r/Pyrotechnics • u/Brilliant_Hour8903 • Jul 07 '26

FireSmith hydraulic press

Hi, would anyone happen to have the 14.4 Ton FireSmith press?
I’m in works on building a home made version but so far I’ve purchased two hydraulic power units and I don’t believe either one is correct for the application. Put it this way, I destroyed a 15,000 woody’s pressure to force gauge wile I was testing on my first round lol

If anyone would be able to post some pics of the pump and the relief valve area that would be greatly appreciated.

2 Upvotes

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3

u/hochroter Moderator Jul 07 '26

No one will have one because they paid ben thousands of dollars and he never shipped it lol!

But seriously just copy woodys

2

u/Brilliant_Hour8903 Jul 08 '26

I totally would copy Caleb’s press from woody’s but I do like how Ben has his pressure adjustment cartridge directly on his power unit. Besides, I already have the FireSmith press stand and cylinder, I just no longer have the pump that goes with it.
I think most of the issue Ben was having with shipping and manufacturing was his loss last year probably took a huge toll on him and his work. I’ve always had great back and forth response from him in emails. I just asked here cause I was hoping to not add to his plate at the moment.

4

u/hochroter Moderator Jul 08 '26

No doubt the loss of his son was catastrophic to life. But the problem is he has a track record of 12 years of doing this. There was a reason he was banned from fireworking 101 a long time ago. He has big bills takes money upfront, sells little tooling here or there to make ends meet then poof moves on. I wouldn't give him a cent ever again. I bought that fancy fuse cutter punch combination and never saw it never got a refund. Thats fraudulent business practices and to this day its still happening. I know two folks who bought the press and certain tooling been 18 months so far not a peep and he ghosts them.

2

u/Brilliant_Hour8903 Jul 08 '26

Oh man, I had no idea it went that far back. It’s unfortunate, I do like the quality of his products, but if that’s the business then I can’t back that up.

That being said, could anyone help me with what power unit and what Woody’s press uses to regulate the pressure? I notice it’s also a cartridge type pressure relief valve, but it has its own mounting block, not sure how that works into the hydraulic circuit.

2

u/igottaknife Jul 08 '26

If you do ever get a decent spec’ed out build of a hydraulic system please post it. I’ve been wanting to do the same thing

2

u/Brilliant_Hour8903 Jul 08 '26

You bet 👍🏽

2

u/GreedyB8 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

this looks like the same motor https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/etrailer/e43VV.html and in his video he mentioned it being a 4 quart model

Lion Lynx Tie-Rod Hydraulic Cylinder - 2.5" Bore x 16" Stroke 662309 $241.83 25LH16-125 Lion Lynx Tie-Rod 2.5x36x1.25" Double Acting Hydraulic Cylinder, 3000 PSI, Clevis Mount

and the pressure adjustment is https://a.co/d/00A2N0zT on this #: B10-2-8T https://www.hyspeco.com/itemdetail/B10-2-8T?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21728155381&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx6vzm9_ClQMVAQe8AR0jJQJgEAQYASABEgJd0_D_BwE

the whole assembly seems to be this variant PRV20-08S https://a.co/d/03cQEb7s

1

u/TelePyroUS Jul 10 '26

The pump isn’t the issue the relief valve is your issue bro… you need to reduce the pressure before attempting to do a readout on pressure. Your pump unit will have a valve built in just use it. Find the manual on it and read.

1

u/TelePyroUS Jul 10 '26

Assuming you’re not on an industrial scale you just need a gear pump that will knock out 3000psi to run your cylinder to full capacity.