Fly press weights.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Good morning all,

Having now got my flypress set up on its new bench, I am looking for ideas about how to make weights for it. Suitable lumps of cast iron are somewhat thin on the ground around here. Even the local scrapyard has nothing much to offer [scrapyards are not what they used to be ]

Any ideas ? I,m sure some of you have been there, done that.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

[RichardNParticipant @richardn]

Large bean can full of lead on each arm… I've seen that in many workshops.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Dumbbell exercise weights are a source of cast iron discs.

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 21/01/2020 09:56:48

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Have some cast. Make a wooden or plastic model, two halves of a sphere. And a core mould for the hole to match the top of the handle. You could sell spares.

David

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

It would not be rocket science to cast them on the stubs in lead. They would then fit well. Use a ball as a pattern to make a split mold in plaster of paris. set up on stub, seal bottom with clay or plaster, hole in top. Pour in lead. leave for 30mins open, repeat on other stub if needed. Simples ! Noel.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

If You need more details PM me.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Cement works local? They will use large cast balls. Generally, up to about 100mm.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Surely some sawcut and drilled steel cylindrical shapes would function just the same as spheres on a flypress? Much cheaper and easier to obtain than custom spherical castings I expect. All edges chamfered for safety of course.

If they need to be hollow / lead filled, they could be fabbed from steel tube and a steel disk welded together then lead cast in.

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Couple of old cannonballs, drilled and filed to fit?

[BOB BLACKSHAW 1Participant @bobblackshaw1]

If you need any advice on tooling and how the press can be used for fine limit work. PM me.

Bob

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

As already mentioned, exercise weights would be useful, and there are a lot of unwanted ones about. Whatever weight you use, make sure it is secure on the press, as they can fly off, I have witnessed it happen.

[BufferParticipant @buffer]

Float from a toilet valve in sand then pour in molten lead.

[Enough!Participant @enough]

Posted by Paul Lousick on 21/01/2020 09:55:19:

Dumbbell exercise weights are a source of cast iron discs.

… as long as you don't need to machine them too much. I tried these for a model-engine flywheel once – the skin went all the way through. Quality they are not (nor need to be in their intended use).

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Exercise weights are made from similar cheap cast iron as used in sash window weights. Sometimes it is OK to machine but Murphys Law says that most of the time it is crap. But they are cheap and good if used in the right application. Car brake discs are better souce of machinable cast iron if it is a suitable size to suit the application.

Paul.

[brickyParticipant @bricky]

Lead as suggested in a mould ,if plaster of paris is not availiable use scimming plaster from a building merchants.

Frank

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Modern exercise weights are concrete with a plastic sheath. If the mounting is a spike like mine or just a rod you can make a mould of that out of plasticine, cast a soft plaster 'spike', cast a concrete block around that and dig out the plaster. No point in using anything more expensive than concrete as size is not an issue.

[AJWParticipant @ajw]

On my flypress I used an old 3 jaw chuck nipped up on the stub, worked well enough!

Alan

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

One of the options given was to to use concrete but if you would like the weight to be heavier for its size, add lead or steel to the mix.

One of the companies which I worked for manufactured industrial cranes like the ones on building sites but much bigger and the cost of cast iron or steel for the counter weights was expensive. The weights were more than 20 tonnes each. They were made by casting concrete using steel as the aggregate. Mainly from the discarded pieces remaining after punching parts from steel plate. The smaller the parts, the better because you can pack in a higer proportion of steel. For the flypress weight you could use any small metal objects, nuts, bolts, lead fishing weights, etc. Use concrete, polyester resin, builders joint filler or other bonding agent to hold the casting together.. The mould coukd be simply a childs plastic ball.

Paul

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

"Where have all the foundrys gone, Long time passing ………."

Pity you're not in China or India.

Regards Ian.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by old mart on 21/01/2020 15:20:52:

As already mentioned, exercise weights would be useful, and there are a lot of unwanted ones about. Whatever weight you use, make sure it is secure on the press, as they can fly off, I have witnessed it happen.

I accepted a set from a friend with this in mind only to find that the outer plastic casing contained some brownish-coloured material that definitely wasn't CI.

Does anyone know what alternatives to CI are used fro this purpose?

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Posted by Paul Lousick on 22/01/2020 11:58:02:

. The smaller the parts, the better because you can pack in a higer proportion of steel.

Not quite the full picture. As long as the parts are 'small' relative to the mould, filler part size doesn't make any difference. It is actually the distribution of sizes that affects the packing density (smaller parts can fit in gaps between larger).

If you don't believe this, consider using 1/4" ball bearings or cannon balls. The packing density will be the same if just one size is used (the scale changes but the proportion of empty space remains the same). If you use BOTH, then the ball bearings can fill much of the space between cannon balls. The packing density would go up again if you also used steel powder with spherical particles (would fill gaps between ball bearings).

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Suppose it might be helpful if we knew the size of balls required? More than 100mm?

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Charity shops can be a good source for weight lifting weights and dont cost arm & leg

H

[Rob McSweeneyParticipant @robmcsweeney81205]

Have you seen this? :- usedflypress.com/balls-new.html

Shot Putt balls seem to sell for a bit less than cannon balls, and appear to have been machined to final weight , which is encouraging.

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