Abstract: A brake device for a friction press having a flywheel for driving a vertical threaded shaft, the flywheel being positioned between a pair of friction discs, the flywheel being driven in one direction or the other by the respective wheels. The brake device has a brake band generally in the shape of a circular arc which is engagable with the circumference of the flywheel at a position between the friction faces of the friction discs. The brake band is normally to be pressed by a tension spring against the circumference of the flywheel at all positions of the flywheel during its up and down movement, and a hydraulic device is provided which usually acts against the tension of the spring, to hold the brake band away from the flywheel but can apply the brake force instantaneously when necessary by ending the action of the hydraulic device.