Idea for hydraulic swaging press

[waydownsouth]

been thinking of building a hydraulic swaging press for forming bullet jackets

im thinking about using a power steering rack hooked up to a small hydraulic pump as a starting point.
using a power steer rack will give the same presure on the up stroke as the down stroke and if i make the presure control valve adjustable i should have good control while forming bullet cores ect.
the other advantage i see is that the rack will only move while the steering wheel is being turned, rack speed would also be controlled by the speed the steering wheel is turned.

has any one got any idea how much presure can be got out of a power steering rack?
or any thoughts about this set up?

[garandsrus]

Sounds cool! You can drive your press

John

[Rocky Mountain Bullets]

Your idea sounds good, drawing jackets and swaging cores and so on dosn't take too much preasure, the hitch comes with the point form die which can take lots. I don't think the ram will produce enough to do the point form. Sounds like a fun project though, and the only way to find out is to try.

[Southron Sanders]

Check out Richard Corbin's website. He makes and sells a basic hydraulic swaging press and the components he uses are "off the shelf" hydraulic parts. He also has a picture of his basic hydraulic press at his website, so you can take a look at it and see how he does it.

His website also has an "on line" book about swaging that he is writing and there is a lot of good information in it about swaging.

His website address is:

http://www.rceco.com/

His website adress is:

[waydownsouth]

for about $50 i can get a power steer rack the pump and all the plumbing complete ready to go, i have an old washing machine motor laying around here somewere and enough scrap metal to build a frame. with a bit of tinkering i should be able to adjust the presure relief valve

but this project is going to have to wait for a week or two, i just got back from the doctors after sticking my thum in an angle grinder, stupid idea to try adjusting the gaurd while it was still running !

[Southern Son]

Bloody Taswegiens. Smart enough to come up with an idea like using a power steering setup to do some swaging, then they go and try to change the disk on an angle grinder while it is still running. I sometimes think that Tasmania is a state of New Zealand!!!!!!!!

[holycross]

If memory is correct power steering relieve valves are set to 800psi. You'll probable want 2000-2500 psi for swaging system.

Look in a farm supply store pumps, valves and cylinders at reasonable prices.

Mark

[Three44s]

Short of going the power steering unit .... one could use a flow control valve inconjunction with a regular valve to limit the speed of the press.

Three 44s

[Owens]

Just a thought here, but you may try this:

If you are near a mack Truck dealer, ask to look in there junk for a power steering pump off of an older model, such as a R685 with a 237, 300 or 300+ engine. They used a Vickers V20 vane pump for the power steering pump and it ran at 1/2 engine speed.Cost could be zero.

A lot of these were replaced for a low flow condition, but they will still hold pressure.

They have a flow rate (new) of 6 GPM but it is reduced to only 4 at the outlet. Still a bunch. Pressure at 1750.

Half speed would be about 1050. A lot of electric motors run at 1050 or 1075.

[Lead pot]

A two stage log splitter pump and valve is a good way to go, there slow!
But if you don't have a trip switch that returns the ram when a certain depth is reached you will never get a bullet with a uniform weight.
Been there done that.

LP

[No_1]

Why couldn't a person use a pressure relief valve in line between the pump and the ram. Once you get the pressure set for the particular bullet, it should bleed off consistantly everytime and I would guess the bullets would be uniform. Did you try that?

Robert

A two stage log splitter pump and valve is a good way to go, there slow!
But if you don't have a trip switch that returns the ram when a certain depth is reached you will never get a bullet with a uniform weight.
Been there done that.

LP