Uses for Hydraulic Press?

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SteveM
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by SteveM »

I need to press the handwheel off a collet closer so that I can use it on another collet closer.

You around this weekend? I need to get away from this snow!

Nice thing about already having the lathe - you can make an arbor to fit whatever job you have - either pressing something in or pressing it out.

Steve
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by ToolJunkie »

It takes some practice with a brake to get the bends right, but it certainly isn't rocket science, or I wouldn't be able to do it. I wouldn't be without a press in my shop now.
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BadDog
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by BadDog »

It's not rocket science, but it's not as easy as it seems either. Different materials at different thicknesses require different spacing on the outside die for the bend. And that also affects the radius of the bend, spring back must be accounted for to get an accurate angle, fracturing may be an issue, and you may need to have an inside die radius as well. You can always set up some parallel bars, guestimate the width required, and tweak it till you get it square. But for consistent results without undue weakening of the material the relationships can be worked out to your advantage. With a bit of effort you can find tables that cover the basics.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I saw a dude on a motorcycle show bending aluminum. He had a trick. He said aluminum tends to snap, so he marks it with a Sharpie. When the ink burns off, he knows it's hot enough to bend. He was doing this with material that was probably around 1/4" thick.
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by Downwindtracker2 »

My son lifted a couple of Jeeps, building and designing his own parts. The first stationary tool he bought was a 20 ton Princess Auto (HF ) press. And he is cheap.
A man of foolish pursuits, '91 BusyBee DF1224g lathe,'01 Advance RF-45 mill/drill,'68 Delta Toolmaker surface grinder,Miller250 mig,'83 8" Baldor grinder, plus sawdustmakers
redneckalbertan
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by redneckalbertan »

Be careful when pressing bearings. My Uncle almost lost an eye when a bearing came apart rather quickly. He had a ball hit him just under his eye socket. That was 20 some odd years ago and I wasn't around for it, thankfully. As I understand it though, he had a piece in his setup move slightly and he didn't notice. This put strain on the outside race of a bearing they were trying to press off of a shaft.
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Harold_V
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by Harold_V »

SteveHGraham wrote:I saw a dude on a motorcycle show bending aluminum. He had a trick. He said aluminum tends to snap, so he marks it with a Sharpie. When the ink burns off, he knows it's hot enough to bend. He was doing this with material that was probably around 1/4" thick.
That anneals the aluminum, so the artificial aging (the T condition) is lost. If you'd like to keep the aged condition (improves strength of the part), pay attention to grain. If you bend parallel to grain, the material will break. If you bend across the grain, and don't shoot for a sharp corner, it will generally bend with success.

Harold
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SteveM
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by SteveM »

Harold_V wrote:... pay attention to grain. If you bend parallel to grain, the material will break. If you bend across the grain, and don't shoot for a sharp corner, it will generally bend with success.
Grain? How do you tell grain on aluminum?
Harold_V wrote:If you'd like to keep the aged condition (improves strength of the part)
I'm not sure my aged condition has improved the strengths of my parts :-)

Steve
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BadDog
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by BadDog »

I have a piece of 5/8" (I think?) Plywood leftover that is about 4' tall and 2' wide. When I'm getting over comfort range (depends on part, but generally every time over 20T), I make sure it's between me and the part with me just looking over the top. Sure, there is still risk, but most things I've seen shoot out more or less horizontally, and plywood will soak up a LOT of damage before allowing penetration.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by SteveHGraham »

The aluminum part the motorcycle guy was bending was a license plate mount, so it's not like weakening it would make the motor fall out. I will pat myself on the back for considering the change in the properties of the metal when I watched the show.

Thanks for the suggestions RE safety.

The bearing story reminds me of something that happened to my cousin. We were splitting logs in his driveway with a maul, and suddenly he fell and grabbed his leg. I didn't know what was wrong with him. When he pulled up his pant leg, we saw a hole, a red trail under the skin, and a blue lump. A pea-sized piece of steel had come off the maul or the wedge and flown into his leg. It hit the shin and then moved several inches under the skin.

We got to the hospital, and my aunt was confused by the forms. They had spaces for his name and address, plus the activity he was involved in when injured. The usual stuff. Weeks later, they received a report from the insurance agent, and it listed their town as "Busting Wood, Kentucky."
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

With low carbon steels, you always want to form it perpendicular to the grain, and the minimum inside bend radius should be no less than the thickness of the plate. With harder steels & alloys, like AR plates, you need to increase the bend radius, and grain becomes extremely important, even critical. A fab shop down the road from me brakes a lot of AR400, and when they do, they hang a sign on the door that says just that....along with "DANGER!, DO NOT ENTER!"
For good reason.

I haven't formed much aluminum at all, but I would think that the same rules apply. Most of the flat-bar & plate I get is annealed, but might be good not to assume that it is... I suppose.

For a shop press....these work quite well....http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... rch=145532

Bought one at a little shop I worked at some years ago. I copied it, and made my own out of stuff I had laying around....much like I built my press.
(No such thing as 'scrap')

Bill
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redneckalbertan
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Re: Uses for Hydraulic Press?

Post by redneckalbertan »

I don't know of how to tell the grain direction other than trying to bend a small piece of the aluminum and then the other way and see what happens. Grain travels parallel to the direction the plate was rolled. On HR steel sheet you can sometimes tell by the heat pattern on the sheet, or the edges. As the sheet come off the mill the long edges are rough, then it is cross cut to length, usually shorn, not always square but close. CR steel sheet I am not sure about. All the aluminum I have seen is shorn square and all four side look the same.
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