formers and press tool to make steam lubricator body and lid

Hi All
This is a lubricator for a 3” scale Foden Steam Wagon. It is not so much about what the item is but I thought I would share the tooling made to form the material.
The main box is 16 gauge steel. Simply cut to length, and rapped around the former tapped in to place for a tight fit. The lid I as a pressing. The press tool for the lid also doubles up as a milling and drilling fixture as can be seen from the photos. The box and lid have then been individually silver soldered with their relevant bits made on the mill and lathe. The original full size lubricator, constructed from two castings, so I am hoping this will look like a scaled down version, once painted. There is more info on the Foden build on my web site Practical Engineering

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Thank you for viewing
The Home Engineer

I am impressed!

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Thanks thehomeengineer! We've added your Sheetmetal Former to our Metalworking category,
as well as to your builder page: thehomeengineer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-sheetmetal-former"> <img src="/uploads/210255/homemade-sheetmetal-former.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-sheetmetal-former">Sheetmetal Former</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/thehomeengineer">thehomeengineer</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/sheetmetal'>sheetmetal</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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Very nice work on that forming die! Nice lubricator box also! What did you use for a press?

Dick

Hi Dick
The brass lid I first annealed and then press with my hydraulic press. The steel was cold formed around the mandrel with a vice and hammer the steel was protected from hammer marks with a sacrificial lump of flat steel and knock in to shape. Hope this has answered your question?
Thank you for your interest
The Home Engineer

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Originally Posted by thehomeengineer

Hi All
This is a lubricator for a 3” scale Foden Steam Wagon. It is not so much about what the item is but I thought I would share the tooling made to form the material.
The main box is 16 gauge steel. Simply cut to length, and rapped around the former tapped in to place for a tight fit. The lid I as a pressing. The press tool for the lid also doubles up as a milling and drilling fixture as can be seen from the photos. The box and lid have then been individually silver soldered with their relevant bits made on the mill and lathe. The original full size lubricator, constructed from two castings, so I am hoping this will look like a scaled down version, once painted. There is more info on the Foden build on my web site Practical Engineering

Attachment 22035 Attachment 22030 Attachment 22038 Attachment 22036 Attachment 22037 Attachment 22039 Attachment 22031 Attachment 22034Attachment 22033 Attachment 22032

Thank you for viewing
The Home Engineer

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nice piece of work -big O

Congratulations thehomeengineer - your Press Forming Tool is the Homemade Tool of the Week!

You actually had a few tools that were considered for this award this week, but I think this one was the fan favorite.

Some more good picks from this week:

Upside-Down Shelf by jjr2001
Eccentric Shaft Cutting Method by thehomeengineer
Internal/External Retractable Screw Cutting Tool Holder by thehomeengineer
Drill Press Vise by Mikhandmaker
Grinder Rest by martink
Press Mold by thehomeengineer
Arduino ATTiny85 Debugging by rgsparber
Wire Clamp Tool by Cascao
Disc/Belt Sander by Willworkfortools
Chuck to Rotary Table Mounting Method by editor@glue-it.com
DRO Stand by jjr2001
Pole Holder by Captainleeward
Demitasse Spoon Handle by Paul Jones
Extraction Wedge by Eloy Workshop
Brake Caliper Tool by Cascao

thehomeengineer - we've added your tool entry to our All Homemade Tool of the Week winners post.

You'll be receiving a $25 online gift card, in your choice of Amazon, PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and gift card choice and I'll get it sent over right away.

This is your 2nd Homemade Tool of the Week win! One more and you'll join these 3-time Homemade Tool of the Week winners: rossbotics, mr95gst, Paul Jones, Christophe Mineau, Captainleeward, immortalx, scorch, Brendon, Frank S, mklotz, Vyacheslav.Nevolya, brianhw, LMMasterMariner, jjr2001, Tuomas, olderdan, tonyfoale.

Here are both of your winning tools:


<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/claw-clamps-home-made-clamp-system-65679#post105002"> <img src="/uploads/209126/homemade-claw-clamps.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/claw-clamps-home-made-clamp-system-65679#post105002">Claw Clamps</a> <span> by <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/builder/thehomeengineer">thehomeengineer</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/clamp'>clamp</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/formers-press-tool-make-steam-lubricator-body-lid-66281#post106805"> <img src="/uploads/210255/homemade-sheetmetal-former.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/formers-press-tool-make-steam-lubricator-body-lid-66281#post106805">Sheetmetal Former</a> <span> by <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/builder/thehomeengineer">thehomeengineer</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/sheetmetal'>sheetmetal</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>

thehomeengineer,

Congratulations on your award

Paul Jones

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Originally Posted by old_toolmaker

Very nice work on that forming die! Nice lubricator box also! What did you use for a press?

Dick

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Like Dick, I'm curious about your press. What is the tonnage of your hydraulic press, the thickness of the brass sheet that you used and can you tell us whether or not you were able to do the pressing in one pass, or did you do it in stages with an annealing in between passes. As everyone has said, this is very nice work that you have shown, and thank you for making time to share your expertise.
Rob

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

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Originally Posted by thehomeengineer

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

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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.

Thehomeengenieer ...do you sleep sometimes..?

Hi toma
Not much sleep lol. Once I have a bee in my bonnet I have to get it finished. There are two problems I have. First being I have way too many projects on the go and not enough time, secondly joining this forum. There are so many great ideas on here my list of projects keeps growing.

I have been very lucky during my working life and have built up a well-equipped workshop which has taken 34 years. Both my parents were so supportive of me when they were alive. When I first started model engineering at 16, Mum and Dad bought me a garden shed/workshop and helped purchase my first lathe a old Myford ML7. My Grand parents also left me some money when they past away so this was invested in a mill using my Grandads gift and my brand new Myford ML10 Lathe with my Grandmas, which I still have today. The mill was later part exchanged to purchase a Bridgeport mill. A few years later I had the bottom half of the Bridgeport mill restored professionally, and still own this mill today. There is a story behind most of the tools in my workshop but I won’t bore you anymore.

Yes, this site is very inspirational for handymen, and it often ads new and new ideas for making something. I also have this problem of starting with too many projects.
Nice story about your machining tools.
Enjoy in your projects,
best regards.

[QUOTE=Ropetangler;107310]

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Like Dick, I'm curious about your press. What is the tonnage of your hydraulic press

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Photo of my press
Attachment 22251