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Niles Tool Works Hydro-static Wheel Press

gpfief

Plastic
Joined
May 29, 2020
Hi Everyone,

I am super new to the forum but I have something interesting that hopefully I can get some useful insight on. I was actually referred to this forum after chatting with some people in the vintage machinery forums. First off my name is Gavin and I am a mechanical engineer fresh out of college! I was lucky enough to land a mechanical design engineering position right out of school and have been thrilled with all the work I get to do every day. I am an engineer in the Chicago area and one of my big projects I am slowly working on is the potential to rebuild this giant hydraulic/hydro-static wheel press. Our company had bought this machine awhile back but never was able to figure out. Having this machine able to be up and running would be very beneficial with all the work that we do in our machine shop.

I usually am a very good researcher, but with this machine appearing to have been made pretty far back, I was unable to find much. All I have so far is that the manufacturer is Niles Tool Works, which before that was Niles Bement Pond Co. I also now know that a few of these are still in operation around the country. The Machine Number is No. 16188. I know this giant horizontal press was originally used for the railroad industry as well. I have attached some pictures to get a good idea of the condition. With the little successful research I had, I noticed that this machine is missing the counter weight mechanism on the back that is supposed to help pull back the press arm. I have actually found a smaller version of this hydraulic press that was re-built with a modern day hydraulic system and motor attached to it.

The goal here for me is to figure out what works and what doesn't and slowly rebuild the machine so we can get it up and running. If anyone has any knowledge on this machine, or where to find an old manual, or how a similar one works, I would greatly appreciate it. If this machine is beyond its years of saving than at least I will gain a little bit of history knowledge on it!

Thanks!
 
There is a huge wheel press in working order in the roundhouse at The Henry Ford (Greenfield Village) in Dearborn, MI. They are currently closed to the public and I do not have a picture of it or recall the maker. The press is out in the entrance lobby, in plain sight of visitors rather than out in the shop area. If the roundhouse people are working, I bet they would be happy to help you.

Larry
 
Hello Garvin & welcome to our forum. Congratulations to you on becoming a mechanical engineer- from an oldtime mechanical engineer who's been practicing for the past 50 years (will I ever learn enough to stop 'practicing' ?).

A wheel press is an interesting machine. Niles' interests were taken over by a firm called Simmonds Machine Tools, in Watervliet (or Albany), NY. Simmonds supports some of the older Niles railroad shop machine tools. Whether they have records on the wheel press is something I do not know.

The really old wheel presses used an "open" type of hydraulic pump. It was a single acting piston pump, usually 3 or more cylinders. The pistons were usually worked by eccentrics rather than a crank shaft, and the eccentric shaft was out in the open. The eccentric shaft usually had a large bull gear on it, and was driven by an electric motor through possibly an intermediate gear shaft.

The ram on these presses was double-acting so as to be able to retract. As old as your press is, I would not be surprised if you find the piston on the ram is sealed using "piston cups" made of formed leather. There is likely a stuffing box around the piston rod, packed with square braided packing. The pump pistons (aka "plungers") likely have this same arrangement. You are dealing with a piece of machinery that pre-dates modern hydraulic system components by a good many years. Off the shelf stuff like O rings and molded piston cups or "square packing rings with expanders" for pistons did not exist when this press was made. Nor did hydraulic hose. It was likely all hard piped, with the pump, motor, control valve and ram made as a packaged right on the head-end of the press. I would bet, if it has not been broken/grown legs, that there is a brass-cased pressure gauge on the pumping unit giving tons of force on the ram.

The piston cups, if leather, are probably dry from dis-use, and the packing may be similarly hard/dry. You may find that, on starting up, that oil belches out around the pump plungers and around the ram's piston. The oil may soften up the packings and piston cups and things might seal in after a bit. As for oil, a DTE (dynamo, turbine, engine) oil such as DTE 'light' (ISO 46) is plenty good. Tractor hydaulic oil is as close to tailor-made for your press as it gets. Tractor hydraulic oil is a DTE series oil (mineral based, straight weight), and has anti-foaming and anti-corrosion additives. You might want to flush the sump tank on the pump unit with kerosene or diesel fuel before you fill with fresh oil. No telling how much condensation, along with sludge, is in the sump tank. There may be a suction strainer on the pump's suction line, right in the tank. Servicing the strainer may mean breaking a pipe union or two and unbolting a cover to access the strainer.

The control of the ram was simple enough, with a spool valve to work the ram in either direction and return oil to the sump tank. Open center valve, I believe, so that the valve spool will hold position on the ram while allowing oil from the pump to return to the sump. There should also be a pressure relief valve in the system to recirculate oil to the pump if things are overloaded or dead-headed.

What a lot of shops with these type of wheel presses have done is to ditch the old open pump unit, and connect to a modern self-contained hydraulic power unit (i.e., gear or vane type hydraulic pump direct-coupled to an electric motor, sitting on a welded steel oil sump, modern control valve). Connections are mode by flexible hydraulic hoses.

The press will typically have the ram sitting horizontally. The ram cylinder is connected to or cast integrally with a "yoke" or "strongback". This is a beam at the ends of which the tie-bars are connected. The tie-bars are usually a heavy set of steel bars with obround or oval holes. The end yoke or strong back is pinned to the tie bars at whatever length is needed to press an axle into or out of railroad car or locomotive wheels. Wheel presses for steam locomotives were built to handle drive wheels as big as 7 or 8 feet in overall diameter. Wheel presses for car wheels and locomotive truck wheels were probably built for work on the order of 4 - 4 1/2 feet in diameter.

The movable yoke is made with a large diameter hole thru it. This is for the axle journals to pass thru. On railroad wheels, the axle journals are most usually outside of the wheels.

Press capacity may be on the order of 1200-1500 tons.

My first step would be to clean the old press, get the grunge off the pump workings (eccentrics, gears, etc), then drain the sump. Check the suction strainer, then flush the sump. Make sure the pump works freely before attempting to start the motor driving it. Also make sure there is a clear discharge path in the piping from the pump. This is a piston pump, known as a 'positive displacement' type of pump. If deadheaded (run against a closed discharge line), the pump will either stall its motor, or keep on going until something busts- such as the eccentric shaft and gearing, or blowing a fitting or two into orbit. Running the pump with the discharge line broken (disconnnected) and a temporary hose rigged up so kerosene or diesel fuel can be pumped thru is not a bad idea. When the pump is working freely and delivering kerosene or diesel fuel, connect it up to the control valve and flush thru the valve, then work you way to the ram. Flushing thru with kersosene or "safety solvent" or diesel fuel will clear sludge from the lines. It will also free up any of the pump valves (each cylinder has its own suction and discharge valve, a check type of valve which may be a spring loaded disc, or simply screwed-end check valves).

Not much else to tell you. I've seen wheel presses with the original pumping units still in use, and I've seen one or two with the conversions to modern hydraulic power units. If you get stumped on the matter of replacing piston cups, check with your local Parker Hydraulics store. We had some ancient (1921) combination brake/jacking cylinders on some hydro turbines. When we put air to them for the brakes, the leakage was bad enough. When we attempted to jack up the rotating element of the unit (generator rotor, main shaft & turbine runner, done to take the load of the thrust bearing when the unit is laid up for any long time), we had oil belching all over the place. The local Parker store was able to get molded piston cups to replace the ancient (and worn/dried out) leather ones. I think these new cups were molded from Viton or something similar, but that was a good 30 + years ago.
 
It was Niles Tool Works before it became Niles Bement Pond.
Here are various Niles catalogs you can check out.

Catalog Advanced Search Results | HathiTrust Digital Library

They list six sizes ranging from 100 to 300 tons.
I don't know of any Niles manuals out there for this machine, but there could be.

Niles Bement Pond catalog from 1903.

Catalog Record: Machine tools | HathiTrust Digital Library

Eight sizes listed ranging from 100 to 400 tons.

Machine tools / Niles-Bement-Pond Company. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library | HathiTrust Digital Library

Rob
 
Hi Joe,

Thank you for a very detailed reply! I definitely think I am starting to understand how it works more. I totally forgot to add pictures in the first post so I am adding a ton now. I am not sure what everything is but so far I think I have figured out some things. I believe the Bull gear is enclosed in the covered part that is connected to the motor sitting at the top. I also believe that the strainer is hooked up to the back can connected through the hard piping that you mentioned. Some of the other pictures show components that I am not 100% sure about what they are. If you could help me label everything that would be awesome. Thanks for all the help!

Gavin
 

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gplief:

Thanks for posting the photos. Confucius got it right (1 picture is worth 1000 words).

Here is what I suss out from your photos:

1. The pump has (3) plungers, one of which has its strap (the part which goes around the eccentric) and eccentric rod removed. Whether this was done to slow the speed of travel of the ram, or due to damage to the plunger/cylinder would have to be determined by taking apart that cylinder. I believe I see the eccentric rod laying in the oil sup.

2. The "doorknobs" appear to be handles for lifting the pump suctions on each cylinder. Each pump cylinder has an independent suction. The doorknob rods have a wedged detent on them and from what I get from the photo, the suction strainers ? look to be pivotted. IOW, lift up on a doorknob, the wedged detent engages in the guide just below the doorknob, and that cylinder is out of service. This was a way of controlling the rate at which the ram moved.

If you remember your basic physics and hydraulics (at least when I was an undergrad, we took a Civil Engineering course in basic hydraulics, as in the flow of water or incompressible fluids), Pascal's law is still in effect, not abrogated nor otherwise changed. "Pressure on a confined fluid is transmitted undiminished thruout". So, whether one piston or all three of them are working, the force on the ram is going to be the same.

3. The "capstan" type handle below the gauge is a valve for controlling flow of oil to the ram. My guess is this is a needle valve with a bypass port. Start the pump with the needle seated hard (capstan probably turned clockwise), and the oil flow bypasses thru the valve body and back to the sump. Open the valve (counter clockwise would seem likely) and a piston or set of lands on the valve stem covers the bypass port in the valve body while oil flows thru the needle valve to the ram cylinder.

4. The weighted levers below each pump cylinder may be pressure relief valves. If you use one, two, or three pump cylinders, each is setup to run independently of the others (as per the "doorknobs" I wrote about, above).

5. The ram is single acting. There are two sheaves or pulleys with grooves at the butt-end of the ram body (the closed end of the ram cylinder, which is a hemispherical portion of the body casting). These sheaves may have had smaller diameter wire rope running over them which was connected to the yoke on the ram (horizontal runs of wire rope) and to a heavy weight (vertical runs of the wire rope). The weight and wire rope are not shown in your photos, but seeing the sheaves and the fact the ram is single acting, it seems the most likely way to get the ram retracted.

6. I am not sure what the fitting is in the piping connected to the ram, making a 90 degree turn in the piping. If a simple 90 degree turn were all that was wanted, a 90 degree elbow would have been used. You may be seeing an in-line high pressure strainer. Someone was into the piping at some point, given the wrench marks on the piping.

7. The guard on the gearing looks to be a later addition, shop made. Similarly, the extra 'axle support' or guide also looks to be shop made, hogged out of heavy steel rather than cast.

8. Each pump cylinder does have a simple "packing gland" and "stuffing box". Square braided packing is used. This is cut into rings that just girdle each plunger or piston. The rings are stacked with the butt joints staggered. Old packing can get fossilized and not make a seal around the pistons. Taking up on the nuts on the packing gland studs may not improve matters, and hard/fossilized packing can cut into (known as scoring) the piston rods, really making problems. If you have to remove the packing, you use "packing extractors" or "packing pullers". These are corkscrews which are attached to flexible cable (like auto speedometer cable, used in older cars and motorcycles). Each piece of flex cable has a tee handle. You remove the packing gland, or suspend it on baling wire or twine to access the packing material. You then turn in the corkscrews 180 degrees from each other, and start pulling a little at a time. The packing may break, not unexpected with old dried/fossilized packing that's been compressed for ages. You work out all the packing, keeping count of the number of rings. I doubt there will be a 'lantern ring' (soft brass spacer ring with holes thru it to allow oil to lube the packing rings as it works along the piston rod).

You will then be able to pull the piston (or plunger) on the cylinder which is disconnected. That will give you an idea of what kind of packing or sealing arrangement is on the pistons. As old as that press is, I would make a sizeable wager that you will find cup leathers.

When you re-pack the piston rods, you stagger the joints on the packing. You do not wind the packing around the rod and then cut the rings from the spiral you made. That gives rings that are too large in diameter. Oldtimers would turn a piece of scrap stock or hardwood to the diameter of the piston rod and use it to roll the packing around and then cut each ring and make sure it fit, trimming as needed. A single-edge razor blade or drywall knife works well for this, or, if you carry a pocketknife and keep it well stoned (I've carried a jacknife since I was a kid, 60 years, and keep mine reasonably well stoned for this sort of thing as well as other uses such as cutting open a roll or baguette to make a sandwich...), you can use your pocket knife. No need to use a large pig sticker or anything specialized.

Square braid packing comes in regular sizes based on the width. Measure the inner diameter of the counterbored area where the packing was removed from, then measure the piston rod. Subtract the piston rod diameter from the counterbore inner diameter and divide by 2, and you have the packing size. Packing is sold by the pound, not the inch nor foot. A square braid pump packing for oil service is all that is needed, nothing too fancy nor high temperature rated.

The press has been drained of oil and appears to have been dry for ages. The sump will need a good cleaning before either oil or kerosene (for flushing) is put into it.
The pump will not need to be primed, since the suctions for each cylinder will be submerged in the sump.

It is an interesting old wheel press, and while it might look a bit complex or perhaps a bit of a mystery, it does follow the "K.I.S.S." rule of engineering: "Keep it simple, Stupid !". Instead of dinking around with a variable displacement pump or variable speed drive to the pump, Niles simple made a pump which had individually connectable cylinders. Given the era this press was designed and built, there were little or no "off the shelf" industrial hydraulic components. No variable displacement pumps, no spool type control valves, no micrometer metering valves, no hydraulic hose nor spin on filters for the oil return line... I'd take the guard off the gearing (after making sure the power to the motor was disconnected either by opening a breaker or opening a disconnect switch and locking/tagging it out). Once you have made the motor safe to work on, remove the guard and try pulling over the bull gear by hand, or turning the motor pinion by hand if you can't initially move the bull gear. You may find things are "set up" from disuse and lack of oil in the pump cylinders, but you need to make sure nothing is frozen, seized, or locked solidly before you try starting the motor.

The pump is probably bi-directional, not caring which way the eccentric shaft turns in order to deliver oil pressure to the press. Ordinarily, when a motor on a piece of equipment is being installed or has been un-wired, we do a "bump test" to determine rotation. A "bump test" is best done with the motor uncoupled from whatever it is going to be driving. A brief "bump" of the switch (or contactor) is done to see which way the motor shaft is turning. If it is OK, the wiring stays as-is. If opposite to the desired rotation, as the old saying goes, "lift two phases and swap the wires". I would not imagine motor rotation matters with this oldtimer's pump.

That's about all I can suss out from your photos.
 
The goal here for me is to figure out what works and what doesn't and slowly rebuild the machine so we can get it up and running. If anyone has any knowledge on this machine, or where to find an old manual, or how a similar one works, I would greatly appreciate it. If this machine is beyond its years of saving than at least I will gain a little bit of history knowledge on it!

Thanks!

The three knobs. Pull up one for rapid to move the ram to the part.
Pull up another for pressure.
Pull up the third for max pressure-all three are in the up position.
Down for retract.
That's what I remember when working with the millwrights as part of the "floor work" requirement for the machinist apprenticeship.
No, it is not beyond its years of use as this type of press is very practical.
Have to run it to determine if there is a problem. Expect to find leaks from the packing but that is typical. Even with the small leaks it will come up to pressure and the leaking fluid usually drains back into the reservoir.
The reservoir is a good place to start the inspection. Look for contaminated hydraulic fluid or possibly water at the bottom.
Some images from my MACHINE TOOLS Niles-Bement-Pond Co.1903.
Niles Wheel Press 1903.jpgNiles 1N  4256-N.jpgNiles 3N 6457-N.jpg7N.jpg8N.jpg
John
 
Niles, Bement, Pond, and Pratt& Whitney had separate manufacturing plants and plenty of plaudits
given as medallions and certificates.
Niles.jpgPratt & Whitney~1.jpgPratt & Whitney~3.jpgPond and Niles Paris Expo.jpgNiles Tool Works.jpg
John
 
Thank you so much this is beyond helpful! I look forward to officially cleaning it up and kicking this project into gear next week. I will keep the updates and questions coming when I have them available. Thanks again!

Gavin
 
Niles, Bement, Pond, and Pratt& Whitney had separate manufacturing plants and plenty of plaudits
given as medallions and certificates.
View attachment 290120View attachment 290121View attachment 290122View attachment 290123View attachment 290124
John

Note the power canal running under the left (south) end of the building in the above picture. The plant building originally stopped with the four story tower comprising the southeast corner, so the canal was open.Many new additions were built over the long life of the company.

Google maps and street view shows the sad remains of the building, much reduced in size and being used for recycling. The top part of the tower is gone, but the Niles Tool Works sign is still visible, painted on the brick.

A good brief history of the company. Niles Tool Works - Butler

More history, with two images of the works at different dates. Niles Tool Works - History | VintageMachinery.org

Larry

Niles Tool Works, Hamilton, OH sat view.jpg Niles Tool Works, 609 N. 3Rd. St., Hamilton, OH.jpg
 
Hey Gavin, hope that helps with the press.
Look around the floor space for odd looking things that look like junk or scrap
to the uninformed. Might be solid shafts, stubby bits or tube-pipe and other large items.
These bits are worthless by themselves but valuable when pressing out a
particular diameter.
John
 
Many of the old hydraulic systems worked on water with either soluble oil ,or soft soap in for lubrication ......Any packings will be either leather ,or braided asbestos square packing.........the replacement for the old square packing is unbelievably costly ,even the asbestos stuff like "Crosslite" wasnt exactly cheap......So dont destroy old packing willy nilly,usually a bit more in the gland will seal .....Ive made lots out of old plastic drums cut into strips.
 
Check the old Niles catalogs already linked. ISTR they had the 600 ton model only listed in a table, no line-art work for it showing?

Galis Electric & Machine // Galis Manufacturing => FMC Corp, Dupont Road (a bus garage, now..) Morgantown / Westover, WV had that Big Boy whilst I was there, dawn of the 1960's.

Your one looks to be a "heavy" of that sort.

The rest has been well covered, above.

"For future reference" make DAMNED SURE any "bushings" you utilize when pressing are true, on-axis, and dead parallel, both ends. They may need touched-up on the lathe now and then. Do that to tight tolerances. It will matter.

Case in point: Second shift. Day shift foreman, Dick H_, had stayed-over, was "stupidvising" a card-carrying USWA operator pressing an axle into a wheel. Meaning the Union man was being paid to stand to-heel and emulate a hat-rack... whilst Dick's hands were on the con-trols...

We had a whole row of right-decent bushings along the wall, but.. in his haste, he had picked-up a length of around ten-inch ID heavy-wall hydraulic tubing to use as a bushing that was still only a "candidate". Too much in a rush to notice one end wasn't turned. it had been power-hacksaw cut. We had a damned good power-hack-saw, given it was War One surplus. But perfect it was never, even right out of the egg.

Ever so slightly sidegodlin end of that tubing cocked the wheel, shaft hung-up.

Dick . never the most PATIENT of men .. cranked that old gentleman up to all there was to be had...

Sound of it waging war caused several of us to look up, 'coz if it didn't still have the full 600-Ton in its Old Age.. it was sure as Hell pretending to really hard.

Bushing exited at "more or less" right angles to the line of march, punched directly through a heavy machine-hall-industrial-grade cement block wall and a good twenty feet out the other side of it.

Have a care!

Ever' machine mankind has created since the invention of rocks and grass rope can mess a body up.

They just take turns figuring out all manner of DIFFERENT and elegant ways to do it!
 
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Yes, the double strain bars make it look like heavy-er that normal (600 tons or so).

The overall condition looks pretty good.
Have made many bushings, pushers, fixtures, and even rolling tables for such presses.

Have you determined the actual tonnage of this press ?
 
Yes, the double strain bars make it look like heavy-er that normal (600 tons or so).

The overall condition looks pretty good.
Have made many bushings, pushers, fixtures, and even rolling tables for such presses.

Have you determined the actual tonnage of this press ?

Tape measure, guage max, basic math, and you have it. The Big Boy's had bitchin' large-diameter cylinders. "Area" thing.

Triple pump sez no less than the 300. Smaller ones didn't need as much flow, had one less.

"IF..I recall correctly.."

It has "been a while", after all... 55 years and a bit?
 
Them old presses are too cool and neat. Love old stuff like this.

One thing I would recommend is going thru all of the pressure piping and even replacing most of it with new stuff. Even though its a low pressure system, 500 psi, someone will want to increase the pressure to something much higher somewhere down road. Next item will be the cylinder, I would suggest doing some sort of NDE on them, rather it would be liquid dye penetrant or ultrasonic. I've dealt with a few old presses in my past, 300 to 600 ton, that had cracks in the steel castings around the inlets of the cylinders. Funny how those cracks open up and vent pressurized oil when pressure is applied. Oil under pressure is fatal if you get injected by it. Just my two bits to share. Ken
 
Next item will be the cylinder, I would suggest doing some sort of NDE on them, rather it would be liquid dye penetrant or ultrasonic. I've dealt with a few old presses in my past, 300 to 600 ton, that had cracks in the steel castings around the inlets of the cylinders. Funny how those cracks open up and vent pressurized oil when pressure is applied. Oil under pressure is fatal if you get injected by it. Just my two bits to share. Ken

Thank you for that safety heads up!

"PM, doing what PM does best!"

I hadn't thot about the fact that a press in my sight, 1963 or so, that had been built somewhere between 1915 and 1925, hence wasn't THAT old, back THEN, is NOW more than half a century OLDER, yet!

I was 20 to 30 years YOUNGER than that press, then, (vintage of '45) and prolly have a few "casting cracks" meself by this late date, "around the inlet" or ..... wherever...

:D
 
If any replacement of piping & fittings on the press is needed:

-pipe should be schedule 80 (also known as 'extra strong') black carbon steel pipe. Ream all cut ends of the pipe to get a smooth chamfer and remove burrs. Wheel-type pipe cutters leave a nasty burr, and bandsaw-cut pipe, albeit a bit cleaner, still should be chamfered. Rod out pipe after cutting and threading using a piece of steel rod and clean rags.

-avoid 'close nipples' like the worst plague. Close nipples, even when made of sch 80 pipe, tend to break across the threads. If you need a short nipple, use what is known as a 'shoulder' or 'space' nipple. This is the first length of nipple beyond a close nipple. Vibration and shock loads are present in this press, and the piping saw plenty of it. The pump does not have any kind of air chamber or dampener on it, so the pulsing of the pistons goes right thru the piping to the ram. When a load busts loose (such as when pushing an axle out of a wheel) there is a sudden drop in pressure and resulting shock to the piping. Similarly, when the shoulder on an axle seats hard against the hub of a wheel (using RR applications as an example), the pressure spikes and a pressure relief valve likely pops open. It's all shock loads to the piping and combined with the pulsations from the pump, spells bending fatigue with the most acute points being the pipe threads.

-pipe joints can be made by threading the sch 80 pipe (which is how Niles did it originally). Make sure to use sharp 'chasers' on the pipe threader, and use plenty of
sulphur/lard based cutting oil. Plumbing and pipe supply firms have this in stock. It does wonders for getting a good clean thread when threading pipe.

-fittings can be 3000 lb forged steel, screwed fittings. Or, 300 lbs black malleable iron fittings. The 300 lb is a 'WSP' or working steam pressure rating, for cold liquids, black malleable iron fittings are good for well over 1000 psi if I remember rightly. If you have a competent welder in house, or are experienced as a welder with stick and/or TIG, you can also use 3000 lb forged steel socket weld fittings. When making up piping with socket weld fittings, the end of the pipe is seated hard against the counterbored seat in the fitting's socket. The end of the pipe must then be pulled back 1/8" and squared up for welding. The 1/8" pull back prevents cracking at the weld due to expansion of the pipe during welding. A two-pass fillet weld is usually plenty for piping 2" and under on socket welds. Some pipefitters will run all socket welded joints using TIG (GTAW), and some specs will call for it. On carbon steel piping, a first pass run with either E 6010 or E 7018, and capped with a cover pass run with E 7018 is what most socket weld carbon steel piping goes in with. Advantage to socket welds is no leakage to chase after as on screwed joints. Oil seems to have an uncanny ability to "wick" past many of the most well made screwed joints, no matter what kind of pipe dope (pipe joint sealant, known in the industry as pipe dope) is used. If you do run screwed joints, do NOT use Teflon tape. Use a paste type pipe dope such as "Gasoila" and don't be bashful about using bigger pipe wrenches and pulling on them with some ass behind it. Some judiciously applied force on the pipe wrench is what it comes down to. Obviously, there is a limit after which damage is done.

Taking Thermite's comments about cracks in castings around pipe threads: pipe threads are a sharp vee type of thread and are a mess of stress risers in their own right. People chasing leaks tend to really 'yarn' or 'reef' on the pipe wrenches and get bigger wrenches or put cheater pipes on them. Pipe threads are tapered, and as such, are a wedge. Tightening pipe threaded joints excessively causes the male thread to act as a wedge. On fittings with thinner walls, this wedging action by the male thread can actually force the female thread (tapping) in a fitting to spread and can cause leakage to worsen. Or, it can result in cracks in the tapped part over time.

I have a feeling the press cylinder body and other parts are massive enough that cracks around pipe tappings are not likely. Some seepage of oil around threaded pipe joints on oil service is almost an inevitability. With the press sitting dead for who-knows-how-many-years, pipe dope and gaskets (on flanged joints) can dry and shrink a bit. If you do have to replace any gaskets on flanged pipe joints, try to use a spiral wound gasket (known as a "Flexitallic" gasket). These are gaskets which have a spiral wound filler to make the seal, and the filler is surrounded by a steel washer of less thickness than the wound sealer section. These type of gaskets are "blowout proof". As long as the flanges on the pipe joints and fittings, valves, etc are made to ANSI standards, you should be able to get Flexitallic or equal type of gaskets.

If you replace bolting on flanged joints, studbolts made from B-7 grade threaded rod and class 2 H heavy hex nuts are a sure bet. Lots of people use Grade 8 bolts and standard sized hex nuts on piping and it works. It is not what I would call "best" or even "good" industry practice. Studbolts let you really make up on a flanged joint seeing pressure and pulsations. Bolts are OK for sprinkler systems and similar, but for high pressure oil service, I'd go with studbolts.

Plenty of powerhouse piping over the past 50 years, and in the hydro electric plant I retired from, we had some huge hydraulic systems. These use pressurized ISO 46 (DTE light oil) as working fluid, and worked rams with pistons 24" in diameter on the governor servos, and even larger on some 120" valve actuators. Studbolts, Flexitallic gaskets, and any piping 2" and under being run with sch 80 was the standard.
 
Since it appears that someone blasted it be prepared to clean grit out of EVERYTHING. You won't get it all because it will be embedded in the metal but do your best.
 








 
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