"Orange Crush" now lives in Montana!

EdCaffreyMS

"The Montana Bladesmith"
Cindy and I finally made the trip up to Jim and Bev Clow's in Alberta, and I brought home "Orange Crush", a rolling mill, and the power unit. For those who don't know, Jim is a master fabricator and welder. We met several years ago when he came to my shop for a Bladesmithing Class, and have been great friends ever since. "Orang Crush" is the 80 ton forging press that Jim built, along with a rolling mill, and a power unit that consists of a 4 cyl Kabota diesel engine, a great enclosure, and a huge fluid tank.


Cindy took a day off work, and we headed north on Friday morning. We made a brief stop to visit with Jay Kemble in Milk River, AB, then scooted on up ot Jim & Bev's.


Friday Jim forged out a few "cans", and on Saturday we got serious about loading things.


Here's a pic of the power unit without the covers:



After scooting things around, to level out the load, everything got strapped down and ready to roll:



When we took off from Jim's about mid morning on Sunday, I wasn't sure my ford F150 was gona pull the load! :) I finally got it figured out that if I stayed at 55mph, things went smoothly.....so 55 it was. Generally its a 4 hour trip, but with the load we took our time, and ended up home just shy of 6 hours later.

Everything is safe an sound at my place....



Now the "work" starts....gotta get it all unloaded, in place, and make a few mods to both the press and rolling mill. I suspect the rest of this month will be getting everything in order. Since I'm moving stuff around the shop, I'm also gona take the time to replace the oak ties under the air hammer.....THEN.......PAR-TEY in the shop! :)
 
It looks like a beast!
OK Ed, excuse my ignorance what will you be making with this. I'm not familiar with a rolling mill I can only assume some flat bars of steel will be produced but don't know the process.
 
Once I get it all setup and running, I'll get pics of everything and explain it out. But for now, the rolling mill is essentially a mini version of what steel plants use when they roll out steel to specific sizes. I'm sure I've not even dreamed of all the things I can do with the rolling mill, but I do know that with it, a person can get layer counts on damascus billets built up much faster then with the press or hammer. I think it will also be super handy for sizing guard stock and such too.

That big orange thing in the pic is the power unit.....the things laying on the trailer behind that are the press and the rolling mill. My big dilema now is how I'm gona get the power unit where I want it....Jim moved/loaded it with a 763 bobcat...but it was about all the bobcat could do to handle it....and Jim's a much better bobcat operator then me! :) I'm heading to the rental palce shortly to see what they have available for tomorrow.....and a buddy coming to help out. Next picture I show might be one of the power unit splattered all over the ground! LOL! :) But I hope not!
 
It looks cool now we are going to see Ed Caffrey damascus produced on an industrial scale. Hopefully we get to see some video of the beast in action. Wish I could drop by and give you a hand getting her moved in.
 
Hi Ed, Thanks for the pictures and info. This will be a fun project to follow. I look forward to seeing how the install goes!
- Jason
 
Shop is all cleaned out! Having a big bobcat delivered in the morning....then the install begins!


While I'm at it, I'm going to replace the oak ties under the air hammer...which will raise the die height about 4"....I'm getting too old to "squat" while I'm forging! :)




The power unit will be nestled under the overhang on the back of the hot shop (in that open spot on the concrete)


And although it has served me well, and I love it dearly, this press will find a loving new home at Dana Hackney's shop in Idaho. "Orange Crush" will take over that spot in the shop..

I'll try to remember to take some pics tomorrow while we're working.
 
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A busy day today. Rented a big (tracked) bobcat to unload "Orange Crush", the rolling mill, and the power unit. Will get pics posted, along with some verbage in the morning..... my butt is draggin! I think its time to head off to bed. :)
 
This is getting a new toy on an industrial scale! ;). I will be watching as you progress in getting her settled in.


Also Ed, a friendly word of caution. We had a benefit to help a fellow maker through here two summers ago I think?
Somehow the unfortunate Gent got a few of his fingers caught in a rolling mill and lost them.:s12201:
 
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OK....after my 8 hour nap, heres some pics of what went on at the shop yesterday...


First up, the only reason I got so much done....rented a big tracked bobcat...



First job was to pull the air hammer out of the shop, and replace the oak ties underneath it.... the old ties gave me a height of 16"..... I replaced them with ones that added 4" to the height. Now I don't have to squat to use the hammer!:)
With the old ties...



Back in the shop with the new ties under it.....



"Orange Crush:, and the rolling mill in the shop....



And finally, the hydraulic power unit nestled under the overhang on the back of the hot shop...



Still lots to do.... Gotta get the hydraulics plumbed into the shop, get everything hooked up, and running....then...... We gona make some steel!! :)
 
I sure am! That was one of the coolest features of the setup...... being able to start it up, and shut it down from inside. I'm mulling over whether to "hard" plumb the hydrualics into the shop, or just go get a couple more hoses for the length I need. I've got a friend coming over tomorrow, who knows a BUNCH more about hydraulics then I do, so I'm gona wait and see what his advice will be before I do anything. About my only concern is the noise the power unit will make...I'd like to stay on speaking terms with the neighbors. :) I'm thinking that I might just replace the muffler with something a bit more quiet.
 
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Ed, See if you can find an old muffler for a European sedan. Those have a quiet & sophisticated sound. Not like us Merica's that want everyone to know what we have under the hood !
 
Thats a great idea Laurence! auto scrapyards around here are full of those things! One more thing to add to the list! :) "Stop at scrapyard!"

Got the air hammer bolted back down to the floor, and also bolted down the power unit.....why oh why is it that concrete anchors NEVER work as advertised? :)
 
A little bit of update: Yesterday I got the "pass through" ports (for the hydraulic hoses) installed in the shop wall. Used a couple of pieces of 4" pipe. and plated both the interior and exterior. I also finally found a local outfit who could supply the hoses I need for this setup (2x 20' of 1/2" 4500psi hose, and 1x 20' or 3/4" 1800psi hose)..... I placed the power unit on the "back porch" of the hot shop....and rather then run hydraulic lines under the forges, I chose to pass the hoses through the shop wall, and along the exterior to the power unit. I spent the day today, rigging up a foot control for the rolling mill, and modifying the foot control for the press. I'll get some pics posted tomorrow. Next up is a run to the auto junkyard and see if I can scrounge a muffler and some pipe from a european 4cyl car to see if I can keep the power unit quiet. If things keep going as well as they have so far, I should have the shop fully functional again within a week or two.....then get to making some steel! :)
 
Update on getting things installed and running

$300 worth of hydraulic hoses:


The "pass through" I built to run the hoses through the shop wall. 2x pcs of 4" pipe, welded to the cover plate on the outside, and then slipped over the interior.


I placed pipe insulation over the hoses to hopefully keep them of rubbing/wearing against the steel pipe.... I'll fill the rest of the airspace with expanding foam.


From the exterior:


Then ran the hoses behind my steel rack, and to the power unit:




The rolling mill with the foot control I built/installed, and the press with the pneumatic foot pedal (still waiting on a new air regulator to arrive, so I can hook up the air and see if I can get it adjusted to work properly), if the air foot pedal doesn't work out like I want, I suspect I'll relocate the hydraulic valve to the bottom of the press, and build/install a mechanical foot control.
 
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Ed, the renowned "Orange Crush" looks very happy in Montana. I've used it and love it! Well except for the first couple times which squeezed to death my billet with its brute 80 tons.
I've talked to Dana and he is excited to get the Express in his shop. We are spending the weekend with Him and Sandy to see his new shop set up.

Your shop is looking so good! What great equipment!
 
Almost there!

Yesterday Jay Kemble came down from Milk River, AB, and hooked up the remote wiring for the power unit.....now I can start it up, and shut it down from inside the shop! We also tested both the press and rolling mill, checked all the lines for leaks....and so far it seems everything is good. The foot control for the rollng mill works great, and now I'm just waiting for the new air regulator to arrive, so I can hook up the pneumatinc foot control for the press, and see if I can "tweak" it to work the way I'd like it to.


With all the "new" stuff in the shop, I decided it was time for a new anvil stand too. The old one was made of pine, which is about all thats available in this part of the world. But last fall when Cindy and I went back east, we brought back a trailer full of oak, walnut, and cherry. I made the anvil stand from 4, 19" sections of 6"x6" white oak, and true 2" x 8" oak boards. I'd forgotten how tough and hard oak really is! I burned up a brand new 10" blade on my mitre saw, and literally had to drill EVERY screw hole in the whole project. (yep, I twisted off a few screws before I started drilling :))










As soon as I get everything cleaned up, I'll try to get some video of everything running and post that.


Whew! What I thought was going to be a simply machine install, became a mid level renovation.....but thats OK.....it'll all be worth it! :)
 
Did Bruce mispeak when he said 80 tons?? That thing is a monster!!! I Know I am late to the party but have been silently watching this one Ed. Who originally built Orange Crush, Ed if you don't mind me asking? I know you said you went to Alberta, sooooo I am assuming you meant, Canada!

I remember watching a build of a press with interest while the build was in its infancy. I remember it was built similarly but, I am not sure it was this one!! You have got to do some video's when this bad boy is up and running.

I just watched a show last night where they were using a press that had a rolling top lobe on. As the lobe rolled backward, it rotated up, the guy would lay the hot iron on to the bottom die. The top lobe die rolls back around basically squishing and stretching the metal, (the reason for the lobe design). They were taking a piece about 3 " wide and two inches thick and in two swipes the thing is flat as a pancake about 1/8" thick, 12" long or so and about that wide, (they were forging shovels). After a cool down and a re-heat, and on too another press, theytook the hot pancake and formed into what ever shovel the were making and punch trimmed the excess in one pass. Hey what can I say. :what!: I love anything to do with forging metal!! :s12205:, it has always amazed me how heating the steel makes it fluid enough to be shaped into what ever you want!!

Can't wait too see some video of Orange Crush running!! You need to get someone to do a paininting on of the old Orange Crush bottle! Like this
images
or this
dscn8339.jpg
That last one takes me back!!!
 
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The builder/owner of the press was a gentlman by the name of Jim Clow. He lives in Tilly, AB, Canada. Jim and I met several years ago when he came to my shop for a Kifemaking class. Jim is a master welder and fabricator. You read it right.... it's 80 tons! :)

Jim decided to sell it because he is concentrating on folders now.

I'm at the point in my career where I've "out grown" my 30 ton press..... so after mulling it over, I couldn't pass this one up. My old press is going to Dana Hackney out in Idaho. I'm working on dies this week, and hope to be working with the new tools by the end of the week.

I thought I would come back and edit this post a bit....because I got to thinking that someone who has never owned/used a press might read it and think they need something with this much tonnage..... You don't! My opinion is that the beginner to average person should stick to something in the 20-30 ton range. I say that because with a press like this one its very easy to wreck a lot of steel. The common thinking from those who are not experienced with a press is "the more I can squash it, the better!" No so. Everyone I've spoken to who has used this press has said the same thing.... "We wrecked a lot of steel with that thing!" :) My reason for going with this press is because it basically doubles the capacity/size of billets and "cans" I can work.
 
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