What do you do, with a shop press?

Lanse

Well-known Member
Good evening, everyone!

So, I've recently thought about building a smaller press for my shop. Spsificcally, I was making a rectangle from 1/8" sheet metal, 8" wide, and I thought it would be cool to be able to bend the corners on it, instead of having to cut and re-weld everything. That would've saved some time, and probably looked "cleaner" so to speak...

I know that a lot of people have a press, and I've had a number of folks over the years tell me that I could really use one...

I think it'd be a fun build!

So, I'm asking of you guys, as I consider taking this on:

1) If you do have a shop press, what do you use it for? What have you done with it, in the recent past?

2) If you've ever made one, or know someone that has, any "if I had to do it again..." tips?

Thanks guys...
 
Mostly pressing on and off bearings. Sometimes straightening things.

I made mine out of bits of channel, I beam, angle iron and a pile of 1 1/8 round h.r. that was laying around.

The uprights are made out of the round, 3 on each side. The channel (6" if I remember right) pieces are pierced by the round elements and welded 360 on each hole. There's 3 pairs of channel pieces.
The I beams (2 pieces) sit on top of the channel and span to each side. The top is spanned by two heavy 4" angle iron pieces welded on the bottom to an 1" X 2" thick bar and a piece of the round on top.

You adjust the height by moving the i-beam up or down on different channel pairs. The in between adjustment is taken care of by more short I-beam pieces that sit 90 degree to the other i-beam. I have pieces of 1 inch plate to set the work on or between and a whole pile of bits of pipe and spacers and brass and aluminum blocks to do the work with.

Motivation is with a 20 ton hydraulic jack. The jack sits on a platform suspended by 2 hood springs so that it will retract automatically when you release hydraulic pressure. Welded under the jack platform is a pitman shaft from a steering box that died an honorable death on the local dirt track. That's what actually touches the parts. The whole jack platform is guided by the middle round piece on each upright.

It's sounds odd, and it is IN FACT odd! But it works very well.
This is the kind of stuff you come up with when you're poor but have lots of junk to work with.

Major height adjustments are a little cumbersome but not difficult. That's the only part I might do differently.
 
I bought one from northern Tool about 25 years ago, 20 ton jack and for what I paid I couldn't build one. Use it for pressing all kinds of bearings, rebuilding water pumps, straightening and bending, I wouldn't be without it.
 
Got a 50 ton KR Wilson, made in 1942. Use it mostly for breaking stuff for me and the neighbors!
Seriously, it's very handy. Pressing bearings, seals (it has integral arbor press too) bending, straightening, braking metal.
Also good for hanging log chains, come-alongs, and stuff off of!

Best advice I can offer if building one, is to keep everything square, straight, and rigid! A press lacking those elements is worthless, and can be dangerous too!
 
If you haven't already check youtube. I have seen different styles there.
If you build a hole punch you can save on drill bits. You can build dies to form things from sheet steel with fiberglass over scrap steel pieces imbedded. With your imagination you will find more things to us a press for than we could suggest. I have both a 30 ton and a 50 ton and hardly ever use the 30 ton.

AllisBFinaldrivecasting3-vi.jpg
 
We use ours for shooting bent pins across the shop, straightening mistakes and pressing bearings. Its only a 12 ton, not as handy as the 50 ton we had at the shop.
 
My dad made the one we use in the early 80's when he was teaching welding. It has a 20 ton ram on it. It is made completely out of channel iron with the appropriate bracing. He even set it up so the ram can move side to side on the top frame on a roller. The table height is a simple spur gear reduction, no sure where he got the gears but I know they were salavage out of something. The table has two cables around pulleys tied to the drum to raise and lower it. A series of holes in the uprights allow pins to be moved up or down to adjust the table height, in addition to that the table is 8" channel iron and has holes drilled that line up with the uprights to allow finer height adjustments if necessary. Plus on the side he mounted an arbor press for the lighter work.
It is a very handy versital press that is overbuilt to say the least. Use it for all sorts of press work, gears and bearings on and off shafts, u-joints both directions, etc...

We also have a 100 ton press, but that is a bit overkill most of the time, not to meantion it is a bit cumbersome, but it gets the job done. Had the neighbor bring over about 6 cylinders off his tilt tail trailer that he couldn't get the pins out of. One pin took 60 tons to break loose and over 20 to keep it moving.
 
I've got a 40 ton Van Norman I bought reasonable at auction. Didn't really think I needed it, but it was a pretty good deal.

I use it for the normal bearings and u-joints and such. I find it most handy for straightening bent stuff....shafts, bars, even flat plate. Nice to have some precision control when tweaking on something. Much better than the BFH.
 
If you do built one or find one ? I bet you could sure make use of a set of dies to make it into a metal brake.
When in High School Ag mech. a classmate built a set of dies to use in a press. I think he formed up some tractor steps with tool boxes built into them.
I use a el cheapo press from Harbor Freight. only 10 ? ton but I have not found anything I could not get apart. Sure been worth every penny of the $99.00 I spent ! I had to strengthen it in a couple of areas though but it looks like the newer ones they may of redesigned to work better.
Enough power to get the job done and not TOO much that you always break stuff that is not done right.
 
I make reproduction parts with mine. There is a lot of work on them done out of the press but couldn't do the main parts without it. Hydraulic power is much better than a jack if you plan to do a lot with it.
a175781.jpg

a175782.jpg
 
Well....If a guy has the press frame with a hydraulic powered ram you can put dies in it and do tryouts, press out bearings, straighten shafts, tons and tons of stuff you can do with one.
 
Thank you. It takes a while to make one cover but it is nice when you see one at a show and cant tell if it is an original or not. That is the way I like it.
 
We used to have a 200 ton horizontal where I retired
from, you could really break (destroy) some big stuff
in that! Some dummies would just stand there and hold
the button down!
 
Alan, you can certainly do some nice work. I have something I would like to discuss with you as your example is similar to what I have been working with. My email is open if you would like to converse on this further - thanks for a response, Hal.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top