Hydraulic Forging Press for the Blacksmith

Not a book for actual construction of a press. Just a general overview very basic stuff perhaps an ok introduction book at best.

I was looking for more on the design & engineering aspects of building a forge. The book covers these topics very generally lacking much detail on things like flow, pressure, rates, and so on. He does provide a quoted passage on a good motor, pump, cylinder combination including GPM, HP, & cylinder diameter which I found useful.It has a good chapter on different types of forges and what generally goes into a hydraulic forge. There are also many pictures and discussions about different forges both DIY and commercially made.Two nice surprises were the extensive coverage of tooling and a gallery of many different things and pieces of art people have made using hydraulic forges. Half the book or more is dedicated to these topics. I believe over time that will be the more valuable part of the book.Thankfully he presents a varied body of examples by many artists along with some insight into the process used to make the pieces. This is not just about making knives. Some more interesting knives are presented however.In terms of it's qualities as a book, I found it to be a little rambling. It's definitely written from the author's point of view and is somewhat auto biographical in that sense. McDaniel absolutely has a lot of skill and craft to share and he does so. It just takes a little work to get at it all. I prefer books like this to be organized more like a reference. This book reads like a text. I think it would be a really good text book.I totally recommend it. You might be able to cobble this information from the Internet. Why do that when so much information has been curated and presented here by Mr. McDaniel? Your time is worth money. It's kinda tricky to drag a computer into the smithy all the time too. ;-)-jd

Had i known this book has zero information on building a hydraulic forging press i would not have wasted 50 bucks on it. The description is misleading. If you are looking for plans and info on building your own press do not buy this book.

I do not know anything about hydraulic presses, but would like to build one. The book nicely introduced presses, plus includes many photos of examples used by blacksmiths.The book is exactly what I was looking for, and now I know what questions to ask as I move forward.

Took a very long time to receive the book. The content wasn't what I had hoped, it have very little information about building a proper press.Fairly disappointed, but will get a little bit from it.