Uses for a hydraulic press?

Tonight I used mine to straighten a (fixed) caster which had been overloaded so the forks had bent over to one side. Easy as pie.

I also have recently used mine to press things together and also apart.

My father-in-law brought over a piece of his tractor mower guard which is bent badly. It's made of quite heavy gauge sheet metal, and I'll use the press to straighten it.

I envision using it to straighten out warpage when butt welding two flat bars which I want to stay flat. If the weld warps, I'll straighten it using the press.

Some guys make press brakes and punches from hydraulic presses. I might do that too.

GWE

Pushing pins in or out of holes. Or collars on or off of pins.

Making odd metric Phillips-head screws (like the one that holds the brake disc on a Rabbit) when the carparts store is closed. Make the screw on the lathe, make a conical hole in the head with a center drill. Press a hard Phillips bit into the hole.

Making copper washers for the banjo fittings in a fuel-injection system. Cut a short piece of copper tubing and mash it flat.

Pressing out U-joint bearings. Remember to remove the clip first. The bearing will come out if you forget the clip, but it makes one hell of a bang when it does.

Straightening the shaft of a trolling motor after a collision with a submerged rock.

Holding sheet material on a pattern when hammer forming by hand...

With a little fixturing, materials/fasteners strength tests...

--Not quite what you asked, but I routinely use an ironworker to stamp a logo in my parts..

Ernie Leimkuhler has built what you are proposing.

Cheers,

Kelley

Sometimes works good as a really big, really powerful vise. Don Young

Hey, I like that one.

A hydraulic press is useful for straightening your motorcycle forks too.

If you have any artistic inclinations, poke around on

Bert

SomeBody wrote:

Just out of curiosity..what makes this worth $800 plus dollars?

The fact that most artistic metalsmith types aren't aware that places such as Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, etc. exist? I suppose there is some value to it's small physical size, not reason to take up the space of a 20T floor press if all you do is small stuff. I think they also add a pressure gauge on some so you can keep track of the force exerted.

Pete C.

These artists are depending on these machines. A HF or NT won't cut it when making a 10,000 USD vase out of Sterling Silver.

I have been in his shop - I used to live down hill (physical) from him in Ca. The presses are made there. Nice CNC operation and manual.

Martin

I used mine to straighten the shaft on a hydraulic cylinder before rechroming. Went from about 1/8 inch bend to a couple of thou, which was close enough.

It's also great for destroying bearing cups when putting in universals. At least until I figured out the spiders were .050 too long for the yoke :-)

I don't use mine every day, but it's darn handy when you need it. Paul

He makes the bottle jacks?

Gunner

Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. Benjamin Disraeli

No those come from other sources. The fames and everything else (not pumps) are made in his shop. He has had bottle jack quality issue - but I think that has to be cleared by now. Martin

I use mine quite a bit for pressing bearings. I built one out of scrap metal that does a good job. I needed it in a burry one day and built it in several hours.

Then what makes em worth $800+?

Gunner

They are heavy duty and have accurate position on some of it. Remember the business - pressing silver, gold, and other metals into cups, goblets..... Drawing that out requires precision that is an over and over after setup after setup. It is done in may stages IIRC.

The stuff from Harbor etc are one time setup and placements. The jacks also leak early.

There is a line of products that are aligned behind it as well.

Those are my feelings - I don't know the specifics - not a parter or that close. He did or does read this group but is often very busy making material and taking trips to training classes he teaches.

Martin