Have a look at Don Fogg's page and don't miss the 5 or 6 other pages with links at the bottom of the page.There is a booklet he sells there too which runs through specs and designs by an actual engineer.-the Baston bookA pre made shop press is usually unsuitable because it achieves its high power with a large cylinder at a very slow stroke speedA forging press is usually recommended to have at least 1 or 2 inches per second stroke speed so you can move metal while it is still hot.If you start doing calculations you will see that it is easy to get a high tonnage, but at a slow stroke speed because of the volume of fluid required.This takes a large pump and motor.You may have to reach some sort of comprise on a slightly smaller 5" cylinder instead of 6".It starts costing real $ to up your pump volume, motor HP and wiring size above 5 hpIs 50 tons twice as good as 25 ? probably not as good as a fast 25The larger size will allow you to run larger dies and keep the same PSI at the die level...but there must be a practical limit..in the numbers Billy gave he is running 2200 psi is 21.5 tonsBuy the book , look at what others have done and do the calculations with what you can buy locally.I would tend to stay with 5 or 6 inch cylinder, go larger on the pump volume and keep the pressure down to keep the stroke speed up so you can get more squeezes per heat in.When the steel is hot, you wont' need huge pressures to move the steel and are better served by gradual reductions to preserve your patterns.the difference between the pump volume at 5" and at 6" is significant.10 hp dual pump hydraulic station pushing16 gallons a minute at 1500 psi.5" double acting hydraulic cylinder with an 8" throw.Works out to 14.7 TonsNORTHERN 1053-C161 BARNES 2 STAGE PUMP -11GPM2010-C161 PRINCE STANDARD 4-WAY CONTROL VALVE4051-C161 7 GALLONS HYDRAULIC OIL TANK MUST CLEAN THE INSIDE WELL4022-C161 RETURN LINE FILTER4010-C161 SUCTION STRAINER THIS GOES INTO THE TANKFITTINGS AND HOSES YOU WILL NEED 3 HI- PRESSURE HOSES AND LOW PRESSURE HOSE FOR THE RETURN.53606-C161 GLYCERIN FILLED GAUGE 0-3000PSISURPLUS CENTER 10-1485 ELECTRIC MOTOR I USE A 3 HP AT 3250 RPMS09 4954 HYDRAULIC CYLINDER I USE A 4 1/2" BORE X 8" STROKE WITH THE PUMP AND MOTOR SHOULD GENERATE 24 TONS__________________with automated stroke timingMotor – 7.5 HPPump – Single stage 5.2 GPM (Single stage is necessary to get repeatable timing for an automated stroke)Cylinder – 5” X 8” Stroke**************220V motors are practical in these sizes
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This can be very complicated science. The 3 dimensional stresses that occur in powders and granular solids under compaction are difficult to predict without first quantitively characterizing the material being compacted as well as measuring how it interacts with its surroundings. When I was in college back in the last century, I worked for 6 months in the test lab of an engineering consulting firm that specialized in providing bulk solids storage and conveying system design guidance. Their laboratory was well equipped for measuring the behaviors of the materials under all environmental conditions they were likely to be exposed to. This provided data for characterizing the material which then went into proprietary formulas that would result in recommendations for environment, geometry, materials and surface finishes of the material handling equipment. For the process you describe, the tests would likely have included compaction at your desired pressure with an instrumented mold that would help determine the ratio of transverse stresses to vertical force, and how that affected the compaction at varying heights. For a simple test, you can weigh a known amount of powder and compact it. Measure the height of the result, then put twice as much powder in and see if the compacted height is more, less or equal to twice the original result. In general, you want the press platen to be a close fit to the cylinder (uniformly distributed vertical load), and the walls of the cylinder to be smooth and have low stiction with the material being pressed. A wet powder has the added challenge of a variable moisture content before and during the pressing operation as some moisture gets squeezed out of the mix.
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