If I was going to do that I would cut both the ends that are to be joined at 45 degrees and prelaminate them together. By doing the 45 degree cut you eliminate the potential for them to break apart when flexed.

A few gussets on that failed I beam would have stopped it from failing. Also an I beam will always be stronger than square tube for building a press. If you had square tube laying around I would suggest welding a truss like structure along the the top edge of the top piece and the bottom edge of the...

You definately nailed the timing of your trip. Nice tree runs too.

Thanks guys you are a huge help to someone like me who is in the design stages. Every new press can be better than the ones before it with help like this.

Cool, thanks mate.
Ps I do turbocharging fab for a living if you ever need to know anything about getting your little rocket moving

My moulds will be cnc routed from 25mm mdf and placed side by side, there will be no gaps like I see most people have which require a lower cat track. This should negate the need for a lower cat track I think as the base will sit perfectly flat.

After reading this I think that a press should be designed to accommodate "shims" so that you can pack up the bottom mould to get the desired gap between the 2 moulds. This allows you can achieve the perfect width from the hose at pressure.

Increasing the contact patch, by decreasing the gap between bottom and top mold is another good idea. What would you say is the perfect gap from mould to mould? The diameter of the firehose will obviously have a big impact on this, I would think that if the fire hose was 4" diameter when fully...

Thanks for the fast reply guys. So it seems that a cat track is a must then, I dont want to bother trying to reinvent the wheel as such if it has already been proven to fail. In that case I can forget the custom bladder and just use 3 lengths of firehose like everyone else seems to do with success. ...

Hey guys, this is my first thread, after reading just about every thread on the forum over the last few days. I am amazed at the knowledge base here so well done on that. I ended up here after weeks of trying to find someone to make the board I have designed, hitting brick wall after brick wall and ...

Good stuff mate, dont forget to hit Rusutsu while you are there. I just got back from there last week.

This is my first post here so hello all.
Looks like fun out there, what resort are you at?
Ps how did you get Don Burke to wear the gopro?