press that would work on soft metal, and I need a pressing area about eight inch by 12 inch. A piece of pipe that will fit over the ram with a set bolt to hold it on, welded on to a plate the size you need, braced to the corners and edges with triangular plate. Weld the bracing plates to the pressing plate and the pipe. Another flat plate for the bottom should do it. Hope that at least gives you some ideas. Jim |
#8
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
On Mar 22, 4:23 pm, "Will" wrote:
I purchased a cheap hydraulic press to help flatten out warped pieces of soft metal. Apparently the press does not come with a plate or die set. Can someone recommend a cheap attachment for a 12 ton hydraulic press that would work on soft metal, and I need a pressing area about eight inch by 12 inch. -- Will There is no cheap attacchment to do this. A piece of 3/4" tool steel to make this part is $308 from McMaster. If you load a 3/4" thick 8" x 12" plate in the middle, with 12 tons, it will bend. If you are pushing on a rubber sheet, so the load is uniform, it will bend about .040" in the middle. If you have the lower plate supported at the ends, and push with 12 tons in the middle, it will bend about .100" You have a problem. |
#9
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
"Mechanical Magic" wrote in message
... On Mar 22, 4:23 pm, "Will" wrote: I purchased a cheap hydraulic press to help flatten out warped pieces of soft metal. Apparently the press does not come with a plate or die set. Can someone recommend a cheap attachment for a 12 ton hydraulic press that would work on soft metal, and I need a pressing area about eight inch by 12 inch. -- Will There is no cheap attacchment to do this. A piece of 3/4" tool steel to make this part is $308 from McMaster. If you load a 3/4" thick 8" x 12" plate in the middle, with 12 tons, it will bend. If you are pushing on a rubber sheet, so the load is uniform, it will bend about .040" in the middle. If you have the lower plate supported at the ends, and push with 12 tons in the middle, it will bend about .100" You have a problem. So you would recommend a finger or straight brake? Or are you saying that it would simply require a very expensive tool to do the job with a hydraulic press? -- Will |
#10
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
Will wrote:
I purchased a cheap hydraulic press to help flatten out warped pieces of soft metal. Apparently the press does not come with a plate or die set. Can someone recommend a cheap attachment for a 12 ton hydraulic press that would work on soft metal, and I need a pressing area about eight inch by 12 inch. In order to help you , what we need are some pictures of whats bent, the metal thickness and where you want it trued up. A picture is worth a 1000 words. Ive been bending and straitening metal for 40 yrs and there must be a simpler way than using a press. Await the pics. then ill think up a simple way for you to do your job. Ted Dorset UK Master metal worker and problem solver. |
#11
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Cheap Attachment for Hydraulic Press to Flatten Soft Metal
On Mar 25, 11:39*pm, "Will" wrote:
.....* Or are you saying that it would simply require a very expensive tool to do the job with a hydraulic press? Will Probably a custom tool. How expensive it is depends on your designing and/or machining skills. Jim Wilkins |
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