The Fly Press

Often also called a screw press.

Although quite common in England and Europe this versatile tool is rapidly gaining popularity in the United States.

Compared to the treadle hammer the fly press provides greater control, is less noisy and allows you to work the steel cold.

The flywheel on the fly press shown below weighs 135 pounds. Some references seen elsewhere on the INTERNET suggest that the number 6 means that this tool provides 6 tons of pressure.

It is important if you are thinking of getting a fly press to know that the bench/stand that the fly press goes on, must be firmly anchored. When you are using the press, it generates a lot of torque and if the bench is not heavy enough or well anchored down, the bench will "start walking".

Also, if you buy a fly press new, it does not come with any tooling. However, we are starting to see some fly press tooling showing up for sale by some blacksmith vendors. Since a lot of the work done on the fly press is done cold, the tooling needs to be made from hardened steel: spring steel, S7, H13, etc. This is in comparison to the treadle hammer where you can get away with tooling made from mild steel, or mild steel that has been Super Quenched, since the treadle hammer is primarily used on hot steel.

Metal Artist Forum has a sub-forum devoted to tooling and projects for the fly press: http://www.innovationaliron.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=30

• #6 Fly Press:
  

• Closeup of the business end of a fly press. Sample shown was done cold.:
  

• Tooling for the fly press:
  

-- AlbinDrzewianowski - 01 Jan 2008