Building a 24 Ton Log-Splitter Forging Press!
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- I built a 24 ton log splitter press for forging! This will make squishing down big pieces of metal and railroad spikes much much easier.
I swapped in an electric motor, stuck on a table, and added some dies ... and that's about it! Definitely a powerful DIY tool for blacksmithing and a worthwhile project for anybody who can pick up a used splitter off of craigslist for cheap.
Hi, I bought a log splitter a couple decades ago, to feed my shop stove in the winter, so I have been looking at doing with a motor, what you have, rather than run an exhaust line out, and having just got back into forge work, planning to use it for the same purpose you show. For life of the motor, it ought be horizontal, and since I'm going to swap out dies and splitter, I will make a separate "sled" for the dies. I've had the same issue with the current "axle/tank" for years, and will probably put a separate tank that provides more volume and isn't so irksome. Thanks for sharing, you made my build all the more easier, I appreciate it!
In the rebuild I'm planning, I intend to rotate the motor horizontal, I agree. I need to do a quick on on the footpedal I made. It's single action unlike every other one I've seen and works incredibly well. You step on the pedal for down and when you let go it retracts up to a stop you can adjust. Very simple and nice to use.
I need to do this so bad. I can find log splitters, both without a motor and even straight up electric log splitters. I just can’t handle the building and welding. I’ve got zero welding skill and even less welders… I live with some lower spine injuries that dictate my life. If I’m lucky I can spend 30 minutes at the forge in a week. And that’s me overdoing it to get my wife’s Christmas gift finished. A press would likely increase that by 300-400% at the absolute very least. I just don’t have spare income to forage for a cheap welder, a log splitter, the motor and all the other metal needed. Best of luck with yours.
Well done and thank you. I will be reviewing this several times.
Love your sense of humor too by the way!
Dude, your running commentary and self-deprecating humor was the best. Also, great repurposing of a log splitter. love it. Cheers!
I always find the best channels when they are dead! Clutter intro, "SEEN FELT AND Heard"
I love it "way easier than I thought" some times I look at projects and think seems simple, am I missing something lol
Right? With this project all the hard parts were already done - the piston, the pump, the load bearing frame... my research said a logsplitter press would be so much easier than DIY from scratch and there's no question that that's true!
pro trick: watch movies at KaldroStream. Been using them for watching loads of movies these days.
@Lennox Tatum yup, have been using kaldrostream for since november myself :D
An idea like yours popped in my head a few weeks ago. Now that I’ve seen your video, I know it can be done. I’m on it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Good job, Bennett! I want to something similar but, as usual when you're on Social Security, I'll have to save up to have enough to complete a job like this!!!
Also. I'm going to have to wire in a 220 outlet as I also have a 220 welder that will run on 110, SUPPOSEDLY! Haha! It does but, just barely and definitely NOT good enough for this kind of job! So, while I'm saving for the components of the press, I'll also have to get MUCH better at welding! Being 67 and slightly disabled won't help, either but I'm going to give it a whirl, anyway!!!!
Thanks for the video AND the inspiration for doing something I need in my Smithy!
Well done, Bennett. You give us old dogs hope that there are a few ingenious minds to take over the business. Great video. Cheers.
I knew about converting log splitters into forging presses and my thought was that it might be tricky, but looking at your video it does, as you say, seem easier than I thought. I'm now on the hunt for a petrol log splitter here in the UK lol
Definitely go for it! The only real fiddly bit is tuning the slop out of the ram so it doesn’t slip sideways under pressure.
@@BennettTheSmith I have a deal with a guy for a hardly used Cub Cadet 25 ton splitter, costing a fair bit more than you paid mostly because its virtually new. good to know what to look out for RE the slop on the ram
Double checking, is never a waste of time.
Nicely done! I built my tire hammer last year and am designing my hydraulic press now.
I'd love to see a video covering the first couple dies you make and what they're good for. I think I'm only just beginning to understand just how useful a press would be to have around. :P
As far as the clutter…. Amateur ha ha ha.
here hold this box! Nice video thanks for the idea
Heh. You should see the place now! I’ll be making another video on the press, going to rebuild and improve the guides and a bunch of other things.
Cluttery shop. I can so relate dude.
Nice work
Oh, this is a seductive video, "So much easier than I thought it would be" indeed! I've been trying to decide between a hydraulic press and a treadle hammer for over a year, and the notion that even I could build a decently powered hydraulic press is very, very tempting. Darn you!
I would absolutely go for the press over a treadle hammer, if you can find a cheap splitter. Heck, if you can weld, build a tire hammer, not a treadle hammer!
Heck yeah! Thanks for sharing this. +1 for the re-purposed tire hammer idea.
Great job!! I’ve got a 26 ton I’m planning to do something like this to! Id love to see how it goes drifting hammers and axes like you said!
Good luck with it, I hope this helps :)
Ben Wills
Here’s one drifting a hammer ,notice at the end it does come apart and was later welded stronger to accept the upward motion on the dies
czcams.com/video/tW2j0p015Mg/video.html
If you can never weld a horizontal or vertical up or down weld when you can weld it as a flat weld.
I'm in the process of building my own.... good video brother
Nice! Let me know if you need any help
Yes THANKS 🙏
Nicely done.
First video I watched of yours and I figured I would subscribe seeing as I don't have the money to buy a press but I think I will be able to make this thank you for the content
Very cool man! Very nice build. Been wanting to do one of these myself.
I started looking for log splitters and 5hp 3phase motors. I may have to do single phase because I don't have 3 phase at the house. Maybe a single to 3 phase inverter.........hmmmmmm......
So many projects, so little time....
That’s why I built mine so long ago ,so much simpler to buy a cheaper machine and chop it up
I’ve done my 20 ton and a 7 ton and the 7 ton is now converted to a 24 ton
I’m now building a pneumatic power hammer so look out for it here in the next few weeks ,done plenty of mechanical hammers so why not one that runs off air right
Sounds awesome, I'm looking forward to seeing it! I have a ...shoot.. grandmother's cousin... I have a relative who was a union welder till he retired and then was a blacksmith for thirty years. He made a treadle hammer and then converted it to a pneumatic hammer. Apparently it did work :)
"Look, that's an empty surface!"
That's funny, because I know I've said it before!
I've gotten rid of a table or two for that reason!!
I think those of us who are "DIY" have all been there ha ha ha . I know I just cleaned up my garage to turn into my shop and got SO excited because I wasn't tripping over stuff.....
There are a number of video's on the web about converting log splitter's to presses. However your's was by far the most entertaining and certainly as, informative of the approach and technique. A really good video. My only thought would be to suggest a heavier safety chain.
Thank you! I agree, that chain isn't sufficient to be completely relied on. I have actually clamped the entire frame to the I-Beam next to it as well. Both to make sure it can't tip, but also because the torque of the motor turning on and off was causing the whole machine to slowly revolve in a circle. The best thing to do would be to build a much heavier, sturdier bottom table. That would lower the center of gravity dramatically and be another horizontal surface for me to fill up with junk :P
LoL...looked like my shop...like a tornado went through it!
Great job!
Your humor got my sub 😂 you made me laugh a good amount throughout this build. And your content got my sub as well, keep at it man!
Thanks! Glad to hear I'm not the only one laughing ;)
Very good build video, Bennett! I subscribed.
Just found your channel, and I'm loving your videos
Glad you’re enjoying my work! :)
Thanks for sharing!!
thank you for demo
New to your channel. You kill me. “So much easier then you expected? Looks kinda hard to me. Lol Keep up the great work my man!
Back in college they’d say “if bennett says something is easy, he’s lying”. But when I say easier, I was expecting some hidden problem with converting the splitter to just appear and make the whole process way harder. Instead everything went exactly according to plan!
Love the ingenuity! Keep producing content, your videos are awesome
Always double check the circuit breaker!!!
J Saxion Always! That was triple checking. I got to the top of the ladder and despite knowing for certain I had just checked twice...
Awesome video man! Great job
Thats called a Lovejoy coupling.
This is awesome.
:D thanks!
That's a "Love Joy" couple used to mate the 2 shafts
Ah, cool. Hadn’t heard that terminology before. Super simple connection though. That was the part of the process I was mentally hand waving. “I’ll figure it out when I get there”. But it so easy!
Job well done. Great info.
You can adjust the valves and make it go up n down a little faster, well at least on mine you can adjust the speed.
Mine doesn't have valves that allow that. The speed is good actually, it's the slop in the head assembly that gives me trouble at this point. I've built a really nice stop system to keep the head within the range I want it, so it doesn't fully retract. More on that in a future video, I think.
Great video man..
time 10:20 LOL I know that feeling all too well.
Great build. I have a 5t wood clewer that i was woundring to make a smal press from. But i dont know if it will be strong enough. Im only making knifes. Thanks for sharing
Thanks! I'm not sure if 5T would be strong enough to be worth it, but you can always try it without permanently modifying the splitter. Try making a set of dies that bolt onto the existing head. Also, the smaller the working surface of the dies, the more concentrated the force will be.
Have you considered a foot pedal for it? We welded up one with just old angle iron and bolts and a spring and we use the splitter for wood
Check out the video I just put up on making a hammer, it shows the foot pedal arrangement I worked out :)
Good stuff. I keep getting the feeling your trying to fool us into believing you don't know what your doing.
That is the most delightful comment I think I’ve received.
Pretty cool! :D
Squish!!
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude!
Can you convert it into a mullet removal device also??
Don't have a mullet, it's long in the front too. I have heard speculation that the buzzed sides with long hair will be the mullet of the last decade. *shrug*
You should of left the wheels on it...... just for comic reasons 😂 Could you do all of us hobiest blacksmiths a favour and grind some of those welds back a bit. God created angle grinders so we could all do beutiful welds! Cool piece of kit 👍👍👍👍
Gotta save every bit of space in my shop I can, but I thought hard about doing that.
But grinding those welds? Hellllllll no XD that’s time and effort that I need to spend elsewhere. It’s not just a hobby for me and I can’t eat metal dust three meals a day ;)
"Look! thats an empty serface. beautuful" 0:52
At 48 seconds into the video i see your ANVIL!!!!!!
make a tire hammer with one of the tires
I had that same thought :D. Dunno if the tire is large enough, but it’s definitely something I want to do.
Отличная работа
hello Rodney how's the press holding up ? its been awhile? thank ya
Who is Rodney? The press is trucking along with only very minor maintenance. Total workhorse. But I’m about to upgrade it for better rigidity and precision - it has never been great at keeping things square and that gets annoying when you start messing with more complicated damascus patterns.
@@BennettTheSmith sorry brother I was reading a comment just below lol oops glad to hear the press is hanging in there maybe ya can put up a video on your upgrades.. thank ya
Its a cool project !! If it don't fit get a bigger hammer... LOL But dang BossMan U think U welded it enough???? 👍😃😄😁😅😂🙊 🙉 🙈
I sure hope so. 24 tons is a lot of force to potentially blow a piece out to the side. :P
درود دمت گرم من دارم یه پرس میسازم یه قیچی میلگرد بر هیدرولیک را دارم تبدیل به پرس میکنم جک من 4/5سانت پیستون داخلی و10سانت قطر و 65سانت طول داره یعنی پرس 12تنی میشه ازش ساخت با یه موتوره 2/5اسب ایا میتونم
Hi looks great I was wondering if you could give me some various specs on this like measurements of the different parts. Looking to gather research for my own I’m building thanks
I can grab some measurements off it, sure. Though they’re based on the specific splitter. So all the measurements I used were taken directly off the machine and may vary depending on what splitter you get.
What measurements are you after?
Bennett Marschner thanks. I’m looking for things like the hight of it, the base hight and the splitter part hight, the size of the cylinder please
Sure, I’m away from my workshop this weekend, but I’ll reply with the measurements next time I get in.
Bennett Marschner no worries. Thanks
You didn't need a 5 HP motor. A 3 hp motor would be big enough. And if you buy a pump, you can move the noise far away. Or just cut the ram away and move the pump assembly
It’s probably overkill yeah, I read a lot of conflicting information about how to figure out the equivalent electric motor to replace a gas motor. Decided I would rather have too much than too little. *shrug*
That’s a good idea, moving the pump elsewhere, hadn’t thought of that. Might look at doing that when I get around to the first major overhaul. I need to go through and reinforce the whole frame and reduce the slop in the ram+top die assembly.
Please don't kill yourself with that thing. Nicely done too.
It's ok, if I lose a limb, I can just forge another one, right?
@@BennettTheSmith As an amputee I can guarantee that there is nothing like the original. Stay safe.
Ah well, I hope I didn't offend. Don't worry, I have an immense amount of respect for the machine. Anything that makes a 3 ton chainfall hesitate has got way too good of a grip on gravity.
That came out great!
@@BennettTheSmith Not offended just worried about the younger generation. Glad to hear you respect the beast. I just watched the Klingon weapon videos and I am concerned that you won't kill yourself building things but might get hurt by the things you build.
ENDCAPS ???
Ferrules ... ??
Marrettes ... ??
Found the electrician
Cool channel. It feels a little like the cadence, language, video transitions, etc, even the accent once in a while, is modeled heavily on Alex Steel. That's ok though. There are way worse guys to imitate. That's for sure.
I'm glad you like my work. I'm sure there are similarities, but I can definitively say there's no attempt to imitate Alec Steele. Convergent evolution I suppose. My accent does go all over the place, can't really explain it, but its not on purpose XD
Doesn’t want to die of CO poison. Doesn’t want to snip the possibly live wire. Not very cash money of you.
first xD
In all seriousness though, this is so cool! What an awesome tool.