I am purchasing a Bonny Doon press that does not have the riser block
included. I am new to this equipment and was wondering if it
necessary to have the riser block, what would be the benefits of
having it or the drawback of not having it.
Michael
Michael,
I am purchasing a Bonny Doon press that does not have the riser block included. I am new to this equipment and was wondering if it necessary to have the riser block, what would be the benefits of having it or the drawback of not having it.
Congrats on the great purchase! A riser block is simply used to take
up space and withstand 20 tons of pressure. The newer Mark III
presses, and some older models (gold in color) have a deeper throat
(10"), a longer space between the upper and lower platens. A lot of
press tools don’t require the 10" space to work and since the jacks
ram is only so long, or can only go so high (5"), you need a really
beefy block to take up the extra space. Check the bottom platen, if
it has two holes drilled catty corner on one side and the
measurements between the upper and lower platens are 10" then you
should get a riser block. If it’s an older press it will have less
than 10" of throat and there will be no need for the riser block. You
can special order a riser block from us, or use stacked 6"x6"x1"
acrylic spacers, not the best option but it will work in a pinch.
Please call me or e-mail me if you have any questions, I’ll be happy
to assist.
Sincerely,
Thackeray Taylor
Rio Grande Technical Support
505-839-3000 ex13903
800-545-6566
technical@tbg.riogrande.com
I am new to this equipment and was wondering if it necessary to have the riser block, what would be the benefits of having it or the drawback of not having it.
Yes, you need it. The jack doesn’t work its best at the max.
extension. So having the riser block or blocks means you’re working
the jack at a lower point, not the max extension. Having spent that
much for the Boony Doon, don’t cheap out now on the accessories!
Hi Michael:
It depends on which version of the press it is. If it’s an old Mk 1
press, they never had one to begin with, so its absence is
irrelevant. If it’s a Mk II or Mk III press, (the tall ones) they
require the block to do anything other than deep drawing. (the jack
won’t extend far enough to push the lower platen up to meet the
upper platen without the block.) The easiest way to tell them apart
is height. My Mk II is 27" tall, and the Mk III is roughly the same
size, but grey. The Mk I’s (in their various incarnations) are about
20-21" tall or so. Lee experimented quite a bit early on, so there
are mutant Mk I presses out there, but they’re all short. If it
turns out that you need a new block, they’re not hard to make, or I
expect you could probably get Rio to order you one as a replacement
part. (Rio-Grande’s the new sole distributor for BD, now that Lee’s
retired.)
Watch out on the MK I presses: on some of the earlier ones, it’s
possible to shear the side bolts off against the top of the slot in
the uprights if you try to close the platens together without
anything at all in between them. Lee didn’t think anybody’d ever
close the plates against themselves (why would you?) so the slot’s
not quite long enough to allow that. I think the minimum gap is
something like 1/4" or so. Not a problem, as there’s no real reason
why you’d ever want the platens completely closed against each other,
but it is something to watch out for.
Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Regards,
Brian Meek.
PS–> this is all in reference to the 20 tonne tabletop presses. He
made larger ones, but they’re huge, and I expect anybody who has one
of those knows what it is, and where all its parts are. The tabletop
presses are all about 6-8" deep, 12-14" wide, and 20-28" tall.
Hi Michael,
I am purchasing a Bonny Doon press that does not have the riser block included. I am new to this equipment and was wondering if it necessary to have the riser block, what would be the benefits of having it or the drawback of not having it.
I’m guessing that either you are purchasing the new 12-ton Bonny
Doon Lite, or a used 20 ton press that is an older model, neither of
which need a riser block. The 20 ton “tall” presses come with steel
riser blocks which make the opening match that of the smaller
presses. The larger opening of the tall presses is useful for deep
drawing and the newer synclastic and anticlastic formers. For most
other operations, the steel riser block is used. In all presses, I
recommend that Plexiglas or aluminum spacer blocks with protective
face plates of Kevlar, steel, nickel or brass be used. The spacer
blocks help assure that the jack is not over-extended, and also
protect the surfaces of the press platens.
I hope this helps answer your questions. I suggest that you read
Susan Kingsley’s book about the hydraulic press, and also take a
workshop.
Cynthia Eid
The press I bought is a used Mark III from Rio Grande. The press
didn’t have the riser block but I did purchase it when I bought the
press. Thank you everyone for your input (very helpful) and Thackeray
for showing me the basics on how it works. I do have the Kingsley
book and am studying it before getting the accessories. And I agree
Cynthia that taking a class would be very beneficial.
Michael