Just acquired a 12 ton hyd. press, besides bushings, bearings and gears what other hot rod/bike/fab. uses have you guys found for a press? thanks-
Pressing hubs out of finned Buick drums. Pressing axle bearings on and off. Pressing sleeves out of rubber grommets (leaf spring bushings) Rebuilding water pumps Rebuilding transmissions I've got a friend who recreated the entire clutch and brake pedal ***embly for his Factory Appearing/Stock Tire '67 GTX out of aluminum; He set two pieces of solid stock a couple inches apart, laid a piece of aluminum plate across the top of them, put a piece of 2-inch pipe on top of the plate and pressed down to give the aluminum plate a gentle curve; Then he cut the plate until he had the brake and clutch pedals, welded them to the aluminum arms, put the rubber pads on them, and had a complete aluminum clutch and brake pedal set-up that looked factory and shaved a couple pounds off his car. I haven't built a trans, or a rear end, but for front end rebuilds alone, it's worth having in the shop. As a hobbiest, you'll use it two or three times a year--but it's WELL worth having for those couple times! It beats the hell out of stopping a project midway through, trying to find a shop that will do the odd job for you, driving there to drop it off and pick it up during their business hours, and paying them to do something that would have taken you 15 minutes. -Brad
I'm in the market for one - if I come across one at the right price. I had a carrier bearing pressed on a year ago ($20) and just had the bearing adapters pressed onto my Dubble A spindles (another $20), so I figure it's time to find one. If I had it, I'd use it more often rather than trying so hard to do things the hard way.
They're good for breaking **** when you're not paying attention to what you're doing. Good thing it's only a 12 ton......a 50 ton shop press will break some serious ****! Seriously, what do you want to do with it? Might be easier to come up with what it can do. Bending metal, taking stuff apart, putting stuff together, shattering cast aluminum................it'll do all of it. Tim D.
Like any good tool in time you will wonder how you ever got by without it. I just used mine to bend some tight radii sections of frame rail - as I'm not a fan of pie cuts when they get real close to one another. Using the press - it allowed me to minimize the weld area and still get a professional looking job. You'll likely find yourself doing alot more on yours than you would ever guess.
Nothing like the sound of metal flying right before it hits you in the groin. Enjoy your press and let's be careful out there!
I made this press brake to put in my press. This one is 12" and I also made a 30". My 50 ton press will bend up to 1/4" with this setup. I use them alot!! Jeff
Did he take photos? That process could be applied to make all kinds of parts, and would make a really good tech article.
There have been posts using one to press shapes into sheetmetal using simple dies... And household chores...I taught one of my daughters when she was about six to use the press on empty soda cans. They take up a lot less room in recycling after 12 tons... and mashing'em one by one is more entertaining and educational than watching TV.
I think it would be a good idea. Then you can tuck it away. Many times you need it out away from the wall to get a peice in it. Wheels would be good but I would tie the leggs together at the bottom if they are not already. Jeff
i hope you're joking! i remember on the news sometime back, when some big explosion or something happenedin a manufacturing facility, and the news person was all excited "the blast threw this 200 TON PRESS way over there!" ****, a buick can weigh more than a 200 ton press!
Your right about that. My brothers 100 ton probably weighs less than a thousand pounds, but the 200 ton at work says it weighs 26000 lbs. Brothers has a 30" throat. Work one will handle a 10' piece.
I would just make sure the legs are long enough to keep it from flopping forward or backward as you put pressure on the jack handle. It would **** to be pulling down on the handle as the press gets tight - up around 6 tons or so - and then flops forward onto you. Just my opinion...
Again it's one of those tools you do quite a bit with. I mainly use mine for dimple dies. Sometimes to make curved washers to follow the contour of a tube. Pressing in and out delrin bushings for 4 links. As for the casters I wouldn't recommend it. However to move it you could set up a pair of wheels off the back of the frame that sits higher than the base. When you need to move it just tilt it slightly to get the weight on the wheels. Again just better to put it in the corner of the shop.
One problem with wheels is that it'll always be a little tippy, because no floor is perfectly level. That's why I put 3-inch diameter machine leveling feet on the bottom of mine. Mine sits up by the wall-the work surface is about 12-18 inches away from the wall, if I push the back feet tight up against the wall. Almost all your work is going to be "short" work--you'll rarely have anything so wide that it hits the wall behind the press. For those very rare times, just pull it out from the wall. Also, if you have casters on the bottom, the machine is going to want to move around a little while you're working on it. I detest shop equipment that moves or flexes when you're using it. Even with brakes on the wheels, I think the machine is going to move a little bit--either the casters will swivel, the back ones won't have a brake on them, etc. Think of what the biggest thing you're going to feed into the press, and then decide if it would stick out the back side of it. I can't think of much--certainly not enough to justify trying to make it mobile. Just my opinion. -Brad
OH oh oh... I just had an idea about the wheel setup... follow me here.. Put the wheels on a piece of flat stock the same width as the floor legs, but put the casters about 6" or so inboard (toward the center) of the legs. Hinge the flat piece to the legs so that it will fold up flat against the vertical leg. Make these pieces be about 6" longer than it would be to the center of the press if they were laying down against the floor. Envision an upside down "T". To move the press, lay these 'wheeled legs' down where the 2 pieces would overlap, then insert a post between the press and these legs. Operate the press to push down on these wheeled legs, effectively lifting the machine to move it across the shop wherever. Thoroughly confused? Hell, I think I am too....
Cool idea! Might be overcomplicated.........but, then again, I can't even put my idea on this into words right now..................... Tim D.
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