formers and press tool to make steam lubricator body and lid

[thehomeengineer]

Hi Rob
The press I have is a commercial made 25ton hydraulic press I found led down in a yard at a company I use to work at. I asked if it was going to be ever used again and I couldn’t believe they said take it to get it out of the way, So the following day I borrowed my brothers small van (before they changed their mind) and loaded it. I was surprised at the weight of the press (so was my brothers van lol the power steering was lighter than ever) didn’t look that heavy led on the floor. But I somehow got it in the back of the van and got it home. Cleaned it up, new oil and a great addition to the workshop.
The brass is 16 Gauge, I did anneal the brass and it was one pressing which if I remember took the press to about 8tons but I probably could have stopped at 5tons. The press tool also had a light smear of oil to help the material to flow in to the die. The most important thing when making dies like this is not to have sharp edges on the tooling. These radiuses help flow the material. The die in this case however did have a sharp edge around its top edge but the punch had a radius. This was because the lid pressing was not that deep and I wanted to use the die also as a holding fixture for removing the excess material on the mill. There is information on the minimum bend radius for certain gauge material the thicker the material the larger the minimum bend has to be to prevent the material from cracking etc.
Thank you for viewing and interest and I hope I have answered your questions
The Home Engineer

[Ropetangler]

Thank you for viewing and interest and I hope I have answered your questions
The Home Engineer

Hi there Home Engineer,
Thank you for such a comprehensive answer to my questions, and the additional info on metal flowing and the radiusing of dies etc. I am quite envious of your collecting that press, a place I worked at for nearly 18 years had a press I would love to have at home. It was an Australian made Servex, possibly with an English parent company, I don't know. That one was a 50 ton press, but I've seen similar looking Servex presses from 30 tonne to 100 tonne units. They had a 2 stage manual pump and a quick spin threaded ram to get you into position quickly before using the hydraulics. The only work I can remember being done to that press in the time I was there was the addition of safety screen doors to offer protection from shrapnel in the event of a part fracturing or flying at high speed due to mis-alignment when under considerable pressure.
Thanks once again for your response and of course for your uploading of the pictures and story behind the construction of your Foden part(s). All the very best,
Rob.