Flypress

[MattF]

It was too cheap and too close.

I know it well. That's the point where any resolve or willpower goes out the window.

There is one ball weight, no tooling. But it's virtually mint and the table is built like a bridge.

Can tell from the photo it's in good nick. Looks like you've got yourself an absolute peach there.

In all seriousness it's for my bike workshop. Bound to come in handy.

If you can't find a use for it in a place like that, there's definitely summat up.

 

[Screwdriver]

I should be more precise, a motorcycle workshop. I restore old bikes (mostly two strokes) and occasionally build "specials" which require more fiddly little brackets than you could possibly imagine. Here's the eBay piccy;

It's bolted to the base which has a 5 - 8 mm top but also the thickest angle iron I have ever seen. Also at least 5mm probably 8mm! The trick is finding a decent spot for it in a relatively small workshop.

Naturally I have modelled it in sketchup...

Or it might just squeeze in next to the welding table, subject to figuring out the swing.

I don't want to be moving it around once it's in place. Must be 300kg at least.

S.

 

[Maker]

What's the thing between the flypress and the drill press in the first picture?

 

[CRB]

Wondering that too.

Looks like a grinder-type affair.

 

[Screwdriver]

Cold cut chop saw. Found it in the back of an old shed.

Would anyone else have bothered :O

Then restored it...

Took a while for the right motor to turn up at the right price. 70:1 reduction in gearing! With four 6mm belts driving it, it slowly cuts through anything leaving a nice sharp cut.

S.

 

[lotus 30]

Got some work with my fly press to do next week i sprayed my car in this shed forgot to cover the fly press so washed it down with a bit of red diesel to day and i noticed a crack has started at the top of the screw. so i took the paint off got the mic on it and went for a culpa to think what i had to make a collar to shrink on. i had a brain wave and i had an old dynamo in bits so i got the vernier on it and it was size. drilled out the screws holding the field coils inside.
cut it of to make a ring tried it on the top of the press and low and behold a nice tight fit got the blow lamp on it and taped it on no boring of the collar just taped straight on. Better to be lucky than rich i suppose may be thats why i am skint.

 

[MattF]

That looks tidy Screwdriver. That coldsaw is a nice bit of kit too. Very old fashioned looking in general design. That's some devilishly high gearing down on it.

The trick is finding a decent spot for it in a relatively small workshop.

You're preaching to the choir with a lot of us on that point. If Doctor Who ever warps/lands here, I'm having his Tardis.

Got some work with my fly press to do next week i sprayed my car in this shed forgot to cover the fly press so washed it down with a bit of red diesel to day and i noticed a crack has started at the top of the screw.

One of those rare occasions when having an oops moment pays dividend.

so i took the paint off got the mic on it and went for a culpa to think what i had to make a collar to shrink on. i had a brain wave and i had an old dynamo in bits so i got the vernier on it and it was size. drilled out the screws holding the field coils inside.
cut it of to make a ring tried it on the top of the press and low and behold a nice tight fit got the blow lamp on it and taped it on no boring of the collar just taped straight on. Better to be lucky than rich i suppose may be thats why i am skint.

Nice luck dropping on a piece which fits. Sounds like fate was smiling down on you the other day. That's made a tidy looking repair.


Got the ram reinstalled on this one. Front cover still needs the two bolts fitting which set/lock clearance, (they're in for a bit of derusting. The exposed portion was quite rusty on those and a few other bolts, so they're just being tidied up slightly), but she seems nice and smooth, once you find the sweet spot on setting that front plate/cover.

 

[lotus 30]

Never throw anything away if i do i will have a use for it tomorrow always happens, all greased up and smooth now i also turned a tool yesterday to fit the tool holder so all up and running

 

[roofman]

Never throw anything away if i do i will have a use for it tomorrow always happens, all greased up and smooth now i also turned a tool yesterday to fit the tool holder so all up and running

Yep i agree with that one much to the dismay of my woman eerrr i mean wife...iff it costs nothing to feed then keep it i say

 

[MattF]

Never throw anything away if i do i will have a use for it tomorrow always happens, all greased up and smooth now i also turned a tool yesterday to fit the tool holder so all up and running

Never fails that one, does it. The moment space constraints dictate a clearout, you can guarantee at least one piece which has been chucked would have been perfect for a current task.

What's the tool you've made?

 

[lotus 30]

Only a straight forward press tool the old one was a bit battered. got to press some s/steel rings on ali front pulleys to help them run in the front seal of an engine.

 

[MattF]

Ah. On a tangent, what's the handwheel hung above the window from?

Just out of curiosity on the press front, noting that your screw looks somewhat different to mine, did they use a triple thread on yours too, for the main screw section, and does it run direct in the cast else is it a bushed thread in the press?

 

[lotus 30]

Cant remember where the hand wheel comes from (never throw anything away lol) I am not sure never looked but i think the main thread is the same as yours and runs in the casting. The fine thread you can see has a stop screwed on it i had to remove it to fit the repair ring.

 

[MattF]

If you ever decide to have a clearout, (I almost said that with a straight face ), and that handwheel gets the chop, can I have first shout on that? Those old cast handwheels are always handy to have.

What do you use as the handle on your flypress, btw? Looking at the clearance you have around and above it, I'm guessing you're not using the original handle?

 

[MattF]

This one's all about finished now. Just need to scrub the handle down to clean it up a tad and then she's done.

 

[lotus 30]

If you ever decide to have a clearout, (I almost said that with a straight face ), and that handwheel gets the chop, can I have first shout on that? Those old cast handwheels are always handy to have.

What do you use as the handle on your flypress, btw? Looking at the clearance you have around and above it, I'm guessing you're not using the original handle?

Original handle just clears it is on a large heavy duty table which wheels it will pull out to where it is to allow full swing push it back when finished
What is the (horn) cast into the front of my press used for it has a u section slot in the front never found a use for it but it must have a use.

 

[MattF]

Original handle just clears it is on a large heavy duty table which wheels it will pull out to where it is to allow full swing push it back when finished

Ah. You had me head scratching with the photo.

What is the (horn) cast into the front of my press used for it has a u section slot in the front never found a use for it but it must have a use.

No idea, personally. Whenever I've seen that type of protrusion in the past, it almost always has a rod in it, going down to a corresponding hole in the base. I'd always just assumed they were either for a guide else protection against something springing out of place.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Original handle just clears it is on a large heavy duty table which wheels it will pull out to where it is to allow full swing push it back when finished
What is the (horn) cast into the front of my press used for it has a u section slot in the front never found a use for it but it must have a use.

Its for a stripper (no not the pole dancing kind), it holds a tool that clears the material off the punch when you retract it.

 

[lotus 30]

Its for a stripper (no not the pole dancing kind), it holds a tool that clears the material off the punch when you retract it.

Pole dancing kind sounds more fun

 

[Screwdriver]

Well I stripped mine right down to investigate some damage on the split bolt.

After cleaning them up, they looked worse!

But in fact, it's not a problem. The only force which should be applied to this fixing is as the captive reduced diameter shoulder on the screw bears against the bottom of the bolt as it lifts the press head. It should not be pressed from the top either directly by the screw (which it had been) or by getting hammered against the stops at the top of the travel. Phew.

There are some seriously precise chunks of high quality steel in these old things. The press head has taken a battering but the surfaces are still flat ground where they should be.

No obvious damage or wear on the acme screw but there is a bit of play side to side. No idea what might be an acceptable amount doesn't affect the press in use....

Anyway, it's done and looks pretty damned decent. Still needs a bit of a clean but it's up and running.

I have been picking up odd bits of tooling and couldn't resist this:

Proper job. Zero play brass bushings. Solid as a rock. I've been busy on sketch up knocking up some tooling.

Oh and it has already come in handy for all sorts of little fiddly jobs although at the moment I am still looking around for things which don't quite look flat enough!

Screwd.