For decades, two 50k ton presses for the aerospace industry were the largest in North America. As of 2018, Weber Metals installed a 60k ton press.
The Alco 50,000 ton press in Cleveland, OH, has its own notes.
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| John Abbott posted Mark Beam Alcoa's Big 50, the largest of a series of three . The program is a great read Morgan Godbold That's not Alcoa's, I have worked on that press it's Wyman Gordon's Morgan Godbold I think they are the only 2 50ks in the united states. Morgan Godbold I have actually repaired that big beast twice. It use to be a government owned plant. That bad boy has pressed everything from Blackbird parts to parts for the space shuttle. |
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| Morgan Godbold commented on the above posting |
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| Morgan Godbold commented on the above posting |
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| 14:56 video @ 18:20 Air Force Heavy Press Program (USAF film) by D.O.D. |
I don't care for the order that they edited stuff in this video so I'll use a couple of screenshots from near the end of the video to show what the machine is making because that was the question in my mind as I watched most of the video.
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| Screenshot from video |
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| Screenshot from video |
It would be interesting how many of these companies still exist in America. These are the ones I noticed in Chicago:
- Anderson-Shumaker
- A. Finkl & Sons
I copied Steve's work because I could not get a permanent link out of Facebook:
I think the style of cars that used those fenders were back in the 1930s. I was wondering how I would find a picture of one of those cars when about an hour later I came across this photo.
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| Steve OConner posted to World War II History
An early indication that advances were needed in forging technology came during World War II, when examination of captured German planes revealed large forgings of magnesium—forgings much larger than those possible under Allied manufacturing methods. These forgings from the German aircraft were made of magnesium, a material one-third lighter than aluminum, but a difficult substance to work with. Under the impact of heavy hammers, magnesium tended to rupture; it became apparent that the Germans (who suffered from a shortage of aluminum) made their magnesium forgings with presses larger than any previously thought practical.
The War Production Board took a strong interest in development of similar facilities in the United States. In 1944, it was determined that an 18,000-ton closed-die hydraulic press would be built in North Grafton, Massachusetts. The Mesta Machine Co. of Pittsburgh was contracted to build the press. Wyman-Gordon Company, which had specialized in forgings since its beginning in 1883, was selected to operate the plant.
Wyman-Gordon’s new plant, located about five miles away from the main offices in Worcester, was built on a tract of land known as the Bonny Brook Farm. The project was not completed when World War II ended, but work went on; the aircraft industry, it was decided, needed at least one heavy press to continue to carry out research into large forgings.
The Grafton plant was finished in 1946, built completely around the 18,000-ton press, at that time the largest press ever built in this country.
But in Germany, much larger presses had been in operation. This was discovered by a team of experts who went into Germany in the summer of 1945, virtually on the heels of the Allied advance. As had been suspected because of the forgings found in captured aircraft, the Germans had been operating enormous presses: one was a 33,000-ton press, then the largest in the world. This press was claimed by the Soviet Union. The United States was able to dismantle two other 16,500-ton presses and ship them to this country.
The Germans, incidentally, had not been able to complete the crowning achievement of their forging program—a 55,000-ton press. It was reported that the plans for that press fell into the hands of the Soviets.
In the U.S., two factors soon pushed heavy press production into new realms. First was the growing interest in supersonic aviation: The jet engine and airplane required large components of tremendous strength, but at a minimum of weight. And the rumblings of the Korean War increased interest in development and production of aircraft.The outgrowth of the need for larger, stronger aircraft parts was the Air Force Heavy Press Program. Air Force Lt. Gen. K. B. Wolfe, one of the team who had visited post-war Germany to inspect the presses, was the originator and prime motivator of the program. In 1951, Lt. Gen. K. B. Wolfe foresaw the possibilities. “The Heavy Press Program,” he said, “will revolutionize plane making.”
It has. https://web.archive.org/…/Commun…/History/Landmarks/5662.pdf This photo is from an article on the Heavy Press Program and "The 50."
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| Lightened Nations post The 30,000-ton Schloemann closed die press from WWII. This monster, along with two 15,000 ton presses, helped create components for German aircraft production. After the war this press was taken back to the USSR and rebuilt. It is still in use today at the Kamensk-Uralsky Metallurgical Works in Russia. Note the people at the bottom for scale. Macy posted a watermarked version of this photo. The 30,000-ton Schloemann closed die press from WWII. This monster, along with two 15,000 ton presses, helped create components for German aircraft production. After the war this press was taken back to the USSR and rebuilt. It is still in use today at the Kamensk-Uralsky Metallurgical Works in Russia. Note the people at the bottom for scale. Olav ten Broek: In the Potsdam conference it was agreed between allies that the USSR, which was completely destroyed from Poland to Moscow and back, had the right to obtain half of all industrial equipment in their occupation zone and some other reparations, like the plans for the Opel Kadett and the Bremerhaven harbour installations. The USA did not need such things as it was undamaged by war, but obtained worth ten billion of USD in patents, drawings, plans, scientific studies and 1.000 German scientists, who were never prosecuted for any war crimes they commited. |
This doesn't look like the same unit, so who is wrong? I think this one is wrong because it looks like an open forge to me.
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| Ancient Threads posted The 30,000-ton Schloemann closed-die press, built during World War II for German aircraft production (alongside two 15,000-ton presses), was dismantled after the war and shipped to the Soviet Union. There, it was reassembled and put back into service, where it remains operational today at the Kamensk-Uralsky Metallurgical Works in Russia. For scale, note the people standing at its base. Chris Van den Bossche: This is NOT a 30000 ton press, with only 1 cylinder and a long shaft that would surely buckle under 30k tons. Google "schloemann press" and you'll see how it really looks like. 4 cylinders, and with shafts twice as thick and much shorter as this one. Then what is this? My guess is it's a really big pneumatic hammer. |
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| Chris Van den Bossche commented on his comment |
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| Scott Hunt commented on Chris' comment We have a legit 30k ton press here in Lima,Oh. Its at superior forge and steel, used to be Ohio Steel. 3 rams and a pump room thats massive. |
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| Sean Brady posted 12/3/38-Santa Monica, California- If the United States has to build up its aerial fighting forces in a hurry, as the government is thinking of doing, this giant hydraulic press at the Douglas Aircraft Company's plant will have a busy session, and when it gets really busy planes just spring up like mushrooms. This huge press cuts and forms duralumin parts from airplanes at high speed. It can turn out 37,500 parts a day. A smaller press turns out 15,000 parts. Between 100 and 150 military planes a month can be built at the Douglas Plants which cover 23 acres of ground. [According to some comments, the press produced that many parts a day by stamping multiple parts with a single stroke. And according to the ebay photo below, multiple presses were used to achieve that production rate.] Charlie Seto: Current world leader: https://www.gasparini.com/.../the-worlds-largest.../ |
If I understand the webpage correctly, this is one of the two largest presses at 75,000 tons.
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| ebay, back, Mar 1, 1941 |
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| You&Me posted 19 yr old 'Lydia Martinez' operates a hydro press capable of generating up to 4,500 tons of pressure, accelerating the production of parts for Consolidated Aircraft's B-24 Liberators, PBY Catalinas, and PB2Y Coronados in 1942.… |
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| John Abbott posted Paul Fisher That's how it was where I worked. It shook dishes of the shelves 3 streets over. It had a 21 foot long opening. I think the stroke was only about 12 inches or so though. Jim Reynolds I work for Williams White and Company.... They've been making presses since 1856 [Additional comments by Paul indicated the press did a part almost every second and the bearings would get hot if they did not have constant flow og grease.] |
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| Union workers posted UNION MILLWRIGHT Jack Davis shared Mike Boxell: I worked at a stamping plant in 1973 that had similar presses from 1924. Bruce Wentworth: Mike Boxell they go into the floor as high as above. I worked in a car bumper plant in '60s & into mid 70s |
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| John Abbott posted Tom Berry Making car fenders. Nice. |
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| The Hot Rod Barn posted Does your muscle car or classic need some modernized upgrades or a Pro-Touring conversion? Give us a call for LS Swaps, Fuel Injection, A/C. Located in Joliet, IL. |
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| John Abbott posted Chris Moore It must have been on an overhead line shaft at one point. Looks like it had been converted to a electric motor for power at some point. Small motor, must have had a decent speed reduction to keep that beast fed. |
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| John Abbott posted Clearing Press [I'm assuming this is closed die because, judging from the size of that gear, it is designed to create a lot of tons of pressure on the steel.] |
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| John Abbott posted [Note this press is belt driven. It looks like his is taking shapes that are a couple of inches deep and stretching them out to be about six inches deep. This also illustrates why "pick and place" was the first task that robots were developed for.] |
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| John Abbott posted [At first I thought this was converted from a line-shaft drive but putting a big motor up on a beam. But then I saw the electric motor on top of the press that drives a vertical shaft down the front of the press. Was that an improvement that was added later? I wonder what it controls.] |
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| Bob Gaston commented on the above posting There are splices on endless belts, just no lacing. [Endless belts are stronger.] |
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| Randall James Marquis posted Ernie Higgins Now this is a real press. Just imagine how many tons of pressure it is capable of.Les Collum Love the mind of people who can dream of machines like this and make it work.[Just two guys can lift that much steel all day long?] |
A significant aspect of closed-die forging is making the dies.
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| Andrew Henderson posted "Production. B-17 heavy bomber. A Kellar machine duplicating a die for the making of B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber parts at the Boeing plant in Seattle. This machine makes production dies, using plaster patterns as models. The Flying Fortress has performed with great credit in the South Pacific, over Germany and elsewhere. It is a four-engine, heavy bomber capable of flying high altitudes." December 1942. |
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You Tube comment: Chinese workers in life threatening danger while working INSIDE a hydraulic stamping press. With no EPA, OSHA or lawyers in China, the U.S. is at an unfair disadvantage.
[Note that they are not even wearing safety hats! In America, one is not only outside of the press, I believe they have to put their hands on bars before the machine will cycle to ensure their hands are away from the press.]
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You Tube comment: Chinese workers in life threatening danger while working INSIDE a hydraulic stamping press. With no EPA, OSHA or lawyers in China, the U.S. is at an unfair disadvantage.
[Note that they are not even wearing safety hats! In America, one is not only outside of the press, I believe they have to put their hands on bars before the machine will cycle to ensure their hands are away from the press.]
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