formers and press tool to make steam lubricator body and lid

[thehomeengineer]

Hi All
This is a lubricator for a 3” scale Foden Steam Wagon. It is not so much about what the item is but I thought I would share the tooling made to form the material.
The main box is 16 gauge steel. Simply cut to length, and rapped around the former tapped in to place for a tight fit. The lid I as a pressing. The press tool for the lid also doubles up as a milling and drilling fixture as can be seen from the photos. The box and lid have then been individually silver soldered with their relevant bits made on the mill and lathe. The original full size lubricator, constructed from two castings, so I am hoping this will look like a scaled down version, once painted. There is more info on the Foden build on my web site Practical Engineering



Thank you for viewing
The Home Engineer

[benkeller3]

I am impressed!

[DIYer]

Thanks thehomeengineer! We've added your Sheetmetal Former to our Metalworking category,
as well as to your builder page: thehomeengineer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Sheetmetal Former by thehomeengineer

tags: sheetmetal

[old_toolmaker]

Very nice work on that forming die! Nice lubricator box also! What did you use for a press?

Dick

[thehomeengineer]

Hi Dick
The brass lid I first annealed and then press with my hydraulic press. The steel was cold formed around the mandrel with a vice and hammer the steel was protected from hammer marks with a sacrificial lump of flat steel and knock in to shape. Hope this has answered your question?
Thank you for your interest
The Home Engineer

[big o]

Hi All
This is a lubricator for a 3” scale Foden Steam Wagon. It is not so much about what the item is but I thought I would share the tooling made to form the material.
The main box is 16 gauge steel. Simply cut to length, and rapped around the former tapped in to place for a tight fit. The lid I as a pressing. The press tool for the lid also doubles up as a milling and drilling fixture as can be seen from the photos. The box and lid have then been individually silver soldered with their relevant bits made on the mill and lathe. The original full size lubricator, constructed from two castings, so I am hoping this will look like a scaled down version, once painted. There is more info on the Foden build on my web site Practical Engineering



Thank you for viewing
The Home Engineer

nice piece of work -big O

[Jon]

Congratulations thehomeengineer - your Press Forming Tool is the Homemade Tool of the Week!

You actually had a few tools that were considered for this award this week, but I think this one was the fan favorite.

Some more good picks from this week:

Upside-Down Shelf by jjr2001
Eccentric Shaft Cutting Method by thehomeengineer
Internal/External Retractable Screw Cutting Tool Holder by thehomeengineer
Drill Press Vise by Mikhandmaker
Grinder Rest by martink
Press Mold by thehomeengineer
Arduino ATTiny85 Debugging by rgsparber
Wire Clamp Tool by Cascao
Disc/Belt Sander by Willworkfortools
Chuck to Rotary Table Mounting Method by editor@glue-it.com
DRO Stand by jjr2001
Pole Holder by Captainleeward
Demitasse Spoon Handle by Paul Jones
Extraction Wedge by Eloy Workshop
Brake Caliper Tool by Cascao

thehomeengineer - we've added your tool entry to our All Homemade Tool of the Week winners post.

You'll be receiving a $25 online gift card, in your choice of Amazon, PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and gift card choice and I'll get it sent over right away.

This is your 2nd Homemade Tool of the Week win! One more and you'll join these 3-time Homemade Tool of the Week winners: rossbotics, mr95gst, Paul Jones, Christophe Mineau, Captainleeward, immortalx, scorch, Brendon, Frank S, mklotz, Vyacheslav.Nevolya, brianhw, LMMasterMariner, jjr2001, Tuomas, olderdan, tonyfoale.

Here are both of your winning tools:

Claw Clamps by thehomeengineer

tags: clamp

Sheetmetal Former by thehomeengineer

tags: sheetmetal

[Paul Jones]

thehomeengineer,

Congratulations on your award

Paul Jones

[Ropetangler]

Very nice work on that forming die! Nice lubricator box also! What did you use for a press?

Dick

Like Dick, I'm curious about your press. What is the tonnage of your hydraulic press, the thickness of the brass sheet that you used and can you tell us whether or not you were able to do the pressing in one pass, or did you do it in stages with an annealing in between passes. As everyone has said, this is very nice work that you have shown, and thank you for making time to share your expertise.
Rob

[thehomeengineer]

Hi Rob
The press I have is a commercial made 25ton hydraulic press I found led down in a yard at a company I use to work at. I asked if it was going to be ever used again and I couldn’t believe they said take it to get it out of the way, So the following day I borrowed my brothers small van (before they changed their mind) and loaded it. I was surprised at the weight of the press (so was my brothers van lol the power steering was lighter than ever) didn’t look that heavy led on the floor. But I somehow got it in the back of the van and got it home. Cleaned it up, new oil and a great addition to the workshop.
The brass is 16 Gauge, I did anneal the brass and it was one pressing which if I remember took the press to about 8tons but I probably could have stopped at 5tons. The press tool also had a light smear of oil to help the material to flow in to the die. The most important thing when making dies like this is not to have sharp edges on the tooling. These radiuses help flow the material. The die in this case however did have a sharp edge around its top edge but the punch had a radius. This was because the lid pressing was not that deep and I wanted to use the die also as a holding fixture for removing the excess material on the mill. There is information on the minimum bend radius for certain gauge material the thicker the material the larger the minimum bend has to be to prevent the material from cracking etc.
Thank you for viewing and interest and I hope I have answered your questions
The Home Engineer