A machine well known to manufacturers and mechanics, the hydraulic press is a workshop tool that has many uses. Its primary purpose is to multiply the force exerted in order to facilitate the assembly/disassembly of elements or even to carry out forming operations on a metal part.
Let’s see in the rest of this article everything there is to know about the hydraulic press.
What is a press used for?
Presses are therefore found in precision mechanics or auto mechanics workshops. It is used when the force required to carry out certain operations is greater than what a single human being is capable of doing.
It is used for example for:
- Fit or extract a bearing from its housing.
- Straighten machined parts that are deformed.
- Bend mechanical parts.
- Punch sheets.
- Make a force fit.
- Crimp parts.
- Putting and maintaining elements under pressure during assembly phases.
- Stamping steel sheets.
- Inject under pressure (plastic/aluminum).
- Cut sheets.
- Etc.
A mechanical or hydraulic press: what’s the difference?
There are two types of press with different operation and press tools : mechanical presses and hydraulic presses .
Both can be manually operated or automated.
The presses are said to be mechanical when the force exerted by the nose of the press is transmitted to it by a set of mechanical parts.
This set may be:
- An endless screw system.
- A rack
- Onesies.
- An eccentric arm.
For the hydraulic press, the nose is set in motion by a piston system actuated by pressurizing a fluid (usually oil) which is based on Pascal’s principle.
The advantage of a hydraulic press lies in the fact that it allows precise control of the force exerted . It also loses its adjustment much less over time since it has no wear parts, which is the case with the endless screws and the connecting rods which make up the eccentric arm. Mechanical presses will be preferred for one-off operations.
How to choose the right hydraulic workshop press?
The tonnage of hydraulic workshop presses varies from 5 to 100 tons (or sometimes even more) so it is important to clearly define your needs before making your investment.
It is therefore necessary to know in advance the dimensions of the parts that will be handled on the press. This will help to define the dimensioning of the work table as well as the opening height. The tonnage of the machine will be defined according to the nature of the material worked, its thickness and the nature of the desired operations.
Last point to know: will your need be punctual or will your press work continuously?
Note that the greater the need for compression force, the larger the size of the press . This point should therefore be taken into consideration for installation in the workshop. It will ideally be placed near a wall and under suitable lighting. Be sure to size the press correctly to avoid any accident due to the breakage of an under or over sized element. The hydraulic press being a workshop machine , it is essential for the safety of users not to make any modifications to it. In addition, be sure to follow the preventive maintenance instructions as well as to ensure regular maintenance in order to keep your equipment always in perfect working order.
