Shop Press conversion

[bacaruda]

Anybody know of a cheap way to convert from hand pump to air or electric
hydraulic?

Jim.

 

[mdbeck1]

Interesting idea. I can't really help but I'm interested in the results.

 

[Scout Driver]

Would an air-operated bottle jack work??

Scott

 

[bacaruda]

No I want to retain the current RAM, with internal return springs.
Thanks tho

 

[bacaruda]

mdbeck1 you have PM

 

[rsanter]

switch the bottle jack to one that has the air powered feature

bob

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Is this a cheapie that uses a bottle jack? or is this one that has a inverted ram on top with a hand pump and reservoir on the side, connected by a hose or pipe? If the separate pump and ram, then adding a power pump is easy.

Need pics or more detailed info, brand, etc.

Charles

 

[bacaruda]

I figured it could be done, but how, cheaply. Not much luck finding a proper pump. Found these people in Australia, http://www.bvaonline.com.au/index.php?p=catalog&mode=search&search_in=all&search_str=PE0501 but they want
$3000 for their small .5HP pump.
Please tell me more!
Jim.

 

[Brad54]

I'm curious... other than the speed in getting the ram to the work piece, what is the advantage?

I've used them before, but always switch to the hand pump once contact is made so I can feel what's going on, and fine-tune the movements by hand.

-Brad

 

[ptschram]

Harbor Freight has an air-over-hydraulic pump for a coupla hundred.

The next time I'm a coupla hundred ahead, I'm buying one of the jacks with the air-over-hydraulic as I get so damned tired of the wasted time getting the ram into contact with the workpiece.

 

[scott37300]

Here you go, on sale for 129 bucks at HF. Uses air and a foot pedal.

http://www.harborfreight.com/10000-psi-air-hydraulic-pump-98318.html

 

[PCO6]

I'm curious... other than the speed in getting the ram to the work piece, what is the advantage?

I've used them before, but always switch to the hand pump once contact is made so I can feel what's going on, and fine-tune the movements by hand.

-Brad

I have 2 interchangeable 20 ton bottle jacks for my home made shop press. It takes about a minute to change them. I like the air / hydraulic jack for most things like bending metal, punching holes and knocking things out of a casting for example. You're right though that sometimes you want a better feel for things like bottoming out bushings, bearing races, etc.

 

[bacaruda]

Here you go, on sale for 129 bucks at HF. Uses air and a foot pedal.

http://www.harborfreight.com/10000-psi-air-hydraulic-pump-98318.html

That's promising. I hoped to find a motor driven pump, but more expense I'm
sure. I'm looking for faster retract also, why the pump.

 

[crewchief888]

OTC has ( had ?) an electric powerpac for their presses and pullers.

last time i saw a price on one was 15 years ago, they were $3500 dealer cost at the time.

 

[bmwpower]

OTC has ( had ?) an electric powerpac for their presses and pullers.

last time i saw a price on one was 15 years ago, they were $3500 dealer cost at the time.

They're on eBay often, around $300-500 or so. Been looking one for my conversion.

 

[e-tek]

Hmmmm.....idea for a new thread....thx.

 

[bacaruda]

I did some looking around and came up dry for the OTC electric pump unit. Do you sall remember a specific model number? Thanks.
Jim.

 

[Txchevy18]

Ive seen power steering pumps used for hydraulics on a log splitter. It seems that would work well enough for your application. A simple v belt pulley on a 1 hp 120v motor and a 3 way control valve and reservoir along with a double acting cylinder would work great or even tie two cylinders together to avoid the center point loading if your using its as mainly a press brake for steel...

Just an idea...

 

[Oz Fry]

I know this is a old thread but I have a pneumatic over hydraulic motorbike lift & I want to convert it to electric over hydraulic.
Can anyone help on how this can be done.
This is the style of jack it has now

Would it be just a case of replacing the pneumatic cylinder with a electric motor? Does the pneumatic cylinder supply oil pressure to the jack or does it supply a rotation to operate the jack?

Cheers.

 

[TheMonge23]

The first idea that pops into my head would be to fashion an electric motor and a piston and pulley system, similar to what a locomotive uses, converting the rotational motion of the electric motor to a linear motion. It would be great fun to figure out if it could be done practically. You would have to do all the math to figure out the work required and the geometry to get the proper stroke for the hand pump.

Again, sounds fun. Not sure that it would be practical at all

 

[slopdog]

Home built . air over hyd 20 ton jack .

 

[PT Doc]

This might give you an idea of cost for a new unit.

http://www.harborfreight.com/50-ton-hydraulic-shop-press-96188.html

Seems like a unit that is rebadged by a few other brands.

 

[Oz Fry]

The first idea that pops into my head would be to fashion an electric motor and a piston and pulley system, similar to what a locomotive uses, converting the rotational motion of the electric motor to a linear motion. It would be great fun to figure out if it could be done practically. You would have to do all the math to figure out the work required and the geometry to get the proper stroke for the hand pump.

Again, sounds fun. Not sure that it would be practical at all

Good idea.
If I can't just replace the pneumatic cylinder with some sort of electric motor I will look at doing that. I haven't pulled it apart yet. I can't find much info online on how it works. I wanna know if the pneumatic cylinder is just a air powered motor or does it supply pressure to the jack?

This is what I have now.

Any help would be great.

Cheers.

 

[03protege]

Good idea.
If I can't just replace the pneumatic cylinder with some sort of electric motor I will look at doing that. I haven't pulled it apart yet. I can't find much info online on how it works. I wanna know if the pneumatic cylinder is just a air powered motor or does it supply pressure to the jack?

Cheers.

I would guess that it works in conjunction with with the hydraulic fluid for three reasons.

1. Air is compressible so you would have to have a rediculously high powered compressor.
2. if you look at the HF Air Hydralic pump you will first notice it is called Air Hydraulic vs simply being Pneumatic.
3. If you look at the specs of the HF pump it says "Operating air pressure: 100-120 PSI" but it also makes mention " It is an ideal power source for various body, frame and alignment applications and can be used with different ram kits, shop presses and hydraulic pullers (not included) that operate up to 10,000 PSI."

Again I don't know much about these but hopefully that helps.

http://www.harborfreight.com/10000-psi-air-hydraulic-pump-98318.html

 

[EDGAR]

Guessing won't get you too far.

The air motor has a big plastic piston inside. This plastic piston pushes a very slim, spring loaded, metal piston. This piston pushes the oil the same way the other hand pumped piston does, only faster.

An electric motor would need to move an oil pump (with attached oil tank), which is usually attached directly to the motor, and that oil pump the would feed oil to a bottle via an hydraulic hose. So you would have to fabricate new mounts for the bottle.

As I understand, you don't seem to want to use the air compressor to raise the bike, but in the end, it is going to be much cheaper to raise the bike with the foot pedal.

Below see pictures of an Omega air pump, similar in function to your pump. Also see an electric powered lift table, similar to what you want. Also, see a typical AC power unit with built in pump and reservoir. Also see a single acting cylinder needed to complete the conversion. The ac power pump, the lift table and the cylinder are from Northern Tools. Of course, you will have to shop around to find the parts that suit your particular conversion.

 

[Oz Fry]

Thanks Edgar. That's what I wanted to know.

I guess I will look into a electric over hydraulic pump & a hydraulic cylinder to replace the jack.
If not I could go with the idea TheMonge23 had.

Cheers.