Started to build my Iron worker today.

[Kbeitz]

I think I'm off to a good start. This is one of my lifetime dreams.
I have allways wanted one but I did not want to pay $15,000-$30,000
for one. So I have been gathering parts for a few years to build one.
1400lbs of steel so far.



 



 

[jaygtree]

looks neat. what's an iron worker do?  jg

[Gearbox]

Have you got the punches and dies . I use my wood splitter as a bender . Just weld up a jig and attach to plate an use wedge for the break .

[Kbeitz]

Yep I got a set punches and dies and I got a shear plate and bending dies.

what's an iron worker do?

A hydraulic ironworker can be used for punching, shearing, notching,
bending and other metal fabrication functions.
It  is the most used and most versatile machine a person can have
in their manufacturing or fabrication .

[drobertson]

Every thing but work timber. Lol they are very handy!!

[thecfarm]

Shearing?? Years ago I went to a weld shop. That was when I could go out into the shop. They sheared some ½ steel for my project. Than punched some ½ holes into. Now I know what that thing is called.

[Kbeitz]

Every thing but work timber. Lol they are very handy!!

But they help build mill parts...

[r.man]

I have only been around one and that was at a welding course. It was amazing what that thing could do easily and I have wanted one ever since.

[Delawhere Jack]

I'll be paying you a visit! Hope I don't wear the rear bumper completely off the Jeep getting there!  :D

[coxy]

looks neat. what's an iron worker do?  jg

:D :D :D thanks for asking first   I don't feel so lonely now

[Kbeitz]

What they can do...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duOUGOYv1Q4

[pineywoods]

Handy as a hip pocket on a sunday shirt  ;D I do some limited iron worker stuff using my 20 to log splitter... mostly bending...

[21incher]

This should be a fun topic to follow. I have seen many with tooling for a good price on craigslist lately, but can't justify one.  How many tons will your unit be?   

[drobertson]

Every thing but work timber. Lol they are very handy!!

But they help build mill parts...

You bet!  Stomped the pedal on  few,  very handy with the dies and punches

[Kbeitz]

This should be a fun topic to follow. I have seen many with tooling for a good price on craigslist lately, but can't justify one.  How many tons will your unit be?   

I have no idea how to figure the tonnage on this toy.
First it has two stations. What i call the first station has a hydraulic cylinder
the pushes an arm like in the picture. This will increase the pressure quite a bit.



 

The second station has double hydraulic cylinders. It really has three. The third one
just moves the two hydraulic cylinder closer to the work station.



 

[Dave Shepard]

A shop near me has a piranha. Really awesome machine for a fab shop.

[Kbeitz]

A shop near me has a piranha. Really awesome machine for a fab shop.

Thats what I really wanted.
But for what I do I could not justify the money that they sell for.
I used a piranha for 5 years.

[Kbeitz]

I'm hoping there is someone on this forum that knows more about hydraulics
than me. I want this machine to run real slow. So I thought I could pump
the oil into a large cylinder and use that cylinder to pull a small cylinder.
Then use the oil that gets pushed out of the front of the smaller cylinder
to push the cylinder on my machine. I'm thinking this would slow down the
oil and increase the pressure. Am I right ?



 



 

[gspren]

  Better (easier) to get a higher psi pump with a lower gpm rating.

[Kbeitz]

  Better (easier) to get a higher psi pump with a lower gpm rating.

Years ago I bought a 4' X 4' box full of pumps hoses, flow controls,
hand controls, fittings and hydraulic motors. I might all ready have
what I need. I just dont know what I'm looking at when I look at
the pumps. I can tell the difference between a vane pump and a
gear pump but how can you tell if it's a higher psi pump with a lower
gpm rating by looking at it ?

[gspren]

  On a single stage pump you can measure how many ounces in a given number of revolutions to calculate displacement or volume, pressure will need a gage. If it's a 2 stage pump with no capacity plate your on your own. On an iron worker at some time you will run the pressure up the whole way and I would want to know what that is for safety reasons. Using a smaller cylinder to boost pressure could be troublesome in that you would now have a limited volume before needing to back off and you probably wanted a larger diameter ram doing the work which needed more volume.

[Grandpa]

How about a piston pump with a closed center valve, it will pump whatever you need.

[Ljohnsaw]

  On a single stage pump you can measure how many ounces in a given number of revolutions to calculate displacement or volume, pressure will need a gage. If it's a 2 stage pump with no capacity plate your on your own. On an iron worker at some time you will run the pressure up the whole way and I would want to know what that is for safety reasons. Using a smaller cylinder to boost pressure could be troublesome in that you would now have a limited volume before needing to back off and you probably wanted a larger diameter ram doing the work which needed more volume.

I haven't completely thought it through, but with your multi-ram design, I think you are in for trouble.  Say you are pumping 3,000 psi in the big ram.  Figure the area of the cylinder and you get X tons of force.  Now push on the small ram with X tons, convert that back to psi from the cylinder area and you will see an increase in the psi - potentially more than the seals can take.  IF you put in relief valves, then there will be no mechanical advantage to your setup.  You will see the same speed (assuming the two small rams are the same diameter) from the large ram as the small rams.

Are you using an electric over hydraulic setup?  Why not vary the speed of the electric motor if you need slower motion?  That's assuming the pump works efficiently/effectively at any speed.

[Kbeitz]

Thanks for all the input.
What about flow control valves ?



 

[Ljohnsaw]

Thanks for all the input.
What about flow control valves ?

That would work but I would expect any restriction to cause a build up of heat.  That might not matter with this as you probably are not doing production work.