My new pen press :o)

[btboone]

Here's a picture of my latest piece of equipment. It should have plenty of oomph for those pesky sticking pen parts. I hope to do some forming and stamping with it. I hope to also get into making mokume material with it.

 

[thetalbott4]

Looks a little small. I dont think you'll get an Emperor or Gent in there. Oh well, gotta start somewhere.

 

[btboone]

Fortunately, the table lowers down. Unfortunately, I got it used and the cable to do that is broken, so I have to rig it all up to work again. The cylinder is massive. Maybe around 12" diameter by something like 16" tall. It has a 12" stroke.

 

[ldimick]

Hmmm... Seems like it went from a 50 to a 100 to a 150 ton press. Good thing you bought it before you found a 250!

 

[btboone]

That's true Lynn. I was looking at a new one in the 50, 75, or 100 ton range. I found this one on e-bay. It lists for $14K new and I got it for $4K, which is still less than the smaller presses. I still had to get it trucked here and needed riggers to get it in (it weighs 4000 pounds), but I would have had to do that with the other ones too. This one should have plenty of capacity for whatever comes along.

 

[rduncan]

Just had to use a term that sent me to Google didn't you??? Mokume huh. []

 

[penhead]

Bruce...is that fear I see in that itty bitty pen blank you have sitting on that press table[]

 

[btboone]

Mokume Gane is the proper term. It means wood eye metal in Japanese. It's where different metals are diffusion bonded together. This is bonding done just below the melting point of either metal, but the atoms are moving so hard that they start to mix together. It is done under extreme pressure to get good atomic level contact between the metals. It's quite a science as well as an art. The metals need to be perfectly clean, and heated to very exact temperatures in an oxygen free atmosphere. I get some mokume materials for inlays in rings that is now made by mokume artists. I've seen inlays of it done on some high end pens. I've done a couple pens with it myself.

 

[btboone]

John, I had to go in PhotoShop and color the pen blank a little green to be able to see it. [] I just ordered a 4" diameter chunk of stainless steel so I can make a clean press face instead of the bent 1" steel piece welded to to a press face in the picture. They get setscrewed in place.

 

[Gary Max]

And just think next year at Christmas-----Those hard shell walnuts will present no challenge.

 

[btboone]

Hmm, I wonder what it takes to make pressed board? Some glue, some wood fibers, and lots of pressure I suppose. Walnut shells might work. []

 

[Gary Max]

Or you could make your own Dymondwood

 

[DFM]

You can make some really flat pens.[]

 

[btboone]

It would be pretty cool to laminate something cheap like brass and bronze or brass and silver together into a solid billet. I'll be experimenting with those metals for dialing in the mokume stuff. It might make an interesting looking pen, although a heavy one.

 

[jwoodwright]

Bruce, if I visit, can I bring some pennies to "press"... []

Sure beats the Alaska Railroad...

 

[btboone]

John, bring pennies, nickels, silver dollars, gold bullion, whatever! []

 

[Darley]

Bruce how many pens can you press in 1 go with a 12" cylinder?

 

[btboone]

I would estimate at least a peck of pressable pen parts is possible if properly prepared.

 

[Chuck Key]

How would you get a pen apart if you need to disassemble after pressing it together with that thing? Would the little punch set from Harbor Freight still work[]

Chuckie

 

[btboone]

We might need the Harbor Freight hydraulic punch set. []

 

[gerryr]

I have some practical experience with this things and it looks like it might be defective so maybe you should send it to me so I can test it for you and make sure it's safe to use.[]

 

[btboone]

I just wired it up and ran it for the first time. I was a little nervous that the motor might run backwards. There were no arrows anywhere to indicate which direction it should be running. It seemed to be pumping oil correctly. It goes very slowly, but it crushed a paint can cap before ever reading anything on the gauge. Next, I need to make some punch and die sets for earrings.

 

[PenWorks]

Don't forget to make the clip dies to !
And make sure you get your fingers out of the way []

 

[btboone]

They would be a tough one. I wonder if Scott Meyer was still going to work on those? He's a pen maker in the guild that used to be a tool and die maker.
It looks like the press is slow enough, around 4 seconds per inch or so, that it gives plenty of notice to get the fingers out. The ones to worry about are the mechanical ones that stroke several inches in a second, where you may not have time to react. I've seen a factory that made the paper towel dispensers that I worked on have those. The operator literally was shackeled at the wrists. A cable forcibly yanked the hands out of the pinch point if the ram was to move unexpectedly. He had to have his hands back and raised before hitting the pedal with his foot. Talk about being chained to your work!

 

[Bev Polmanteer]

THINK BIG!

 

[chigdon]

I had the privilege to visit Bruce's shop right before he got this press and it is basically in scale with everything else in his shop. It is truely an amazing site to see the equipment he has and what he is capable of making. I can't wait to see this press in action and what he makes using it.

 

[btboone]

I got in some urethane sheets today for forming stuff. There's a technique where you cut out shapes in sheets of lexan and put thin sheet metal above it and the urethane pad above that. The pad buldges the metal into the shape when it is pressed together. Since the lexan can be engraved out by laser, it shoule enable some pretty interesting stuff.