Fly Press Bending Jig

[Bill Kirkley]

For those of you who read my thread on machining pulley wheels I thought you might enjoy a follow up. The wheels were used to make a bending jig for my fly press. It worked great. Below are some photos of the setup used to bend a 1" solid round bar 90 degrees.

 

[markba633csi]

Better than Superman could do

 

[Chewy]

Nice job!!! Simple and it works.

 

[mmcmdl]

Nice job !

 

[DavidR8]

Wow, nice work!

 

[pontiac428]

I've never heard of a fly press. I gotta say, that thing looks awesome. Probably pushes 3/8" key broaches like toothpicks through Emmentaler on a cheese board, eh?

 

[Bill Kirkley]

Thanks guys. This particular press is a 6 ton Norton press. I got it used from a local blacksmith, Nicholas Moreau. He had some shipped from England and I believe still has a few left if anyone is interested and lives in or near Maine.

I don't think it would break a sweat punching a 3/8 broach. It's better than Superman, it's not affected by kryptonite.

 

[pontiac428]

Wow! The ball thread in the spindle caught my eye. Is that for rapid travel?

 

[Bill Kirkley]

Wow! The ball thread in the spindle caught my eye. Is that for rapid travel?

I don't know the physics. It does have rapid travel. A quarter turn produces a good bit of travel on the ram.

 

[pontiac428]

I've never seen the mechanism, but that was my guess. I bet three balls ride caged in a sleeve and are backed by a collar with detents in it. When the collar is rotated, the balls engage or disengage when disaligned/aligned with the detents. I got that part of the image, but the mystery to me is how the fine threads are disengaged. Some kind of sector nut, maybe? It would have to be strong. Looks like a cool mechanism, I'm going to have to dig around for some more info. Fun!