DIY hydraulic press

As many know my "real job" is welding projects offshore ofter that involves drawing a project that someone else will build. Thanks to Steves post about presses I have decided to draw instructions for the one one I built myself 15 yrs ago. So one could build it or take it to your local weld shop. Heres a start, I'll have it done in a day or two as my time is limited. If your good at puzzles this should git you started lol.

Pretty much the pattern for the old Bonny Doon press from 20-25 years ago by Lee Marshall. (No, we're not related - that I know of?)

Lee sold the company to Phil Poirier some years back and it was moved to NM. He now markets them through Rio Grande...


Brian

Thats cool I didnt know they were still in biz thats is what its patterned after. Im shocked that grs doesnt make them. The jacks that they had have more travel per stroke that you can get from normal bottle jacks. Maybe why there$$$$$$$, mine has 50 ton jack in it and works well

Very very nice thank you so much I have one question your springs run through the inside of the tube?

Could you take some video or some pictures of your process this would make for a great tutorial.

Saludos,

Carlos

Here is an xray veiw, yes the springs are in the uprights, they too are dangerous if they decide to let go! lol had that happen on a stroe bought one. hope this helps

I like your design! Mine works, but yours is a lot better. If I ever have another press made it will be your design, not mine.

griff silver said:

mine has 50 ton jack in it and works well

Click to expand...

Here's one on the Northern Tool website: Torin Hydraulic Bottle Jack — 50 Ton, Model# T95007

IF you put this 50 ton jack into the 6, 12 or 20 ton HF frames, or into Steve's custom made press - someone is gonna get seriously hurt!


For some reason I cannot get the images on here...

Go pick your favorite: https://www.google.com/search?q=Hyd...TG8QHntYDYBA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1469&bih=814


Brian

Brian Marshall said:

IF you put this 50 ton jack into the 6, 12 or 20 ton HF frames, or into Steve's custom made press - someone is gonna get seriously hurt!

Click to expand...

Worker fatally struck by parts ejected from swaging press

my badly abused press, 16 yrs old never painted...shame on me. At one point i converted it to a full on 20 ton hydraulic press that was nice, just pull lever, but since the pump went and I rarely used it I cut all that off and went back manual. any who here it is with the same jack you showed Doc. In light of your recent pic I might add that this press plate is self leveling and that greatly reduces the chance of having stuff "spit" out at you! lol

Lee made me a beefed up press(The BIG Squeeze !),using 2 & 1/2" uprights, 20 something years ago. Blew out his 20 ton junk jack in probably 2 weeks. Then went American with a manual two speed Hein Werner 30 ton. For forming , you can feel and hear when you're maxing the silver, bronze, nickle, etc. BEFORE IT SNAPS! Air over hyd. is too fast when you're pushing the metal to extremes. I also drilled and tapped a quality 10, 000 psi gauge into it. 1st push to 3 k. 2nd to 4k, etc. Doesn't take very many blowouts to figure out the max psi for each metal.

ADD ON
I welded a sleeve to to bottom of the free floating plate to prevent getting off center and no mishaps since !

Brian, I sincerely hope that no-one tries to actually take a Taiwan jack to 50 tons.

"Hello, customer service? My jack just blew up in my face! I only had it up to 15 tons when the cylinder blew. What? You can't understand me? Probably because it broke my jaw and knocked out my teeth just before it snapped my friggin neck. What I need to know, is if you will warranty the jack and send me a new one?".

griff silver: nice of you to post this esp with dimensional parts list. you could build this press with parts from my local junkyard for probably less than 20 bucks, excluding the jack. ymmv

I am sure Griff understands the forces involved and creates sound designs, but the rest of us must be very careful when we dyi.

Over the years when I represented manufacturers in product liability litigation I learned the thousands of ways machines can fail and even more ways people manage to sustain life-changing injuries in spite of the best efforts of the manufacturer. It was enough to make a guy nervous during factory inspections and testing. Even a minor modification or a tiny mistake by the user can have devastating unintended consequences.

I kept a huge library of "lessons learned" that I shared with the Quality Control teams at the factories and the decision-makers at the headquarters of the companies I represented. One entire wall of my library was filled with operator's manuals, parts manuals, shop manuals and testing reports. My clients were required to retain every engineering drawing and change-order for the entire lifespan of the product. Many of the machines I defended were designed and built before I was born, but were still in use in factories around the country and around the world, and every modification must be justified.

Because of such experience, whenever great forces are involved, I prefer to purchase from the best and most experienced manufacturer with the best quality control team. We must learn from the mistakes of others, because life is too short to make all the mistakes ourselves. Some of those mistakes have shortened the lifespan of many people who have gone before us. The loss of the space shuttle was predicted in the "lessons learned" files but was overlooked or ignored by the managers at NASA.

Again, be careful.

By the way, Griff, I like the decision-making chart in the background of your photograph.

I didn't mention it in the other thread but mine also has a ring welded to the bottom center of the platen to keep the jack in the center.

Griff - can you add a couple of bolts through the uprights to keep the plate from going too far down? Buying my jack at Harbor Freight I'm always keeping ease of replacing the jack in mind.

The biggest risks are failure of the frame or the platen tipping and spitting the dies, pieces and parts at you. Usually at a very high velocity...

There are other risks in how you position the die, the work, the way you secure the die or work - and what materials those items are made of.

NEVER use cast iron anything between the platens in a hydraulic press.


Most of the members on this forum are hobbysist engravers, very few are metalsmith/makers.

The inherent risks of hand engraving are completely different and far far fewer than those of metalsmithing.

I really wish that those planning on going down these roads would research - and TAKE some classes.


youtube is great to see how things that go well are done. You will seldom see what happens when they go wrong.

And they do go wrong...


I suspect that youtube videos can show you how to get inside the skull, and most of the brain surgery procedures, but do you really think that qualifies you?


Brian

Brian speaks words of wisdom. I suggest we follow his advice. I would also suggest some sort of barrier guard between you and the work while the pressure is being applied.