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Thread: Wrecked my 20 Ton Press!

  1. #1
    Boolit Master


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    Sep 2007
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    Wrecked my 20 Ton Press!

    I put my lead wire extruding die in my 20 ton press with the air over hydraulic jack and had lubricated the 1” x 6” lead slug with STP and proceeded to apply pressure like I always do. The weather was warm.
    About 3” of the 1/4” wire was coming out and the part of the press that the jack sits on and applies pressure twisted and the die went crashing on the floor!
    It did that once before but I repaired it and it was working fine up until this time.
    I straightened the bent guide pipe and cracked a weld about 3/4” long that won’t be hard to fix. I had a ring on the bottom of the die to hold it straight and that sheared some metal off the die body so I increased the depth of the shoulder from.050” to.100”
    and I am going to make a new ring from a 1” thick 6” diameter disc that I got from the scrap yard.

    I used my LBT Lead Hardness Tester for the first time and got 2 readings of 5 BHN , so it is not hard lead.
    I have no idea what the cause is!

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master

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    My guess would be use at upper end increased stress work hardening of the parts. What pressure was the gauge showing as it went?
    Another is what was the press frame itself rated for?
    Hydraulic presses are scary as you dont have any feel for the pressure being exerted.
    A die or ram slightly cocked out of square may have caused this failure also.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    My guess would be use at upper end increased stress work hardening of the parts. What pressure was the gauge showing as it went?
    Another is what was the press frame itself rated for?
    Hydraulic presses are scary as you dont have any feel for the pressure being exerted.
    A die or ram slightly cocked out of square may have caused this failure also.
    There isn’t a pressure gauge!
    I may need to add one.
    The press is rated for 20 tons from a good manufacturer and was sold through an auto parts store.
    It came from a divorce sale and the guy was an auto mechanic.
    I have plans to reinforce the plate at the top that the jack presses against.

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
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    Glad that you're okay from it.
    BulletMatch: Cataloging the World's Bullets

    Lead Alloy Calculator

  5. #5
    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    Any bleach needed in the wash?

    Those things happen to me, either it's extreme pucker or the other......

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Check the cross beams to make sure they are still straight square and true. If channel iron a piece of flat stock the same thickness of the long side stitch welded into each open side will greatly stiffen the cross bar. (making it a tube)

    You want .001 or less variance between the platen and the bolster, It needs to be flat also. A simple stand with a indicator pointing up can be used to measure this set it on the bolster and zero on the platen and slide it over the surfaces to see what it is.

    Check the table pins for bends and run out also. While these presses come with heavy bolster plates the cross channel may be wanting reinforcing it as above may help. Make sure the jacks mounting dosnt allow it to flex or wobble

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
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    My press will swage any size wire from 6" x 3/4" blanks at around 2500 - 3000 psi. Any more pressure than that, something isn't right. Maybe keep a gage on the pressure, and anything over that just stop and check things out. It does sound like a misalignment somewhere. It is easy to apply enough pressure, holding everything in precision alignment while you do is the real trick. Otherwise all that pressure will just twist things apart.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master

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    Wowzers! I hate it when these presses do that, I have a part somewhere in low earth orbit to this day.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check