Question on what hydraulic press to buy

[surfy]

Hey everyone new here and i not into making jewellery myself by my lovely girlfriend is and its her birthday in a couple weeks. I was planning to buy her a hydraulic press because i know how much she wants one. Ive looked at the potters usa and bonny doon press and i know you cant put a price on love but $1200 is a bit steep now.
Basically my question is can i get any press such as this one on ebay, i cant post url links yet but the sellers name is wholesale-superstore and its listed as a 12 tonne workshop hydraulic press

Or are there certain things that a jeweller would specifically require in a press? The only difference i could see between the 2 would be a physical size of the press and the quality of the 2 metals that would be doing the pressing?
Would a 12 tonne press be more than enough or would a 22 tonne (saw a 22tone one from the same ebay seller) be much more suitable?

Anyyyway thanks for any advice you guys n gals can give!!

[handmadeblanks]

I'm still consider myself a newbie, so not entirely sure I am qualified to answer but here is my 2p worth. I invested in a hydraulic press after seeing a YouTube video demonstrating how they can be used for disc cutting instead of using a brass hammer. I was looking at buying a Bonny Doon or the Potter USA one but thought that would be too big an investment to start with. So I bought a Clarke 12 tonne press from Machine Mart. I have NOT regretted it at all. It's one of my most useful tools...but ALL I've really used it for so far is disc cutting even though I have tried stamping with it and it works brilliantly in that respect too.


This is the one I bought: clarke-csa12f-12-tonne-hydraulic-floor-press-/

[Dennis]

Here is our most recent thread on this subject:https://www.cooksongold.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8656
You will need to discuss this with the recipient, or risk buying her a white elephant.

I don't know where you are based, but I think the machine mart ones are good value. Space will dictate whether you have a floor model or a bench mounted one. Add a few steel blocks, some perspex and some neoprene sheet in various thicknesses and you can form metal sheet with it.

The alternative is to have a Bonnie Doon lookalike made up, adding a standard bottle jack. I have used both 12 and 20 tonne ones and for small jewellery the difference is negligible. However, so is the price difference of bottle jacks, so I opted for the 20 tonne in mine just to be safe.

Unless she already has it, I suggest you buy the book: Hydraulic Die Forming For Jewellers and Metalsmiths by Susan Kingsley
Which as far as I know is the only one on the subject. It is getting old now, but quite comprehensive, and has a plan for making your own. Dennis.

[mizgeorge]

I have nothing constructive to add, but I rather wish I was your girlfriend as a hydraulic press is my most wanted tool and the chances of anyone buying me one are less than zilch...

[china]

Juts to add to all the above have said, I would go for the 20 tonne gives some leeway, i can't comment on brands as I built my own, I am currently building a new one ( without the previous design flaws )

[surfy]

Thanks for the info and reply guys
Yea it is a bit of a risk Dennisz dont want to waste money on something that might be almost useless but a bit hard to ask such questions without giving the suprise away hahah hmmm

[surfy]

By the way i shouldve mentioned earlier than im in australia so if that makes it easier for anyone to recommend a product that'd be great
the one i have been looking at today is the Baumr-AG 10T Hydraulic Shop Press. will basically be used for disc cutting and using with dies from what i can gather from her without making it obvious.... haha
is this fairly suitable for her to begin with? could always purchase a few extra plates to go with it i just wanna know if the ram would be an inconvenience at all to use? all these are really advertised for automotive/metal shops but i dont see why this couldn't be used for jewelry

[handmadeblanks]

By the way i shouldve mentioned earlier than im in australia so if that makes it easier for anyone to recommend a product that'd be great
the one i have been looking at today is the Baumr-AG 10T Hydraulic Shop Press. will basically be used for disc cutting and using with dies from what i can gather from her without making it obvious.... haha
is this fairly suitable for her to begin with? could always purchase a few extra plates to go with it i just wanna know if the ram would be an inconvenience at all to use? all these are really advertised for automotive/metal shops but i dont see why this couldn't be used for jewelry

That ram will work fine, however even if it is too big for a disc punch the trick is to use a short brass rod of smaller diameter as a pusher between the ram and the punch. I had a friend make a brass mandrel that fits neatly into my hydraulic ram.

As far as disc cutting is concerned, I have never seen the pressure gauge exceed 1 tonne and I've cut discs over 1" diameter and 1.2mm thick Sterling Silver sheet. But be aware that there are two kinds of disc cutter punches.

1) The cheaper versions have flat cutting ends. These require more pressure as the entire surface of the punch is in contact with the metal at the same time.
2) The more expensive cutters have punches that are ground to a slight angle (5-7°) so that the punch shears through the metal (scissor type action)

Either way (I have a collection of disc cutters!) I've never seen the gauge go above 1 tonne.


The other thing I have tried (which I forgot to mention) is forming a ring from a washer using a doming block (search Youtube making a ring from a washer). Again, I have never seen the gauge move much above 1 tonne during this process.

Others will no doubt correct me, but unless you (your GF) is doing some serious forging I think a 20 tonne press will be more than adequate.

(I should have figured you were from Australia with a username like 'surfy')....you skeg!

[china]

That press is set up for auto workshop use you will at least two ground 170mm x 100mm x 25mm flat steel plantens to make it useful for jewellery, to be really honest for that price I would have to be concerned re the quality