Welded cylinder mounting

I like the split clamp idea. Buy a split shaft collar from McMaster ($12 for a 2-1/4", for example) and drill a few holes in it to fasten it to the top plate of the press. Ruland says it'll slip at an axial load of 8000# on a soft shaft if you torque the clamp screw to 325 in-lbs.

Avoid clamping on the tube anyplace the piston passes.

Welding near the nose would probably be OK if you disassemble the cylinder first.

Ned Simmons

That's just it, the cylinder is welded shut so it can't come apart, but you point out that a collar will take 8,000 lbs. That's GREAT, no weld needed!

I've never seen a cylinder welded shut. They all come apart on the rod end in one fashion or another. Based on the rather lousy pic I'd say this one has a screw end gland on the rod end.

Personally in your situation I'd make a split clamp for the bottom but not expect it to hold all the push. Then just run two pieces of strap up each side of the cylinder. Weld the straps to the top plate of the press and pin them in the end of the cylinder. That way the spit clamp just has to hold the cylinder steady. The problem I see with clamping is that it could crush the tube enough to cause problems depending on how the end gland is constructed.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Hmm. I'll have to look at the ones I've got. Ok I went and looked. They are welded on both ends. But those are definitely a rarity in hydraulic cylinders.

However I've seen a lot of cylinders that looked like they couldn't come apart but actually did if you know the trick. I rebuild cylinders fairly regularly and I've seen a number of unusual schemes used to hold the rod end gland in place. Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

John Deere uses unservicable welded hydraulic cylinders on its' compact tractor line of attachments. Our front mount broom and the belly mount mower both use them.

Shawn

I've cut them open on a lathe, installed new guts and welded them up again. They're not as uncommon as you think, they're usually cheap...my realm!

Ok. I've just not run across them much.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Thanks for your thoughts! Amazing amount of think power in RCM, all you guys and girls have pulled my bacon from the flames more than a few times. I have a tendency to need some anchor in reality with some of my ideas. Sometimes my mojo actually works! This is a very interesting project, it will duplicate the processes of a $250,000 German machine for making wire wheel brushes. It will only do 1/4 of the production but will only cost $2,500 cash and about 100 man-hours. And that's using all new store-bought stuff! I'm just starting to build the first finished machine but have already built the test-bed machine to test the theories and physics...everything works!