Forging with a Toggle Press

[Joel Sanderson]

I am curious to know if anyone has seen another press like this one, and I am especially curious to know if anyone is using one for hot work. I have seen them in old shop photos, but they seem to have dissapeared in favor of the OBI presses that are more common in shops today.

http://sandersoniron.com/JoelWeb%20P...le%20press.htm

The name cast on this press was ground off at some time, so I do not know who made it. The only thing legible is "Toledo, O."

There was a version of this press that was back-geared, and the frame on mine could have been built either way. Instead of the flywheel on the upper crank, a large gear was on the crank, and the flywheel was mounted on a lower shaft with a small gear engaging the large one.

[Fe-Wood]

Joel-
I have to tell you, this is the second time I have run across your shop on my travels around the internet. You sir, have assemble an outstanding new "old" shop!!!

Thank you for the pictures on your web site...inspiring!

[AndyG]

I used to work with forming and blanking presses up to 850 ton. The problem with using a press for hot work is what happens when you put in a piece that is to big for it to squash. A trip hammer has springs and it will just keep going. The press does not have those springs and nasty things can happen if the workpiece is to thick.

[Joel Sanderson]

Yeah. It makes for nit-picky set up and die preparation. I also am careful to calculate the force necessary (or work up to it) before letting it cycle. You also need to be really careful and stop before things cool too far. A press is no subsitute for a hammer, yet it can do a lot of things easily that a hammer struggles with. The controlled, fixed stroke length is a real help in a lot of cases. Also, with my press at least, there is very rigid ram guidance, allowing controlled die set up without sub press set ups.

I don't know how to post pictures here, or I would show something I made with the press today. The best I know how to do is link to my website. Here is some railing I recently did, and if you look at the last photo, you'll see a washer I decorated using my press. It would be hard to get enough control with a hammer to do that on something that light.

http://www.sandersoniron.com/JoelWeb...ing-Vassar.htm

Also, in the above railing, the eighth picture shows the cap which is held on by a copper rivet. The texturing you see there was done on my press too. Doesn't look like press work, but it is--open die press work.

Here is another example on a table. The top frame is mostly press work. The three-leaved designs on the lower part of the frame and the texturing on the narrower upper frame are all done with the press. The lining was done on my Hackney (power hammer) though it could have been press work too. Almost any time the material is a constant thickness and the operation is repetative, a press can do it--often more efficiently than with a hammer.

http://www.sandersoniron.com/JoelWeb...awk%20moth.htm