HYD cyilnder on a apron

[Old Doug]

Has any one ever put a cylinder on a apron brake. I just got a very old 8' metal brake and it didnt have any weights to help the apron or even look like it ever did. I cant swing the apron by my self. I cant find a brand on it and i have never saw one like it before its very old. Its all cast very heavy but its very compact.

[Johnmm]

Has any one ever put a cylinder on a apron brake. I just got a very old 8' metal brake and it didnt have any weights to help the apron or even look like it ever did. I cant swing the apron by my self. I cant find a brand on it and i have never saw one like it before its very old. Its all cast very heavy but its very compact.

That’s a vague description but imi tools designed for hand operation don’t play well with hydraulics for very long. Not designed for that kind of force and can fail catastrophically.

[tracymobilecnc]

apron brake? never heard it called that, had to google to be sure you were taling about a box/pan brake.

sure you could, hydraulic would probably be over kill and easy to damage the brake. i think a compressed air cyclinder would be cheaper, provide plenty of force and be easier to limit force to prevent tool damage. i've thought about foot opperated air cylinder controls on my brake would be awesome. one on each clamp and on the apron would make single operator use allot quicker and easier.

[jpump5]

Makes me wonder how it was operated before.
Could you add counterweights instead of adding
fluid power? Can you post a pic.?

[CrookedRoads]

I never saw an apron brake without counterweights, sounds like some parts are missing. I would rig up some weights before I messed with hydraulics but I have seen it done with pneumatic cylinders.

[Old Doug]

This is a very heavy brake i would see how much force 2 men could do and go a little more. Air would not be my first thought its not very smooth and not cheap. I cant see were it ever had counter weights. It also is missing any way to raise the clamp the last guy use a prybar.

[ferrret3238]

I would think hydraulic would be a lot for any apron brake. Google and youtube apron brakes. Quite a few had a gear and rack mechanism to run the apron up. Pictures would be good to see how sturdy a brake you have. I've never heard of one without counterweights to balance the apron out. It sounds like it might be missing a few parts.

[Old Doug]

I cant see were there ever was anything bolted on that is missing. I had a Heavy 12' and this 8 ' is alot heavyer it would take 2 guys to lift the apron then i dont know if they could bend any thing.I am not talking about a 3 foot Harbor Freight brake. If it takes 2 guys to lift the apron how much counter weight would i need 200-300 hundered pounds?

[ferrret3238]

I'm just generalizing its like a older Chicago apron brake, I really don't know what you have. When you said apron brake I assumed it wasn't a harbor freight finger brake already. I figured its solid and no fingers at all. Does it have a capacity chart on it? If I were to try anything I would try air first with flow controls to slow the cylinder down. That way you could figure out the cylinder mounting points and cylinder length for a hydraulic one later if you wanted to. Air is cheaper and cleaner than buying a hydraulic unit. A 2 inch 100 psi air cylinder is around 300 lbs of lift. A 2 inch 2000 psi hyd cylinder is about 6000 lbs of lift. Maybe just air as an assist? if you stepped on a pedal air would assist you hand raising the apron to bend something? If it has rod handles out the front, sometimes I have seen counterweights mounted on them with a bracket clamp to point them backwards for balance. I'm curious to know what kind of brake it actually is?

[Graham08]

I cant see were there ever was anything bolted on that is missing. I had a Heavy 12' and this 8 ' is alot heavyer it would take 2 guys to lift the apron then i dont know if they could bend any thing.I am not talking about a 3 foot Harbor Freight brake. If it takes 2 guys to lift the apron how much counter weight would i need 200-300 hundered pounds?

200 pounds wouldn't be out of the ballpark. I had a 10' x 14 gauge Chicago and the weights were roughly 100# a piece, and about 2' above the apron with it down. No way I could lift the apron without them myself, but it was well balanced with them on.

[Country Metals]

I used a 10' apron a l long time ago. It had say 8" balls for counterweights on each side on about 2' rods.

Your brake should have spots on each end where a pipe or solid round can slide into for the counterweight.

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