I hooked er' up to the shop air last night. The porta-power cylinder the original maker used, had a failed o-ring between the two bodies. Upon disassembly, I found a large, grooved seal that had basically come apart, looked like cookie crumbs.
I should have taken pics, but my hands were covered in AW32.
I've now done some minor modifications, to accommodate a cylinder I had in my hoard.
First was to knock this post off that held the porta power ram.
Diablo hole saws...love these things. At some point, I have to remember to make an adapter for em' to fit my pipe notcher.
Anyway, it took some time, and a bit of cutting fluid, but I got through the 20mm of material.
It's probably overkill, and will probly twist the I-beam better than the hips of belly dancer, but it's what I had.
The mounting lug on the barrel now comes through the top of the press, with a pin to hold it in place.
It's far from complete obviously, but I'm moving in a forward direction.
I have the power pack that accompanied the cylinder when I picked it up. From another hydraulics project, I have a control valve. So then it's just plumbing, and deciding where the power pack is going to reside.
At some point, I'm hoping to have a cart I can set up with the powerpack, and run it off the 220 in the shop.
Quick connects will be used. So I can move the power from one hydraulic tool to another....
A bit of inspiration from Colin Furze, that maniac maker in the UK...