Alcoa - 50,000 Ton Press Rebuild

[TurningHead]

FYI

http://www.cleveland.com/business/in.../11/alcoa.html

Good news for some near the "Best Location in the Nation"...

[.RC.]

"Christopher said the company has ordered several replacement parts"

I wonder if they got the parts book out and rang up Mesta..LOL

[Spud]

Any pictures of this beast? The lone pic from the link doesn't show much. Says it is 4 stories below ground and 4 stories above ground, 92feet tall.

Who made it? Is Mesta the name of the mfg?

[TurningHead]

Spud
I believe Mesta (who is long gone) was the original builder.
This weekend I'll see if I can dig up some info / pics.
John

[Ries]

Here is a thread with pics.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...00-169455.html

Mesta machine went out of business in the 80's, after 100 years of building steel mill parts, and huge lathes, mills, presses, and other machine tools.

The building is still there, in Homestead, underneath the Homestead High Level bridge-
Whemco owns it now, and uses it a bit, but most of the old machines are long gone.

[TurningHead]

Thanks for the link Ries -
This treasure chest called PM and it's members never cease to amaze me.
John

[metlmunchr]

I noticed in the other thread the press and the facility itself were originally purchased by the Air Force and leased to Alcoa. Does the gov't still own it or was it sold to Alcoa at some point?

[MetaRinka]

suddenly makes the 3,000 ton mechanical press, and 2,500 ton hydraulic presses we have look like little babies.

Then again a 3,000 ton mechanical press makes quite a commotion when it's pressing near it's limit.

our presses go about 2 stories under ground and maybe 3 stories above. we run our gauge lab after hours because you can't take any accurate measurements within a few hundred meters of those things

[Keelan]

I first read about this press a year or so ago in a textbook from the 70's. It showed photos of this press, as well as the 35k ton press that it shares a building with. I was surprised, upon googling, that both were still in use. Not many things these days enjoy that kind of longevity. Nice to see that they're probably going to be running for a long time still.

I always wonder what kind of objects have been sneaked into those presses when the bosses aren't looking. Forget about putting a penny on a train track!

[MetaRinka]

Originally Posted by Keelan

I first read about this press a year or so ago in a textbook from the 70's. It showed photos of this press, as well as the 35k ton press that it shares a building with. I was surprised, upon googling, that both were still in use. Not many things these days enjoy that kind of longevity. Nice to see that they're probably going to be running for a long time still.

I always wonder what kind of objects have been sneaked into those presses when the bosses aren't looking. Forget about putting a penny on a train track!

Giant presses are built to last and mechanically are very simple

we have presses that were built prior to WWII still in use in the 1-3K ton range. Seals and motors get changed every so many years, but beyond that not much can break.

most of them have cycle counters, one that's resetable and one that isn't. Some of those have in the hundred million cycles range

[duckman]

I have had the privledge of working on the Wyman Gordon press , a little added info the total height is 143' 7 storys 7 storys down have been to the bottom its like going into a stinky coolant jungle (hot and humid) , they can forge up to 5,000# titanium ingots , the operating pressure is 4,800# generated and stored in 7 giant accumulators pressurized by 7 triple piston, double acting pumps driven by 1,500 HP motors , the fluid is water with an additive they get approx. 10% compression , when there closing the die its SCARY it moves so fast until there ready to squeeze then it just squishes . Watching (when should of been working) them load an ingot one day the operator was not being careful and squished the mast of a 25,000# capacity forklift , squished the mast ,blew 4 tires , destroyed the differential , and scared the crap out of the operator who was not hurt . The WG building is enormous the main floor where they make the dies is 10' (ten) thick they will flop die over on the floor 20,000 to 40,000# each and you just here a whoomp .

[digger doug]

Just to clear things up a little. The Alcoa 50,000 ton press is
a Mesta press in cleveland ohio.

The Wyman press is also 50,000 tons, up in Mass.
and is made by Loewy (sp).

I was in a local (cleveland) shop last year or so, when
the scrap price was at it's highest, and some one walked
in and announced that they heard that the (cleveland)
50,000 ton press was about to be scrapped.

Apparently, an about face was done.

I would like to hear the story on this one, did the military
step in and halt the scrapping ?