Hydraulic Press Lateral Shift Anvil Cylinder

The Only Cylinder
That Moves Sideways

Master, side, return, leveling, tilt — every other cylinder on a hydraulic press acts vertically or angularly. The lateral shift anvil cylinder acts horizontally. It slides the entire anvil and lower die assembly across the press bed — positioning different die stations under the ram or shifting the workpiece laterally between forging passes.

At first glance the lateral shift cylinder's proportions look inverted — the longest stroke of any press cylinder (up to 5,500 mm) paired with the smallest bore (125–250 mm). But these proportions follow directly from what the cylinder does: it moves an anvil table sideways across a wide press bed (long reach needed), against only the friction of the table's linear guides (low force needed).

The force required to slide a heavy anvil table horizontally on guide rails is a fraction of the table's weight — typically 5–15% for well-lubricated steel-on-steel or roller guides. A 100-tonne anvil table on roller guides requires approximately 50–150 KN of horizontal force to accelerate and shift. The 1,546 KN maximum thrust of the lateral shift cylinder provides a generous safety margin, plus the force needed to overcome inertia during rapid positioning moves.

The long stroke, meanwhile, must span the full usable width of the press bed — including all die stations plus overtravel at each end. On a large free-forging press with 3–5 die stations spaced 1,000–1,200 mm apart, the total lateral travel can reach 4,000–5,500 mm. The cylinder must cover this entire distance in a single stroke.

Engineering Challenges — What Makes a 5.5-Metre Horizontal Cylinder Different

A vertical cylinder is supported along its axis by gravity — the rod hangs straight down. A horizontal cylinder fights gravity: the long rod sags under its own weight, and the anvil table mass creates a bending moment at the rod/piston junction. These challenges require design features that vertical cylinders do not need.

A 5,500 mm stroke cylinder requires a barrel length of approximately 6,000–6,500 mm (stroke plus piston length plus end cap depth). Machining a bore this long demands deep-hole boring equipment with exceptional straightness control — the bore centreline must not deviate more than 0.5 mm over the full length, or the piston will bind at full extension.

Korea Ever-Power's deep-hole boring capability extends to 6,000 mm depth — covering the full lateral shift cylinder range. After boring, the barrel is honed to Ra 0.2–0.4 µm over the entire stroke length. The rod is ground and chrome plated to matching straightness and finish standards. Because the rod must resist sag at full extension, Korea Ever-Power selects rod stock with verified straightness (bow ≤ 0.5 mm/metre) before chrome plating and grinding.

Every lateral shift cylinder is hydrostatic tested at 1.5× working pressure AND functionally tested for full-stroke extension at the specified traverse speed — verifying smooth, continuous motion without stick-slip or speed variation across the 5,500 mm travel.