2000 ton and 1800-ton mechanical presses at T and D metal Watseka Illinois

-
jeff alder

jeff alder

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2019
Messages
2,754
Reaction score
3,580
Location
crescent city illinois




These are giant hammers... I was employed to rewire this eddy current clutch press (the 1800 ton...it's actually physically bigger than the 2000 ton) with a state-of-the-art OmniLink control with far seeing horizontal and vertical light curtains. It's a monster. The die cushion cylinders for deep drawing go 12 feet underground. During the project we wanted to put a vehicle in there and smash it...LOL
 
Last edited:
Lol,,,yep,,,I’ve been doing this work for over 33 years now .
I went from a young man to an old man,,,,Lol .
But I must enjoy it,,,,I’m still there .
There are many stamping houses in Middle Tennessee .

Tommy
 
Desoto291hemi said:
Lol,,,yep,,,I’ve been doing this work for over 33 years now .
I went from a young man to an old man,,,,Lol .
But I must enjoy it,,,,I’m still there .
There are many stamping houses in Middle Tennessee .

Tommy
Click to expand...
Thanks Tommy...we did some cool stainless gas tanks straps there. Gas tanks...several parts for Caterpillar, Komatsu and the big 3. Pretty much anything they could stamp and sell we would do it. We had an old 800-ton mechanical press that exclusively did the old round bases for Barber shop chairs. I did a stint with Bon L aluminum as well. I'm pretty sure they had a plant in Carthage. I was at the Kentland Indiana plant and in Newnan Georgia a couple times for training but never got to Carthage.
 
Last edited:
Yeah,,,,I’m an old stamper ,,our biggest press is a 1000 ton unit .
I usually run a 600 ton Verson,,,we make a lot of parts for the OEMs .
If any of the guys here drive a Chevy car or a Chevy pickup .
The odds are very good that a lot of those parts came from here .
We ship over 56,000 door hinges a day,,,we cover most models of GM .
And the hood hinges on the Silverado and the GMC come from us too .
We make other stuff,,,but that is one of our current contracts .
We have had the GM work for many years .
It’s really an interesting job,,,see stuff go from coils of bare metal to a finished product .

Tommy
 
I was a die maker in shop that contracted with the Big 3. (Budd Co.) They folded up in the late 90's. A lot of the Econoline stuff. Suburban quarter panels, 1st Gen Dakota inner beds parts, lots and lots of other stuff, all run in Budd Phila. We also built lines of dies that were run in other shops, mostly in the Detroit area.
It was an interesting job. When I walked in there, I didn't have a clue. Did my apprenticeship, and when I was laid off 10 years later (the city chased many businesses), they had taught me the whole business.
 
jeff alder said:




These are giant hammers... I was employed to rewire this eddy current clutch press (the 1800 ton...it's actually physically bigger than the 2000 ton) with a state-of-the-art OmniLink control with far seeing horizontal and vertical light curtains. It's a monster. The die cushion cylinders for deep drawing go 12 feet underground. During the project we wanted to put a vehicle in there and smash it...LOL
Click to expand...

Be sure to use imported junk for your smashing "guinea pig". Toyota's kia's Hyundai, Nissan, honduh etc
 

PROSTOCKTOM said:
Here's our 1500 ton rated Cincinnati in action, but it will press 2250 tons.



Another of it working.



Tom
Click to expand...

the bed length on that 1500 ton is massive! That's one of the widest ones I have ever seen. Cincinatti makes a little of everything for metal working. We are installing one of their lasers right now. We have one hydraulic break and one of their shears. That mechanical 1500 ton is no joke for sure.
 
Ours at Caterpillar was maybe half that big. Right after installation the guys decided to press coins with one of the dies. It left a faint impression of the coin in the die. Another one broke. Glad it wasn't my fault after hearing what the dies cost.
 
jeff alder said:
the bed length on that 1500 ton is massive! That's one of the widest ones I have ever seen. Cincinatti makes a little of everything for metal working. We are installing one of their lasers right now. We have one hydraulic break and one of their shears. That mechanical 1500 ton is no joke for sure.
Click to expand...

It will hold 26 ft. dies. The whole machine weighs 385 tons. There is more of it below the floor than what's sticking up above the floor.

1751987648285.png


1751987662542.png


1751987678718.png



Tom
 
PROSTOCKTOM said:
It will hold 26 ft. dies. The whole machine weighs 385 tons. There is more of it below the floor than what's sticking up above the floor.

View attachment 1716427795

View attachment 1716427796

View attachment 1716427797


Tom
Click to expand...
yes...I've seen those before. The press bed is more underground than above on those old mechanicals...and that little brake in the upper left-hand corner stops those massive rams. That's an upgraded brake isn't it Tom? Those old ones had the clam shell brakes or maybe the tonnage on that one allowed it to come with a friction plate brake from Cinci. If those big boys aren't automated to start the stop cycle on the way up there is no stopping that ram!
 
jeff alder said:
yes...I've seen those before. The press bed is more underground than above on those old mechanicals...and that little brake in the upper left-hand corner stops those massive rams. That's an upgraded brake isn't it Tom? Those old ones had the clam shell brakes or maybe the tonnage on that one allowed it to come with a friction plate brake from Cinci. If those big boys aren't automated to start the stop cycle on the way up there is no stopping that ram!
Click to expand...


The circular enclosures on each end contain two 7-ton flywheels. The two vertical cylinders on top contain air bladders that control the upward motion.

Twin multi disc brakes on the inside of each end.

You can hear the air bladders at work in the pipe bending video. However if you let off the pedal at any point in the rotation it will stop.

In the 2nd video bending the 1-1/4" plate you'll see it stopped once the upper die contacts the plate to check the alignment.

You can back the ram up, but it's not a simple process, so you have to make sure it's in the right spot. With the die sitting just on top of the plate we can still tap it around.

It's a big machine, but it's really pretty easy to run once you've been around it. We have trouble finding things to do it with a lot of time throughout the year.

The 12 ft. 400-ton Pacific hydraulic press can take care of most needs. You should have seen us use it to bend .035" 5052 sheet metal when we tubbed the Mustang.

The equipment is so large that it's hard to do the average car build needs on any of it.

Tom
 
jos51700 said:
And I have to get quarter panels made in China?
That's bullshit!
Click to expand...

That because the cost of making dies in America is so cost prohibitive. Not all, but most American company have dies made in China because they are a 1/3 of the cost.

It's really sad, but most people honestly couldn't afford a quarter panel made in America if anyone made them. I am really surprised the Chinese still make them.

Tom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-
Back
Top Bottom