Totally off-topic, but why Clam Chowder? Is it representative of an opposing team? (CRUSH the competition?)
If just smushing for the sake of smushing, wouldn’t chili be more Texa-centric?
The last hydraulic pressure gauge I priced was about 430$. Not cheap by any means but that’s also where you don’t want to cheap out on things.
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This is precisely why one has not been ordered.
yeah last thing we want is to overpress our brakes or other tools that go on the thing. We have the good plates now too, so the chinesium won’t be the first thing to fail.
I’d like to woah those horses up for a second.
Are we now going to start requiring that any commercial usage of the space requires their own insurance, or just single out a specific member because he happens to be employed by a famous organization?
Can we make something as a community, sure. Can we by Tomorrow/Thursday… maybe not. I would love to do some cross collaboration with the Dallas Stars, however do we want to signal to membership that crushing whatever in the hydraulic press or mention of a blacksmithing press is acceptable?
I understand Cody will take every step to limit any potential issues, however not all members will. While I understand the potential project timeline Cody may be facing, it may be best to schedule this when @worldcloud or @TLAR may be available to oversee the equipment.
Another member is looking into a personally owned press that includes ballistic shields. We may be able to facilitate something. I’m sure it will get posted when he gets more info.
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Crap! I think my sarcasm font must be broken…
Clearly we are singling him out. And clearly, most of us (I am admittedly speaking broadly here…) are hoping for supervision players and/or Ice Girls.
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We are in the range where Tom (now) or I (soon) could make this decision to replace from a fiscal standpoint, but my feeling is that this should be discussed in the next Automotive committee meeting in an effort to be transparent. My personal feeling is that if we are going to own equipment, we should do our best to keep it working ‘new’. If we don’t wish to maintain the Press, then I feel we should offer it to another committee. Tools that don’t work should be in storage, not in our crowded work area. I also realize that this is far from the first time we have had issues with this Northern tool branded Press. Is this the appropriate time to discuss whether we may just want to upgrade to a better Press? These are the questions of why I feel this discussion may be appropriate in a committee meeting.
I agree that operating without a gauge allows one to ‘overpressure’ the system with no means to know it- it was built with a gauge for a reason.
I also agree that cheap Chinese parts often cost more after you calculate the time and frustration of multiple failures. I am cautious to believe that the more expensive gauge is a better gauge- in some cases they are the same with a higher markup. If we can get a quality gauge off the internet and save 15%+ then I would elect to wait and get the part online. If a local vendor has the gauge for a reasonable amount, then I prefer buying local.
I do not have the experience to judge what brands represent a ‘quality’ gauge. It sounds like we all agree that if it says Pittsburg, we don’t want it. Does anyone have specific advice of which one we should buy? Where?
FYI, nothing on that press except the frame is the original northern tool. It has a nice ram, a new reservoir+pump. It just needs the gauge to match. The bigger issue is whether automotive will finally make it a training tool since the majority of failures has been caused by negligent users (like pushing the ram back with the cable winch, trying to crush pennies, etc).
A newer / “nicer” press will have the same issues if the core problem of abusive behaviour towards the tool is not resolved.
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Training is a valid observation, which I am not opposed to; however, for what I have seen in Automotive is that many of our issues are from members which have not taken Automotive 101 and are still using our tools. Enforcement is a larger issue. We have discussed reworking Automotive 101, so including the Press may be appropriate. I would prefer to merge it in Auto 101 rather than making it another class.
The extended question is what would it take to put RFID on the press? I assume it would be the same answer as for the lift. It seems easier to kill the power than to put a solenoid in the foot pedal line.
it’s entirely air driven IIRC; it would be an RFID driving solenoid.
101 is still only required for relatively new members; I can say from witnessing a lot of the press abuse has come from older members as well.
Doesn’t need to be a full class; make it a spot train, or an online self-training. Just… something.
Yall are 52 posts in. I think you probably scared OP off by now
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I spoke with him in person yesterday. He was able to find another place to get his crushing done, but still seems pretty psyched about the Makerspace as a whole 
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LOL! Love the space where the gauge used to be.
I remember seeing an “Auxiliary hydraulic fluid storage reservoir” perched at the top of the press, behind the ram - Oh, look in the bottom left corner of the photograph… there’s one! For those uninitiated in hydraulics, it’s that red Solo cup.
Point is, the press may not be up to snuff, but…as long as the Maker is prepared and willing to clean up and/or fix anything that happens, I don’t see any reason not to allow this.
Just looking around, I stumbled on this:
http://store.flw.com/products/wika-type-213-53-utility-pressure-gauge-0-10000-psi-9767282.html
$35, it’s liquid filled. In my experience, vibrations tear the non-liquid filled gauges in hydraulic applications to shreds in short order. I can’t vouch for the quality, but I did find some at more than 10 times the price.
That’s a PSI Guage, we need a tonnage gauge or someone would have to do the math and Mark it very carefully.
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Myself & Charlie did the math the other day. We came up with the full 10K is 50 tons, or close enough. Area of the cylinder 9.62 square inches. 3.5” diameter or there about.
alright, then we just need to make a little fixed collar or something with the converted scale to go around it so things like the press brake aren’t being used past their rating.
Very simple to work up a table. have someone in laser could etch it for us.
9.62 * 10.000 = 96,200 Pounds, or 48 tons. Round it to 50.
Close enough in my book would be:
PSI Tons
1000 5
2000 10
4000 20
8000 40
10000 50
If anyone needs anything more accurate than that, we should look into a strain gauge.