press/hose question

originskis · Post by **originskis** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:42 am

i recently purcahsed 9.5in layflat hose from Skookum. i am making a cloth press and, at the moment, the frame is planned to be 8in wide. is it OK that the hose will be wider than the mold when not inflated? i've done the math and it is about 6in wide when FULLY inflated. but of course it will not be fully inflated in the press.

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:46 pm

Are you using a cat track that's wider than the hose or press? If so, then you shouldn't have a problem. I don't have a cloth press, but now that I think about it having a cat track wider than the press might be an issue. Hopefully someone who is using a cloth process will respond.

gnali · Post by **gnali** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:47 am

I am building a press and came across such a problem. As it is hard for me to get 2 pieces of fire hose with the diameter of 110mm, I plan to use 4 pieces of fire hose with the diameter od 52mm. The air capacity inside will be nearly the same, only question is will it work and create enough amount of force pressing the skis? Won't the smaller diameter be a problem? I plan to build a press with cat track. Please help!

shopvac · Post by **shopvac** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:28 pm

HansHarris - I talked with my brother a little about this tonight. We were wondering if you were dead set on making the press 8" across? Why not make it 9" or even 9.5"? I am not sure if having the hose wider than the press is such a good idea for cloth presses. The cloth bags will potentially be hard to get around the press when you have the ski and everything loaded. Another issue is that the hose might be sticking out the sides into the cloth and that could cause problems. You don't want anything sharp touching the fabric. I know the hose isn't sharp but the cat track might be. I guess I would recommend getting some 8" wide hose or making the press 9" wide.

gnali - I think you will be fine if you build the cat track. Two hoses at 50psi will produce the same amount of pressure as 4 hoses at 50psi (as long as you have a cat track). I think Doughboyshredder uses 3 or 4 pieces of hose with good results. Check out his press.

chrismp · Post by **chrismp** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 5:01 am

we've built a cloth press using 5 hoses with about 110mm width when lying flat and 80mm diameter when fully inflated
the press itself is only 500mm wide, so the two outmost hoses push the cloth away from the press. but imho that isnt a bad thing at all. it keeps the cloth from touching sharp corners on the press frame and it adds support to the edges of the top and bottom mold which helps keeping them from cracking lenghtwise.
i'll update our journal as soon as we find the time to build a board and do a full documentation of it.

originskis · Post by **originskis** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 4:29 pm

i just wanted to avoid spending. i modified my design and it is 10" now. problem solved.

nate · Post by **nate** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:25 pm

You've already changed, but my press was pretty similar to what you described. When laid flat the hose extended beyond the edge of the press by an inch or so per side. (Cloth press) Not a problem at all. It inflated without a hitch and once inflated was good to go. Bags fit on just fine.

szymon · Post by **szymon** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 4:56 am

Hi!

Gnali, are you from Poland? I am. If yes this might help you - I found cheap 110mm hoses. You want some?

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press/hose question

press/hose question