What is Something a Hydraulic Press Can’t Crush?

Watching a hydraulic press flatten and crush things is always satisfying, whether its crushing ketchup bottles under 150 tons of pressure, or toothpaste tubes being squeezed out under pressure will bring joy and satisfaction.

What can a hydraulic press not crush? Interestingly enough, there are certain items that give it some difficulty.

1. Diamonds

Diamonds are widely recognized as one of the hardest natural materials on Earth, yet still crushable by applying force evenly at just the right spot. Lasers or special tools can also shatter and break apart diamonds into fragments; and this intricate dance between power and resistance has long fascinated humanity from ancient artisans chiseling stones into statues to modern engineers building machines capable of exerting incredible forces.

The hydraulic press has quickly become one of the most beloved inventions ever. YouTube channels devoted to crushing random objects with hydraulic presses have gained enormously in popularity, feeding our insatiable craving for mindless destruction with bowling balls, non-Newtonian fluid and even diamonds! In their most recent video, Hydraulic Press Channel challenges its luck against nature's hardest substance with crushing one!

Breaking a diamond requires immense pressure - approximately 14.5 gigapascals or about 2 million psi - which most hydraulic presses cannot generate. Crushing diamonds therefore requires immense force that requires many hours to achieve success. Doing it yourself might not be impossible, but the effort and risk associated with doing it would likely be great. A better choice would be purchasing a lab-grown diamond - an imitation version of precious gem. Lab-grown diamonds may be costly, but they're insured against accidental damage such as chipping and fire, making them less likely to be stolen and making them an excellent alternative to real natural diamonds. Unfortunately, lab-grown stones might not look quite as visually appealing or have as strong an emotional connection.

2. Magnets

A hydraulic press is an incredibly effective force tool, capable of creating immense force to form sheet metal into molds or form plastic into molds for molding plastic products. However, there are certain materials which cannot be crushed with its force alone.

Magnets are one such material. Constructed of metals that possess magnetic attraction, these magnets create a field around them which attracts iron and other materials via movement of atoms. Each magnet features both north and south poles; similar poles repel each other while unlike poles attract each other.

Magnets are incredible resilient objects due to their unique properties; they can withstand incredible forces even if thin. But, like anything, too much pressure could still crush them; therefore it is crucial that caution be exercised when handling magnets.

There are various ways you can protect your magnets from damage. One option is using a protective case; another way would be avoiding touching them with your bare hands. Either way, taking good care will extend their lifespan.

A hydraulic press is a machine that uses Pascal's principle to generate and transfer force. It consists of two cylinders: one small slave cylinder and a larger master cylinder, where hydraulic fluid can be pumped from one cylinder into the other via pistons.

The master cylinder generates pressure that can crush items placed between it and the plunger, even breaking glass in some instances! Therefore, hydraulic presses are ideal tools for creating and shaping metal parts - not to mention crushing things such as cars and swords!

3. Ball Bearings

Bearings are rolling parts found within machines which move or support loads, such as wheels on a cart, railroad tracks or the axle in your car. Bearings feature both internal and external smooth surfaces to reduce friction so they can roll more freely without touching directly and increase efficiency of transporting loads more easily than otherwise possible.

Ball bearings consist of two grooved circular tracks carved into short hollow cylindrical races that act like short conveyor belts for metal balls to move along. A retainer acts to keep these balls apart from each other while other components such as seals or screws help hold it all in place.

Make no mistake; producing ball bearings requires meticulous precision. Tests are carried out at each stage to ensure that steel contains just the right balance of hard and tough alloy metals for hardness and toughness, while races must also be extremely smooth for best performance. Additional checks take place to make sure balls fit into their intended bearings with exact sizes and shapes that suit them.

There are various kinds of loading that bearings must be able to accommodate. Radial loads place pressure on the inner race walls while thrust loads put stress on both left and right races. Outer race walls must also support these loads or the bearing may collapse.

There are other types of bearings that may be more efficient and economical to operate than ball bearings, though these require greater effort to manufacture. Magnetic levitation trains use bearings held apart by magnets instead of physical contact between surfaces - for instance.

4. Anvils

An anvil is a block upon which metal is worked, usually by hand with a hammer. They're typically constructed of either cast or wrought iron and feature a smooth working surface and an extended conical beak at one end called a "horn," for hammering curved pieces of metal.

Anvils are not just limited to blacksmithing; these blocks can also be found in nature and used by various species of birds, fishes and sea animals. Sea otters use rocks as anvils when breaking open hard-shelled prey such as clams; while some birds of prey use stones or bones as anvils for breaking open bones or tortoises for prey items.

Early anvils were made of stone, bronze, wrought or cast iron before steel production processes became commercially available around 1600. At that point, soft wrought iron anvils began being replaced by hard-faced cast iron anvils.

An anvil's quality can be judged by using a hammer to strike it with. An excellent anvil will feel sturdy with an audible sound when hit; and be quite heavy enough not to easily be damaged by repeated hits from a hammer strike.

An anvil can be purchased at auctions, flea markets, tool dealers or online. Old ones might feature a distinctive patina, but it's wise to avoid those which appear worn down and damaged - such as having holes or cracks that might allow pressure into breaking them easily. Also avoid any that cost more than similar new models would.

5. Tungsten

Tungsten is a strong metal that can withstand considerable force without fracture. Furthermore, its hard surface enables its use in many different applications, from sawblades and drill bits to lamp filaments due to its low melting point and vapor pressure properties.

Although not as strong as diamond, tungsten remains extremely tough. So strong that if hit hard enough it can even break a normal hammer! As such it makes an ideal material choice for tools used under harsh conditions, such as oil drilling.

Hydraulic Press Channel's team ran various objects through its 150-ton hydraulic press to see how they fared, with incredible results: only five items survived the crushing, including two types of ball bearings, an anvil, and pure tungsten pieces. Watch their video for yourself!

Tungsten (W) is an extremely hard and brittle gray to white metal with the highest melting point and lowest vapor pressure of all metals. It occurs naturally only as compounds of other elements - most notably in minerals like wolframite and scheelite - although Swedish chemist Peter Woulfe first identified it in 1779 before Spanish brothers Juan Jose Elhuyar isolated it as a metal in 1783.

Tungsten's exceptional strength allows it to be utilized in cutting and grinding tools like tungsten carbide. This form of the metal has been bound with carbon to form harder, more durable tools. Tungsten carbide filaments for traditional incandescent lamps also use this metal with its higher melting point than steel filaments.