Presses for metal forming and assembly
Presses shape and join metal with pressure instead of cutting chips. A ram pushes the workpiece against a die or a support. The everyday jobs are straightening, bending and coining, plus pressing bearings and bushes in and out. KNUTH lists two press categories here and nothing beyond them.
The KNUTH press range
Two categories, each with its own focus:
- Workshop presses: maintenance, assembly and repair work. Hand operated units run off a hand pump. Motorised units shorten the cycle where the same job repeats.
- Hydraulic presses: production work with a higher force demand. The hydraulic pressure holds steady, so the full force is there right through the stroke.
Press force, stroke and throat width appear in the product cards above.
Arbor presses and motorised workshop presses
In South African workshops the hand operated workshop press is usually called an arbor press. It is the same machine under a local name. A lever or a hand pump builds the pressure. No electrical supply is needed. The unit works as soon as it is bolted down. That makes it the standard choice for a fitting bay or a mobile maintenance team. Once the same job repeats several times a day, a motorised press earns back the operator time it saves.
C-frame and H-frame designs
The frame sets the access and the stiffness:
- C-frame: open on three sides, so bulky parts load from the side and changeover is quick. It suits joining and assembly work.
- H-frame: a rigid closed frame carried on four uprights. It takes higher loads and deflects less, which matters when heavy shafts are straightened.
Hydraulic against mechanical presses
A mechanical press runs on a crank or a toggle. Stroke rates are high, and it earns its keep on long runs of one part. Full force only arrives near the bottom of the stroke. A hydraulic press is slower and holds its force right through the stroke. Stroke and final pressure are adjustable, so the machine copes with changing parts. KNUTH covers the hydraulic side and does not supply mechanical production presses.
Typical press work
- Pressing in and out bearings, bushes, silent blocks and pins
- Straightening bent shafts, axles and sections
- Bending small plate parts and flat bar
- Coining and punching with the matching press tooling
- Stripping and rebuilding assemblies during maintenance
Plate in full sheet format goes on a press brake instead.
Industries that rely on a press
Mining workshops rebuild idlers, rollers and drive components on site, and a press sits at the centre of that work. In oil and gas service shops it handles bushes, pins and seal carriers. Heavy engineering and rail workshops straighten shafts and press wheels and bearings. General fabricators and fitting shops use it for bushes, bearings and light forming. In every case the machine keeps the repair on the premises and shortens downtime.
Press tooling and accessories
The tooling decides how much a press can actually do:
- Press mandrels in stepped diameters for bushes, bearings and pins
- V-blocks and prisms that carry round stock while it is straightened
- Pressure and support plates to spread the load on thin parts
- Punch and die tooling for repeat coining and punching
- Bending attachments for light work on flat material
What drives the cost of a press
Buyers ask about price first, so here is what moves it. Press force is the single biggest factor, because frame, cylinder and pump all scale with it. Drive type comes next, since a motorised pump costs more than a hand pump. Frame size matters too, as a wider throat and a longer stroke need more steel. Tooling is the item most often forgotten, and it adds up. Landed cost in South Africa also carries freight, duties and commissioning. We put all of it into one quotation. Pricing is on request.
Choosing the right press
Four questions narrow the choice. What force does the heaviest part need? How often does the job repeat? How big are the parts and how are they loaded? Is there an electrical supply at the bench? From the answers you compare machines on press force, stroke and throat width. Send us your parts list. Our specialists suggest a size, a frame design and the tooling.
Why KNUTH
KNUTH supplies machine tools across Sub-Saharan Africa and selects its press range itself. Machines are quality-tested in Germany against European testing standards, and the documentation is available on request. You get personal advice rather than a catalogue page. The accessories come from the same source.
Service and spare parts in Sub-Saharan Africa
Service runs through local partners, with the regional base in Germiston near Johannesburg. Commissioning and operator training are available as a separate service item. Spare parts carry a supply guarantee of ten years. Press mandrels, V-blocks and other equipment are listed under machine accessories. See start-up services and repairs and spare parts. For a quotation on your application, use the contact form.
Further Machine Categories at a Glance
Here is an overview of our machine range. Select a category to learn more about individual machines and their technical data.
