Hydraulic Lab Presses

The Model 301 and Model 401 laboratory presses feature the same patented lightweight and ergonomic unibody design as our 12 ton and 20 ton lab presses. To make what would normally be huge heavy lab presses as light and elegant as our lower capacity designs, we found the finest quality low profile hydraulic cylinders available. We oversized the hydraulic cylinders to make them as easy as possible to pump to full load. Both of these presses have an award winning 2 speed hand pump that reduces the number of required strokes by up to 78% and also reduces jacking effort. With NATIONALs patented unibody construction design, we were able to keep the weight of both units to under 155 pounds. These high tonnage lab presses are ideal for lab applications, such as briquetting samples for XRF spectroscopy, because of their ease of use, small footprint, light weight construction and built in safety features.

The presses also allow the user to regulate the rate of pressure drop (bleed off) using a fine one way needle valve that can be preset at the desired decompression rate. Once the desired bleed off rate is determined, the valve can be left in that position as it will not interfere with pumping the press up to the desired force. Controlled pressure bleed off is useful for making XRF briquettes. This feature is normally found only on expensive fully automated lab presses. 
Ports in the walls of the press frame allow access for vacuum lines and electrical cords to the area between the platens, which enables use of the press with evacuable dies and heated platens. Both presses can be used for making thin films with NATIONAL's Precision Thickness Film Maker and Heated Platens. Automated versions are available that are driven by pneumatic motors powered by your labs compressed air supply
Like all Presses, the 301 and 401 ton laboratory presses feature built in polycarbonate safety shields with solid brass hardware. There are die centering depressions in the round bottom platens. Each press comes with a standard stainless steel filling disc to flatten the platen. The bottom platen of each press has a 4" diameter depression and optional donut shaped inserts are available to automatically center 13mm, 20mm, 32mm, 35mm and 40mm die sets.