Build or buy hydraulic shop press?

[Strouty]

I am interested in building one, but not sure where to start. I have rams, a couple hydraulic pump setups, and the ambition. My hydraulic unit came from a benwil car lift. I have to get it down to find out what pressure it makes. It is 220 volt but I have outlets around the shop. As far as a cylinder, can a ram be used or should it be like a jack? Any good build threads you have found would be helpful. If you were to build one or if you did build one anything you would have to have? Sorry for all the questions. I have to get together some reference material, I thought I would start here.

 

[alan camby]

I used a bottle jack and mounted it upside down. Some will make fun of the idea, but to each their own.

The jack is flooded to work upside down. There are other ways to make them work, this was just my way.

Would be cheaper to just buy a press. The only way i could justify it, all of the steel was free. Actually the only thing I bought was the return springs and the bed pins.


the pins for the bed are temporary while I waited to purchase the 1-3/16 rod.

big casters are a must for me since i have a 23'x23' garage. I store and use, most of the time, the press in the basement.

 

[alan camby]

i have some build pics in this thread.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137495&highlight=press+alan+camby

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

If you do a search theres a member building a massive press i think 100 tons or so.
Maybe someone can remember and post the link.

 

[Strouty]

I like your setup. I am going to be doing a few projects over this winter as kind of rehab for an injury. I will be slow and erratic with the build. I tend to do too much homework, one of my biggest downfalls. I all ready have too many projects, but it has been really cold so I haven't been in the shop lately. This damn internet along with GJ costs me more time and money. Sometimes I feel like one of those idiots driving on a cell phone, guess at some point I will have to "hang up and drive" or stop looking/typing and build!!!!

 

[alan camby]

When I was building mine, seems like I saw a bunch of homemade presses on youtube.
Also, do a google search on "building a hydraulic press" or "homemade hydraulic press"

There are a bunch out there to look at

At the time, GJ was not the best resource I found for this build.

On a side note, Check out swag off road. They have a cool press brake attachment.
It is a good second project. I made my own version of their kit.

 

[alan camby]

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141012&highlight=heavy+press

 

[alan camby]

If you do a search theres a member building a massive press i think 100 tons or so.
Maybe someone can remember and post the link.

Is this it
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166854&highlight=heavy+press

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

I think there was one bigger 50 to 100 tons it maybe in my subcriptions

I found it.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141012

 

[justanengineer]

^^^One of the best homemade presses Ive seen in a long time, with a very nice variable feed hydraulic setup.

Personally I would recommend using a hydraulic cylinder vs a bottle jack as I think theyre a bit more versatile, gives you more reach, and you already have it. For "iffy" or high tonnage setups theyre nice too if you have a remote control valve so you can get away from the press. Yet more reasons for using cylinders is it allows you to setup multiple rams for bending material, and if theyre double acting cylinders you can also clamp a part to the table and use your press as a puller.

I would also recommend adding a pressure gage to whatever setup you use. Pressing out pins, bearings, and other parts can get dangerous quick when the "being pressed" part comes loose at 10+ tons force.

 

[Strouty]

^^^One of the best homemade presses Ive seen in a long time, with a very nice variable feed hydraulic setup.

more reasons for using cylinders is it allows you to setup multiple rams for bending material, and if theyre double acting cylinders you can also clamp a part to the table and use your press as a puller.

That was a very nice press. I especially liked the table. I wish he discussed specifics on dimension of the frame, but I figure I can find that info from enerpac or someone else. I never thought about a double acting ram and pulling, that opens up a world of new possibilities. I guess I have to have pins for the top of the table if I am pulling. Thanks for your input!

 

[billva]

Here's one I built last year. I used a 30 ton cylinder. It was a lot of work, but worth it in the end.

 

[PCO6]

Here's mine. It's functional but I still have a few things I want to do to it.

 

[kazlx]

If you just need something like a 20T, the HF press is hard to beat for the price, unless you can get steel for cheap or free. Over that, it could be advantageous to build, but you have to make sure your design is strong enough to keep the thing from blowing up on you.

 

[NUTTSGT]

My neighbor and I built mine. He had the steel left over from a couple of jobs. I bought the bottle jack, 1 piece of steel and the return springs.

One thing I will throw, make sure you have good welds. you don't want it coming apart while you're pressing something.

EDIT;

I forget to add. . . . The press plates came from a friend that works at a blade (heavy equipment) manufacturer. They were scrap and it cost me a 12 pack. I cut the notches out at the FD, getting soem practice with our petrogen torch.

 

[Compton]

Has anyone seen a double acting ram used to change the bed height?

What I mean is you could connect the press ram to the bed via an adapter to vary the bed height instead of having a cable and pulley system or other mechanical system.

 

[brownbagg]

if you did it right it could double as a log splitter

 

[Steevo]

I have an older Red Arrow 20T shop press, which uses a bottle jack.
One of my future projects is to modify it with a ram and pump setup.
I'd like to make it have a traveling ram, like the Nugier presses I have worked with in the past, although that is more useful on a 36" wide press than on a narrow unit like mine.

 

[willymakeit]

Quick question. I have some 5''c channel 5/16 wall, how big of a press can be built with it?
Im always coming across scrap steel after the buiding erection is complete,so all I really need to do is watch for it. Would like a 50 ton with press brake.

 

[alan camby]

Quick question. I have some 5''c channel 5/16 wall, how big of a press can be built with it?
Im always coming across scrap steel after the buiding erection is complete,so all I really need to do is watch for it. Would like a 50 ton with press brake.

C-channel in the US is generally sized by the weight per foot. If you could list what weight per foot you have, I am sure someone will be able to help you better.
Most US c-channel seems to have a very short height on the sides.
The hole diameter that is drilled in the sides are just as important of a consideration as the metal since the holes will take away from the metal on the side. If the hole is to close to the edge, the metal could tear.

Seems that most of the manufactures of presses use a press brake formed metal c-channel for the vertical sides.
I assume this is done in order to get a larger side to accommodate the holes.

My metal came from Japan and has very tall sides. I did not calculate anything but my steel is huge compared to other 20 ton units.
My metal is 150mm (about 6") x 75mm (about 3"). So i had plenty of room to drill holes.

Of coarse not all presses use c-channel for the verticals

 

[1953mercury]

I re-posted this to include pic. At 20T, my uprights IIRC are 4" square tube with a 3/16" wall, and 1" pins. Have had it to full capacity many times and no issues as of yet. All from scrap steel. Mike

 

[bert.]

one thing to rember when making it is to have a decent size bed with a large gap in the middle so large things like axle flanges fit threw it

 

[Strouty]

I looked at one of my friends homemade ones, he did some neat things, but I have seen a bunch that I like better. I don't think height will be an issue for me, so I can build it as tall as I would like. I looked at all the rams that I have and after seeing the designs, mine are way to short for what I want to do. I have one more really long ram that I couldn't get at to measure it. Have any of you guys cut rams down? I saw one video where the guy had done that. Also can you make a single action ram dual action by simply installing another port on the bottom side of the ram? I am going to look at the surplus center, but seems like it would be pricey to ship. I will look around at local auctions too.

 

[ilovevocs]

I think it would be easier and cheaper just to use a spring return. No need to pressurize the return side is their?

 

[Strouty]

I think it would be easier and cheaper just to use a spring return. No need to pressurize the return side is their?

It could be used to pull as well as push or press. I thought that could be handy in certain situations.

 

[Strouty]

I re-posted this to include pic. At 20T, my uprights IIRC are 4" square tube with a 3/16" wall, and 1" pins. Have had it to full capacity many times and no issues as of yet. All from scrap steel. Mike
[/IMG]

Thanks for the picture and the info on design. Looks good!

 

[alan camby]

I looked at one of my friends homemade ones, he did some neat things, but I have seen a bunch that I like better. I don't think height will be an issue for me, so I can build it as tall as I would like. I looked at all the rams that I have and after seeing the designs, mine are way to short for what I want to do. I have one more really long ram that I couldn't get at to measure it. Have any of you guys cut rams down? I saw one video where the guy had done that. Also can you make a single action ram dual action by simply installing another port on the bottom side of the ram? I am going to look at the surplus center, but seems like it would be pricey to ship. I will look around at local auctions too.

Sorry, but a single action hydraulic ram will always be a single action ram.

 

[Mr.N]

Here's mine. It's functional but I still have a few things I want to do to it.

I like that setup with the box below... might have to copy it as floor space is limited.

Have more details on the drill press wheels?

 

[PCO6]

Thanks Mr. N. I have to admit that using a roller cabinet underneath my shop press wasn't my original plan. I used to have a bench top drill press next to my shop press. The drill press was on a cut down metal desk that had 3 drawers and a good bit of storage. When I replaced it with a floor model drill press it dawned on me that a roller cabinet would fit under the shop press. I have way more and much more efficient storage now. The Craftsman cabinet is basically full of drill and shop press related tools. The cabinet top also serves as a small table top when I'm working on either press.

The cradle under the drill press is an adjustable one that I picked up at Sears for about $60. I also have one for my belt/disc sander and it's much more suitable for that. It's "OK" for a drill press but I plan to weld together a sturdier roller stand for it.

 

[Strouty]

Sorry, but a single action hydraulic ram will always be a single action ram.

What do you think is a good amount of travel? I also think that I have some more rams, I had one of those oh! moments and I think there is another box of them, but it may just be pumps.

 

[alan camby]

What do you think is a good amount of travel? I also think that I have some more rams, I had one of those oh! moments and I think there is another box of them, but it may just be pumps.

More travel the better. Mine is 6" of travel. One advantage of the bottle jack upside down is that I can utilize the built in ACME thread extention.

The stroke of the ram you choose will figure in to determine how far apart you want to make your press bed adjusting holes. My vertical c-channel is drilled every 4" on center. My holes are 1-1/4" diameter.

If your ram has 10" of travel, you could get away with a larger hole spacing then if the ram was 5" of travel.

 

[472scout]

Drilling all the holes seems like a huge pain? Instead of using channel for the sides, how about using flat bar? Have a shop punch or CNC plasma cut the holes and then stitch weld them to another piece of flat bar to form the channel.

Since all the weight is in a vertical plane I don't think it would need to be 100% welded? Maybe 50% of the edges?

 

[Strouty]

Drilling all the holes seems like a huge pain? Instead of using channel for the sides, how about using flat bar? Have a shop punch or CNC plasma cut the holes and then stitch weld them to another piece of flat bar to form the channel.

Since all the weight is in a vertical plane I don't think it would need to be 100% welded? Maybe 50% of the edges?

I have seen some that were flat bar sides and just a few intermittent braces. It was probably 1/2" thick flat bar, but it looked a lot nicer than the channel iron. I really like the look of the rectangular tube, but I feel like flat bar would be the best, since you can space it to your liking.

 

[Lobzik]

I did the press so.

 

[Justanoldguy]

Not the best of shots but here is my 60 ton one.
Bought it off the scrap metal guy who got it off
some old guy who died a while back.
I think he got it from one of the local garages
when it shut down.
Needs a good tidy up and paint.
Caterpillar ram used.

 

[Justanoldguy]

While I'm here, this is a set of rollers I got off the same guy.

 

[Strouty]

Nice scores for you, I have never used a roller before, so I don't know what I am missing yet.

 

[Richard D]

I used a bottle jack and mounted it upside down. Some will make fun of the idea, but to each their own.

The jack is flooded to work upside down. There are other ways to make them work, this was just my way.

Not making fun of the idea, but why did you mount it upside down? I ask because I bought a cheap 20 ton press, and pulled the bottle jack out and replaced it with an air over hydraulic. Is there any reason I may want to mount mine upside down as well?

 

[alan camby]

Not making fun of the idea, but why did you mount it upside down? I ask because I bought a cheap 20 ton press, and pulled the bottle jack out and replaced it with an air over hydraulic. Is there any reason I may want to mount mine upside down as well?

Did not have to make a slide system for the bottle jack to ride in.
I have a adjustable acme threaded extension on the jack (like most have) that i can take advantage of.
Also the shaft of the jack is more rigid then a slide bracket with a rod welded on the bottom. To me, the rigid jack shaft feels more professional than one of those bottle jacks in a spring cage. My bottle jack does not budge since it is bolted to the top beam. I have seen the top of a bottle jack work its way out of the spring cage design. When you are pushing down on the 2 foot handle with 30 lbs of force, the last thing you want is for the bottle jack to spit out of the cage.

Why use a bottle jack?
cheapest option available.
I already owned the Jack.



If you already own a ram and porta power, that is definitely the way to go.


If money is not an issue. Buy a air over hydraulic porta power and a ram....or a electric pump and a hydraulic double acting cylinder.

I have about $30 in my press.

Thanks, Alan

 

[Richard D]

I didn't buy a ram, just an air over hydraulic bottle jack. Now that I look at it, I can see the benefits. I have think I have seen yours before and read something about modifying it to work upside down; can you elaborate? I thought you did a thread on building it but couldn't find it.