12 Ton Bonny Doon Hydraulic Press

Jewelry Discussion
1

This is really great news about the new 12 ton “Lite” Bonny Doon
press, and amusingly timed considering I wished for it the day before
it was announced, and I had no idea it was even more than my fantasy.

There really did need to be something similar to fill the hole left
by the original 20 ton BD, and though 12 tons isn’t all that much in
the realm of hydraulic presses, it is enough to get your feet wet
with many of the processes done on bigger presses. It’s definitely
enough for blanking anything jewelry related, such as a bracelet 2"
by 6" in say, 12 ga. silver.

As someone else posted, the press design in S. Kingsley’s book is
also perfect for this work, and I’ve seen it scaled up for use with a
30 ton jack, using 1.5" threaded rod and 2" thick platens.

People considering building (or having built) presses similar to the
BD design do need to observe minimum structural requirements and
design attributes, such as welding the uprights inside the
crossbeams, and definitely not welding the crossbeams onto the ends
of
the uprights.

My own history with presses goes from funky homemade things with hand
jacks, before there was a Bonny Doon, to a 50 ton H-Frame shop press
that lived a long life blanking parts. It used Enerpac’s largest hand
pump for a long time, then an air/oil motorized pump, and finally a
1/2 hp Power Team pump. Now I use a small arbor press for breaking in
dies that I make for people, 2 custom 20 ton BD frames that use Power
Team 25 ton rams, and are powered by the old 1/2 hp pump, and a 1 hp
Power Team pump, respectively . My big beastie is a BD 50 tonner that
uses a 1.5hp Enerpac pump, $1000 courtesy of Ebay, that would go for
$4,000 new now. I’m a little spoiled , though that’s a small-potatos
collection by industrial standards.

Dar/Sheltech

2

why was the original 20-ton bd discontinued? i don’t understand the
difference between it and the deep-draw. why a 12-ton instead of
producing the 20-ton original? what would i not be able to do with
the 12 that icould have done with the 20 original? as you see, i
don’t have much experience with hydraulic presses.

jean adkins

3

Jean, and all interested!

why was the original 20-ton bd discontinued? i don't understand
the difference between it and the deep-draw. why a 12-ton instead
of producing the 20-ton original? what would i not be able to do
with the 12 that icould have done with the 20 original? as you see,
i don't have much experience with hydraulic presses.

The original 20 ton Bonny Doon was discontinued due to the arrival
of the 20 ton tall. The 20 ton tall was designed to provide the
capacity needed for deep-drawing ring stock and cup-sized vessels.
Once the 20 ton tall was made available everyone preferred the new
press and the original was discontinued.

A couple years later we redesigned the 20 ton tall to be much more
rigid, thereby making it more safe and efficient. The new re
engineered 20 ton tall is called the MKIII.

All of these upgrades, along with the drastic increases in the costs
of steel, fuel, and labor, resulted in the price increase.

That said, if you compare your dollar’s 2007 purchasing power with
what your dollar could purchase back in the early 90’s (when the
original press was $695), you’ll see that the price of a new MKIII
is effectively less than what it was 15 years ago in adjusted dollar
value.

Now we have developed a 12 ton press at the original price of $695.
It’s first purpose was to replace the screw press (which was
designed for blanking and only exerts a fraction of a ton). It is
capable of blanking, forming with formboxes, utilizing mushroom
formers with contained urethane, and light embossing. If you want to
do deep-draw or heavy embossing it is not the best choice. It is
meant to be an ‘entry-level’ press with most of the tooling
capabilities of the MKIII. It will not be compatible with the new
synclastic bracelet dies, but you will be able to use the
anticlastic die set.

We designed this new Bonny Doon Lite with lots of feedback from
instructors who find that a lot of people are perfectly happy with
these restrictions.

The Bonny Doon Lite is built from high-tensile strength steel and
aluminum. We could have kept the costs down by using low tensile
strength metals but then we would be lowering our standards and
competing with the distributors of low grade tools made with
overseas sweatshop labor. You should also know that we use 100%
renewable energy here at the shop where we build Bonny Doon tools.
Renewable energy is more costly than non-renewable energy, but it’s
the right thing to do.

Before buying any press I would highly recommend you take a workshop
or two. Education is the most important tool you’ll ever buy. There
are many great instructors teaching hydraulic forming including
Cynthia Eid, David Anderson, Anne Hollerbach and David Reynolds.

Sincerely,
Phil

4

thank you, phil, for answering my questions about the differences in
thebonny doon presses.

i have just one more question: does the 20-ton deep draw do
everything the old 20-ton did and more? or, does the deep-draw
capability mean that it can’t do some of the more simple things the
old 20-ton press did? the reason i am asking is that one might plan
to grow into the capabilities of the 20-deep draw by purchasing it
instead of the 12-ton.

i have only had experience (limited) with the old 20-ton and don’t
imagine i would use the deep draw, but you know the old philosophy:
buy more machine than you think you are going to need so that you
don’t have to buy another as your abilities grow.

jean adkins

5

More details about the BD “Lite”,

i have just one more question: does the 20-ton deep draw do
everything the old 20-ton did and more? or, does the deep-draw
capability mean that it can't do some of the more simple things
the old 20-ton press did? the reason i am asking is that one might
plan to grow into the capabilities of the 20-deep draw by
purchasing it instead of the 12-ton.

The “MKIII” and the discontinued “20 ton tall” both have more room
between platens (10") which allows room for the deep-draw kits. The
original Bonny Doon 20 ton only had a little less than 6". The new
Bonny Doon Lite also has a little less than 6".

The “Lite” will do everything the original 20 ton could do with just
a little bit less embossing effect. The “Lite” is more rigid than the
original 20 ton so you’ll get more force into your work than the
original.

The “Lite” is a four post model similar to the version seen in Susan
Kingsley’s book with a few differences. The uprights are
high-tensile steel 2.5 times stronger than store bought all-thread,
and the platens are made of high-tensile aluminum for incredible
strength. The “Lite” will come standard with two acrylic spacers and
two kevlar platen protectors.

If you plan to form synclastic bracelets or form vessels/ring stock
with the deep-draw kits then you’ll want to opt for the MKIII. For
any other technique the “Lite” will perform well at a very reasonable
price! You should also know that Bonny Doon presses hold their value
so if you were to buy the “Lite” you would find it easy to upgrade to
the MKIII.

Happy pressing!
Sincerely,
Phil