One shouldn't use a 20-ton jack with a 12-ton press

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Just sayin'. It doesn't care for it much.



I took it apart, removing the bent parts, and squished a few in a makeshift configuration.



It's heavy as heck moving things back and forth, disassembling, reassembling... But it does an admirable job, I must say.



That little frame isn't going to take much more, though. The signs of stress and strain are there. Off to Harbor Freight tomorrow. Again. For a 20-ton press.


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[N3UW]

amazing the forces. To make it easier to lift the metal plate. I put some 1/4" threaded rod down so that the plate lifted up with the jack. Made the movement easier,

[Chris In Milwaukee]

That's my plan when I pick up the new press this afternoon. I need to make it easy to flip the plate over. I saw that you're using 3/4" or 1" plate. I think mine is 1/2" or maybe 5/8". It's showing signs of bending under pressure. I flipped it over once during pressing with the larger jack. May have to weld some stiffeners on it, similar to the one seen in the EAA video you referenced.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Now we're seriously in business :-)



Big mean, squishing machine.


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[Chris In Milwaukee]

Following John's lead, I suspended the plate with some 5/16" x 6" carriage bolts and nuts to hold them to the plate. Carriage bolts are great because the won't chew up the rubber mat. Because I only have 1/2" plates, and they were showing signs of bending, I placed one of the arbor plates that came with the press between the piston and the plate. Hopefully this will spread out the forces and keep things a bit more even. The bolts went through the bar and were joined to a pair of 2" eye bolts with a rod-coupling nut, making a perfect-height assembly. Lastly, I drilled the hydraulic jack base and bolted it to the press mounting plate, lest the thing become a 70-pound missile under 20 tons of pressure should something slip.







Now it's time to get back to work!



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[Deftone]

I see the 20 ton is on sale at harbor freight next week for $129.99 (if I remember correctly). Is it worth picking one up over a smaller unit?

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Absolutely! If you're going to press ribs, go straight for the 20-ton. Figures it would go on sale more after I bought it! Currently "on sale" for $199.00