STGFordCrazy04
Well-known member
I needed a press so I went to Harbor Fright to look at their 20ton POS for $129 minus a 20% coupon but it pissed me off. The damn thing was made out of some obscenely weak flimsy **** monkey metal. I could litterally rack the frame with my bare hands so I could imagine what a 20ton load would do to it so I passed. I know many of you here have one and are very pleased but I guess I couldnt justify it. I then went to look at Northern Tool and was pissed off by their $600 version of what HF was selling so....
I built my own.
At work there is a tremendous amount of scrap and waste. We have a metric **** ton of good metal just thrown in a scrap hopper to be sold for .10/lb minus the cost of renting the hopper - Id imagine almost free - thats where I came in.
I had a 20' stick 4x6 .375 wall square tubing left over at the lumberyard/building supply I used to own/operate (thanks US economy) so I used that for the legs.
I swiped a 6x10 1/4" flange 1/2" beam I beam from scrap hopper for the top and I welded on a tab so I could pick the thing up.
I also swiped these 6x10 1" slabs of steel for press blocks. I grabbed 6 plus 2 that appeared to be cut as shims for our machines and 2 pieces of 1x2 flat bar.
Here it is pretty much done. I used 1/4" flat plate to tie the top of the I beam down to the 4x6 square tube and fully welded it. I also used 3/8 2x2 angle on the inside where the tube meets the I beam. For the press "rod" I took apart an old cylinder and used it. Its 1" diameter and has a 1/2" threaded female portion for different rod ends. For the bed I used 5" 1/4" C channel and 4- 7/8x8 Grade 8 bolts with a piece of 4x6 tube to tie the top and bottom piece together and keep the spacing uniform. For the "feet" I used 4x6 1/4" angle and a piece of 2x2 3/8" angle for a cross brace. The whole deal weighs about 6-700lbs.
Im not sure how much weight it will hold but I damn sure know it will take everything my 20ton air/hydraulic bottle jack will throw at it and laugh.
As of right now I have about $50 invested - minus cost of beer and cigars
~$24 for the 4 bolts and nuts
~$10 for the 2 springs to hold the jack tight to the I beam when not in use. Ill need to buy new springs because these arent up to par.
~$16 for two quarts of oil base enamel.
Ill attach a pic of it painted soon.
One of these days Im probably going to buy a SWAG brake
I built my own.
At work there is a tremendous amount of scrap and waste. We have a metric **** ton of good metal just thrown in a scrap hopper to be sold for .10/lb minus the cost of renting the hopper - Id imagine almost free - thats where I came in.
I had a 20' stick 4x6 .375 wall square tubing left over at the lumberyard/building supply I used to own/operate (thanks US economy) so I used that for the legs.
I swiped a 6x10 1/4" flange 1/2" beam I beam from scrap hopper for the top and I welded on a tab so I could pick the thing up.
I also swiped these 6x10 1" slabs of steel for press blocks. I grabbed 6 plus 2 that appeared to be cut as shims for our machines and 2 pieces of 1x2 flat bar.
Here it is pretty much done. I used 1/4" flat plate to tie the top of the I beam down to the 4x6 square tube and fully welded it. I also used 3/8 2x2 angle on the inside where the tube meets the I beam. For the press "rod" I took apart an old cylinder and used it. Its 1" diameter and has a 1/2" threaded female portion for different rod ends. For the bed I used 5" 1/4" C channel and 4- 7/8x8 Grade 8 bolts with a piece of 4x6 tube to tie the top and bottom piece together and keep the spacing uniform. For the "feet" I used 4x6 1/4" angle and a piece of 2x2 3/8" angle for a cross brace. The whole deal weighs about 6-700lbs.
Im not sure how much weight it will hold but I damn sure know it will take everything my 20ton air/hydraulic bottle jack will throw at it and laugh.
As of right now I have about $50 invested - minus cost of beer and cigars
~$24 for the 4 bolts and nuts
~$10 for the 2 springs to hold the jack tight to the I beam when not in use. Ill need to buy new springs because these arent up to par.
~$16 for two quarts of oil base enamel.
Ill attach a pic of it painted soon.
One of these days Im probably going to buy a SWAG brake
