I've decided its time to build a louver press. I'm the type of guy that likes to take my builds from start to finish without relying on any other people...I'm also very stubborn and a little cheap! The last thing I need right now is another project as I'm currently finishing my '36, building my old mans '39 pickup and building a TROG '34 with my buddy. But the pickup and the TROG car will need louvers and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay someone to punch louvers! So I researched...a lot! I was really inspired by Kiwi Kevs louver press that he built from scratch using an old machine frame. You can see his thread here. I know this isn't a hot rod or custom so I understand if it gets deleted but I think it may help someone in the future. So I started out by finding an old cast iron bandsaw from 1890 locally on craigslist. It has a 36" throat and is very heavy. I think it will work great. It weighs close to 1000lbs. Luckily we have the tractor to remove it from the truck.
First thing was to strip out the frame. Lost a couple hundred pounds with all the brackets and levers. I picked up a motor and piston from the local electric surplus store for the fraction of the cost of new. The motor is a 1.5hp 3450rpm model that can run on either 115v or 230v. I will try to run it on 115v but may nee to power it with 230v. It was important to find a 3450rpm motor as the hydraulic pump I have is designed to turn at 3450. The pump is an old log splitter pump I had kicking around the garage. The piston is a brand new Parker that is 2.5" bore with a 4" stroke. It should work perfect for the louver press.
EDIT: A few very smart guys on the forum have helped me out with the plumbing and pointed out a few flaws in my system. Post #40 has the correct parts for the system to work correctly. Figuring out how to plumb the hydraulics was the hardest part for me to figure out. I have never done anything with hydraulics so I had many hours of researching. I came up with the electric solenoid valve I needed for my press. The valve is a 4 way, 3 position double solenoid with open spool set up for 120v. Basically what that means is the valve has 4 ports (pump, tank, and 2 for the piston) 3 positions (piston up, piston down, and neutral), open spool (when in neutral the valve bypasses the pump to the tank so pressure does not build), and 120v obviously for line power to run it. It will be controlled by a 2 pedal foot pedal. One pedal controls down motion, other pedal controls up. EDIT: Turns out I needed a tandom spool solenoid. See Post #40 for the correct solenoid I bought everything else I needed (hydraulic lines, fittings, ect) from northern tool.
So now that all my parts are ordered, it was time to mount the motor and pump. When I bought the motor, I made sure the shaft rotation would work with the pump with them shaft to shaft. I used a lovejoy coupler to mate the pump and motor. For those of you that don't know what a lovejoy coupler is, it looks like this. The lovejoy coupler is nice because you can adapt 2 different size shafts face to face. My motor has a 5/8" shaft and my pump has a 1/2" shaft. I made a couple mounts and made a carrier for the pump and motor on my CNC plasma. Welded them to a carrier that will sit on a bracket on the C frame Looks right at home on the C frame
Sign me up for a roof insert when you get rolling! And some belly pans, and a rear roll pan, and, and---You're gonna need a bigger barn soon!--- Keep it coming- I'm getting energized off you "youngsters" with all your piss and vinegar.-- Watch out, N.J. - "Torrnados" are headed your way!! Yee-Haw!! headed your way!
Bravo, will make an excellent press. I do know a little about those Lovejoy couplers, modified hundreds of them for nearly 30 years as a machinist.
That's all I have right now! Will be working on it again tonight and will keep you all posted with updates. My buddy Steve hooked me up with this nice heavy dovetail slide. This will keep the upper die moving nice and straight.
I'm doing the same thing, just haven't progressed very far yet. The top front half of mine was a separate casting, so I separated it there and then plated both side with 1/4" steel bolted through. Can't decide if I want to finish boxing the top and bottom of the plated part. I'm using a mittler brothers cylinder and a snowplow pump. Hope it works out.
Great looking frame @mikew I plan on plating mine with 3/8" steel and may even use a 1/2" plate where the piston and slide mount. I have also been contemplating whether to box it fully or just the sides. Im leaning towards boxing it. Good luck with the build. Feel free to comment with any suggestions or ideas. This is all new to me! haha
I love how you just wake up one day with this bright idea and then the big bandsaw falls in your lap. I've never seen one of those for sale around here. Anyway, it looks good so far. Enjoyed the write-up. When you get down to needing the punch and die set, contact needslouvers here, he has a source for those. Good Luck!
Haha it didn't exactly "fall in my lap" I've been looking into building one for over a year now and have constantly been searching craigslist and ebay to find an old frame that's suitable. Thanks for the tip on the die set, I was planning on carving my own out of tool steel then sending them out to be hardened but I will talk to needlouvers first
I've been looking for old cast machines for more like 50 years. There were a lot of old machine shops/factories in the San Jose/Santa Clara area that shut down in the mid '60s, when IBM came to town. Seems like everything just disappeared... But I DO have the original anvil from San Jose Forge/casting. (where the repro Sharp heads & manifolds were cast)
This is a very cool build, and keep up the good work. But, From a hydraulics perspective, what are you going to use to control the speed of the ram? You have what is commonly known as a "bang-bang" valve there. The name comes from the fact that the solenoid slams the valve spool wide open and then slams closed. This can and does create huge pressure spikes and "banging" in the system. There is no flow metering what so ever built into those valves. You will have to add some sort of flow control valve along with a system pressure relief valve to get everything to work properly. The valve on log splitters has the flow control (ram speed) and pressure relief (over pressure) built in. Electric "Bang-Bang" valves don't. Please note that since you are using a gear pump (log splitter) you will need a main system pressure relief valve. A gear pump with blocked flow will continue to build pressure until the motor stalls or something bursts. Trust me, you don't want to get hit by a 3000 psi stream of hot hydraulic oil. Also, Figure out what type of center spool that valve has. The spool type will affect plumbing and operation. Most likely it is a closed center, but it could also be an open, floating, tandom or regeneration, center type. Here is some good reading to help you along. http://hydraulicspneumatics.com/ebooks/fluid-power-ebook-fluid-power-basics
@FrozenMerc I was figuring on some type of metering valve to adjust the speed. Do you have any suggestions? The valve is an open center. I was under the impression I did not need a relief valve due to the valve being open center. It was explained to me that the valve bypasses from the pump back to the tank until the solenoid is engaged. Any help is appreciated, like I said this is my first time playing with hydraulics and I definately don't anything to be dangerous
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