I'm getting interested in building my own hydraulic press. I've seen Stewart Smith's videos where he has one, and it looks like either a modified log splitter, or some kind of DIY job with a simple ram and 2 way controller. I asked him for more details, but he said someone sold it to him and he's not entirely sure of its origin.
But something like that doesn't look that hard to build.
There's small company in the midwest that specialized in electric log splitters. They think they can put something together for me. He's asking me what it needs to do, but without having any experience with one for forging, I'm not sure. I told him I'd like 20-30 tons with a ram speed of about 1 inch per second.
Also, I'm not very familiar with hydraulics. I feel like I can tinker enough to retrofit an electric motor on a gas powered log splitter and set it up vertically. However, how does that connection work? Does the motor on a log splitter just spin freely, or does it like clutch in and out somehow as the hydraulics are used? I don't want to burn the electric motor out idling with no load.
Log splitters pop on craigslist all the time, and I was wondering if I could just grab one for a great price and fit an electric motor on it. How many horsepower would the electric motor need to be? Does it need to match the horsepower of the gas motor or do I follow the 2 to 1 ratio I'm reading about (electric motor will run the same machinery about the same at half the horse power of a gas motor counterpart). I have free access to all kinds of mild steel from a fabrication shop, so building my own frame or reinforcing one wouldn't be a big deal.
The motor spins freely and the shafts are connected with a lovejoy coupling.
I have a friend who retrofit his log splitter and it does a very good job.
You have to make sure the guides are shimmed because it can wrack and also can tend to forge parallelograms.
When I built my press I got my parts from surpluscenter.com and Tractor Supply and I used the parts for a log splitter.
The motor was 5hp and the 16 GPM pump, cylinder and valve are all log splitter parts.
You can probably get it done around your budget.
A lot of your questions are in the book by James Batson in the ABS store for 30.00. He tells you all you need know to about the log splitter and build one from other materials. I used a log splitter before I got the book and wrecked it. It can be done if you get the answer you're looking for. Good luck.
|quoted:
The motor spins freely and the shafts are connected with a lovejoy coupling.
I have a friend who retrofit his log splitter and it does a very good job.
You have to make sure the guides are shimmed because it can wrack and also can tend to forge parallelograms.
When I built my press I got my parts from surpluscenter.com and Tractor Supply and I used the parts for a log splitter.
The motor was 5hp and the 16 GPM pump, cylinder and valve are all log splitter parts.
You can probably get it done around your budget.
Thanks for the reply. I found one of these locally, for a pretty good price. Do you think a 5HP 3600rpm motor would handle it?
|quoted:
Thanks for the reply. I found one of these locally, for a pretty good price. Do you think a 5HP 3600rpm motor would handle it?
If you can run it outside I'd just leave it as is and make dies for it and make sure it doesn't wrack.
If I remember correctly whatever the HP of the gas motor cut that in half and you have what you need for the electric motor.
How do I keep it from wracking? It looks like the cylinder just kind of floats and rests against the axe head. Should I secure that down and the weld the pivot on the axe head solid when I square up the anvil to the top dye?
You're going to take the blade off and make a set of dies for the top and bottom.
Just like any other press dies.
Then you will have to look at the way the cylinder and axe are connected to the frame.
The top is a clevis pin the bottom IDK looks like the axe is sort of a clevis with a pin goin through to the shaft.
The axe is the other side of the supporting structure and it appears to ride in a track.
The top die will have to be fabricated to ride in the track too and that is where you will have to shim to make sure it doesn't wrack.
