# Shop Press.



## aametalmaster

Here is a shop press project that has been ongoing for the last 17 years or so. I started it cutting and punching all the metal. Then i got side tracked with my train bridges so it sat for about 15 years in the corner. Then one night my daughter came home and said they wanted 80 bucks to press a new wheel bearing in her car. I jumped up and said wait a few hours i will do it. So i went to my lathe and made up the split block to hold the jack and proceded to weld up the frame. Then next day it was done. The orig 6T jack worked fine as long as my torch was handy to heat up some of the parts but i thought 12T would be better. I really didn't want to stress the frame with a 20T since the reason i started this press i forgot long ago. So move ahead 2 years i had bought a 12T jack and had the split blocks made to hold it to the top of the press i just needed to swap it all out. Since this was a long weekend and its too cold to feed the fish i headed to the garage. Just had to drill some new mounting holes and make some clamps with my shaper to hold the base of the jack to the plate and its done again. Now i am working on some more quick change tooling for smaller shafts since i am doing some bearing salvage. More pics of that to come.
Another feature of this press is its going to double as a hoist frame to lift my 2 bigger lathes on their feet. The press bed and bottom plate are bolted in so i can remove them with the jack. Then i can straddle my lathe bed and with a 1/2T chain hoist attached to the top of the press frame i can safely lift my heavy parts. Enjoy. ???? just ask...Bob


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## PurpLev

nice build. looks heavy duty. what do you find that this will be used for mainly in your shop?


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## aametalmaster

PurpLev said:


> nice build. looks heavy duty. what do you find that this will be used for mainly in your shop?



I press in about 25 keyways with my broach set in pulleys i make every year. I was borrowing my buddies press since mine wasn't done. And i press in/out u joints in drive shafts since i custom make them i need to remove the old u joints first. And the neighbors just love that i have a press so they can bring over their parts...Bob


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## Ray C

I can't speak for the OP but, you can't live life w/o a good press if you do broaching (which I find myself doing a lot of).  Also good for the occasional stuck part -that won't fit in the vise or that you don't want to bang on w/ a hammer.  BTW:  I have home-made benchtop version of something very similar and it gets used a lot.



PurpLev said:


> nice build. looks heavy duty. what do you find that this will be used for mainly in your shop?


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## PurpLev

thanks for the responses. always thought of arbor presses when thinking 'broaching'. I guess this press would makes things easier.


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## aametalmaster

PurpLev said:


> thanks for the responses. always thought of arbor presses when thinking 'broaching'. I guess this press would makes things easier.



I have 2 arbor presses and never used either of them. I am going to mount the #0 Famco on the side of this press and a vise on the other end...Bob


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## aametalmaster

Here is my little #0 Famco press i have had for about 10 years. Bought it off ebay for 12 bucks missing the bed plate. I cut one out of 4" stock and will finish it. Tomorrow i will make a bracket to hang this little press on the side of the shop press...Bob


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## Ray C

Bob's press is great looking -nice and heavy duty which makes easy work of difficult tasks.  Here's a smaller home made job that works well for the size stuff typical in my shop.  It mounts on the end of the bench and is easily removed.  It's all made of 1x2 heavy wall tube stock, left-overs from a job.  The return springs are pieces of an old garage door spring.    I have a couple different base plates for different purposes.  Like Bob, just tossing some ideas out there on how simple these things are -yet very useful.  Do note however, when something is under a couple tons of pressure, it can come flying out (causing injury) if things aren't lined up. It's important to use the right kind of fixtures.


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## Tamper84

Very nice presses!!!! What are the dimensions on the metal you used?

Chris


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## aametalmaster

Tamper84 said:


> Very nice presses!!!! What are the dimensions on the metal you used?
> 
> Chris



Just happen to have them  ...Bob


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## Ray C

The smaller benchtop press was put together on-the-fly so I don't have drawings but, it measures 20" x 40".   It weighs about 40-50lbs w/o the bottle jack.  The main construction is 1x2", 1/8" wall, construction-grade tube stock.  Construction grade material is called A36 which is mild steel -a crude version of 1018.  There's a few corner plates and tabs of 1/4" thick, A36 flatstock.   The tubes were butted together, welded every few inches and ground flat at the places that need to be flat.  -Nothing special at all.  I used the Machinist's Handbook to approximate it's capacity and even with a huge margin of error, it should be good for 4 tons -probably more but, few things need that kind of force.  I think the bottle jack is a 6 or 8 ton -it was on sale and cheaper than the smaller ones. Here's a couple more photos that show basic construction.

EDIT:  The corner welds and welds on the bottom bar are important.  Those were2 passes of 1/8", 7018 rod -hot -probably 125 amps.  7018 is the perfect for that kind of strong weld.



Tamper84 said:


> Very nice presses!!!! What are the dimensions on the metal you used?
> 
> Chris


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## aametalmaster

Chris you look to be about 2 hrs from me. Looks like down Rt7 from here...Bob


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## HMF

Ok, nice presses but I have a really _stupid _question.

Can you please show me how you would use a press like that, either the arbor press like Bob's or the 12T shop press to get a bearing on and off?

I am going to need to do that shortly  and have no fricken clue.  :nuts:

Thanks.


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## Ray C

Is the bearing pressed onto a shaft or fit inside a sleeve?




Nelson said:


> Ok, nice presses but I have a really _stupid _question.
> 
> Can you please show me how you would use a press like that, either the arbor press like Bob's or the 12T shop press to get a bearing on and off?
> 
> I am going to need to do that shortly  and have no fricken clue.  :nuts:
> 
> Thanks.


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## aametalmaster

Nelson here is some i just did and took a pic. A guy gave me a bucket of these garage door motor parts and i wanted to save the bearings. So i turned a shaft to fit thru the bearing to push it off. The bearing is held by 2 bars so it will slide off under pressure. 

I just did the wheel bearings on my Geo but i didn't get pics. I use one of the long shafts to fit thru the bigger holed rear bearing to push out the front bearing. Then flipped the hub over and pushed out the rear one with a bigger dia shaft. Hope this helps...Bob


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## Ray C

Bob's got you covered.  The main thing is to use fixtures (usually hollow pipes or solid shafts) to press onto either the journal or race part of the bearing.  The journal is the inside round ring that the shaft goes through.  The race is the outer ring that overs the ball bearing.  Never put pressure on the ball bearings and never use pressure on the outer race to effect a force on the inner race (or vise-versa).

When putting a bearing on a shaft, the bearing race diameter is fixed so the shaft tolerance is usually +0.0000, -0.0005.  When fitting an outer race into a sleeve, the outer race is the fixed size and the sleeve tolerance is usually +0.0005, -0.0000.    Some of the stuff I do are "crush fit" so, the shaft has to be frozen and bearing heated (below anealing point) to sweat the parts together.  I typically hate those.


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## Tamper84

Thank you Bob and Ray!  Bob yep I'm right down rt7. Someone actually kinda close to me lol. 

Thank You,
Chris


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## aametalmaster

Tamper84 said:


> Thank you Bob and Ray!  Bob yep I'm right down rt7. Someone actually kinda close to me lol.
> 
> Thank You,
> Chris



I will be going that way sometime soon. My wife has family in Longbottom (Pop 15) about an hour below Marietta on Rt 7. Maybe i will see ya on the way by...Bob


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## Tamper84

Make sure you honk your horn going thru Clarington. I'm sure ill hear it lol. Or I will be at work, I work at Ormet, you'll drive right past it. 


Chris


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## aametalmaster

Built a tooling rack and a bearing splitter...Bob


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## PurpLev

nice!


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## Starlight Tools

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/3895-Tool-gloat?highlight=famco


In this thread I showed a set of plans to make the bearing splitter I use daily along with my Arbor Press and Fixtures for it.  In the cabinets are a series of sleeve that are used to support or press items and shafts.  Special fixtures for holding special applications etc.

I find the Arbor Press way more handy than the H Frame Press, but then on a 50 Ton Press, by the time the needle on the pressure guage registers, you have already done major damage  

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...ion-the-Tool-Addicts-Prayer?highlight=forgive

Walter


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## aametalmaster

Nice link Walter...Bob


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## xalky

Heres another little handy accesorie, a press brake, for the shop press. I made the one in this link: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...-a-hydraulic-Shop-Press?highlight=press+brake


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## aametalmaster

Finally got some of my tooling hung in the rack. I had to bore some 1" nuts out to 1" to fit the shafts of my spuds because they just fell thru the 1" holes in the rack...Bob


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## aametalmaster

Picked up this press plate on ebay. Made from 410 SS with 15 holes. The largest is 2". Will work great with my little arbor press also...Bob


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## Starlight Tools

aametalmaster said:


> Picked up this press plate on ebay. Made from 410 SS with 15 holes. The largest is 2". Will work great with my little arbor press also...Bob



Bob

Amazing what others will pay for somebodies "Swiz Cheese BooBoo's" LOL

Actually looks like a handy set up. 

I have a similar one that was supplied by Milwaukee as one of their "Service Fixtures" It is a 4" x 10" x 1" plate with six holes ranging from 0.329" to 1.260"

The other one is a 110 mm Diameter disc x 25 mm thick that has holes ranging from 10 mm to 28 mm in 2 mm steps. On the back side is a series of holes for a detent spring and ball. This was from a Drill Guide System from Mafell. I find this one quite usefull and rarely ever have it on the drill guide. LOL

Walter


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## aametalmaster

I needed to make a bending punch so i did it like it would have been done 55 years ago. With my lathe and shaper. Enjoy...Bob
http://s110.beta.photobucket.com/us...rt=3&o=0&_suid=135629250537505952858634814739


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## aametalmaster

Forgot the pics...Bob


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## Tamper84

Neat Bob!! What kind of shaper is that? I need to get up around your area and check out the machinery for sale. 


Chris


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## aametalmaster

Tamper84 said:


> Neat Bob!! What kind of shaper is that? I need to get up around your area and check out the machinery for sale.
> 
> 
> Chris



Its a South Bend 7". I would love a bigger 11" or 12" one but when i find them i am broke...Bob


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## aametalmaster

joelaycheck said:


> When building a press for the shop, say using a 12 or 20 ton bottle jack, how should the business end of the ram be made.
> Or what is the best way to hold attachments to the ram such as brake press attachments and such.



Here is how my jack is held to the top of the press. With a split collar. It is machined to fit the end of the jack, drilled and then cut in half. The tooling is held in a round chunk of metal with a 1" bored hole in the center and a bolt/handle to hold it in. Thats how i did mine and have seen different ways.


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## aametalmaster

Here i am bending 90 degrees a piece of 3/8 x 2 1/2 HR flat bar for fun...Bob


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## Tamper84

She does the job well Bob!!!

Chris


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## Philco

Here's a couple of modifications that I made to my store bought press that has made it more enjoyable to use. The 1st problem that I was having was the press would try to kick off to one side & would not press straight down. The original press had two thin tubes for guides & were pretty much useless. I added the channel piece of steel for the jack to set on, then I added the two pieces of channel on the sides. I drilled & tapped the side channels & ran the bolts in to zero out any loose motion. The 2nd problem was when I was trying to raise or lower the press plate base. When changing the pins out to a different hole, I could see the front hole to start the pin into, but I would have to fiddle with the pin to align the back hole. I added some angle iron as guides for the pins ,now the pins self align to the blind hole. The pictures will explain it better than I can describe it. I hope this is a benefit to someone,
Phil


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## 12bolts

Thanks Philco,
I am currently in the planning stages of building a press, and thats a couple of good suggestions right there. Did you shape the ends of the guide adjustment bolts at all? Have you noticed any gouging/marring of where the bolt tips contact?

Cheers Phil


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## Philco

12bolts said:


> Thanks Philco,
> I am currently in the planning stages of building a press, and thats a couple of good suggestions right there. Did you shape the ends of the guide adjustment bolts at all? Have you noticed any gouging/marring of where the bolt tips contact?
> 
> Cheers Phil



Phil,I did round the tip of the bolts on a belt sander. I used grade 8 bolts but I don't know if it would matter if you used a softer Bolt or not. I don't have any gauging.
Another thing that I did was weld some thin metal on the side of the press to give the added side channels something "slick" to slide on. I added some thin cardboard like a cereal box to each side & then installed the two side channels & clamped them to the two press uprights before I started welding.when I finished welding, I removed the cereal box card board to give a slight clearance on each side to keep from binding on the way back up. I hope this makes sense as I'm not very good at explaining my thoughts sometimes.


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## OlCatBob

Philco,

I don't think you are giving yourself enough credit, you explained quite clearly. Also, those are great mods on your press; I like both solutions. Very dangerous when something comes flying out at even 5 tons of pressure.  Your pin-hole aligners are brilliant; no way the pins cannot line-up with the holes.
Good job!
Bob


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## jgedde

aametalmaster said:


> Here is a shop press project that has been ongoing for the last 17 years or so. I started it cutting and punching all the metal. Then i got side tracked with my train bridges so it sat for about 15 years in the corner. Then one night my daughter came home and said they wanted 80 bucks to press a new wheel bearing in her car. I jumped up and said wait a few hours i will do it. So i went to my lathe and made up the split block to hold the jack and proceded to weld up the frame. Then next day it was done. The orig 6T jack worked fine as long as my torch was handy to heat up some of the parts but i thought 12T would be better. I really didn't want to stress the frame with a 20T since the reason i started this press i forgot long ago. So move ahead 2 years i had bought a 12T jack and had the split blocks made to hold it to the top of the press i just needed to swap it all out. Since this was a long weekend and its too cold to feed the fish i headed to the garage. Just had to drill some new mounting holes and make some clamps with my shaper to hold the base of the jack to the plate and its done again. Now i am working on some more quick change tooling for smaller shafts since i am doing some bearing salvage. More pics of that to come.
> Another feature of this press is its going to double as a hoist frame to lift my 2 bigger lathes on their feet. The press bed and bottom plate are bolted in so i can remove them with the jack. Then i can straddle my lathe bed and with a 1/2T chain hoist attached to the top of the press frame i can safely lift my heavy parts. Enjoy. ???? just ask...Bob



I really like the interchangable ram rods!  I may just have to retrofit my store bought press with this feature!

John


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## jgedde

aametalmaster said:


> Here i am bending 90 degrees a piece of 3/8 x 2 1/2 HR flat bar for fun...Bob



Why?  Oh wait, I know...  Because you can! :whistle: She's got some oomph for sure... :winner:

John


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## pineyfolks

I added a pointer to my press to help make repeated bends and a scale attached with magnets for a depth gauge


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## Tamper84

Very nice pineyfolks. Just out of couriousity would you be from out around Piney Fork?

Chris


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## pineyfolks

Tamper84 said:


> Very nice pineyfolks. Just out of couriousity would you be from out around Piney Fork?
> 
> Chris


That's where I'm at, out in the sticks and nice and quiet.


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## Tamper84

Prefect place to be. I used to run around out there and around Smithfield. 

Chris


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## fastback

Nice presses, I have 3 ton arbor, a 1 ton arbor, and a 12 ton hydraulic but non are home made.  Yes sir, very im-press-ive.


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## Uglydog

Like the bearing splitter idea!



aametalmaster said:


> Built a tooling rack and a bearing splitter...Bob


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## aametalmaster

Here are some parts i welded at work yesterday from 3/8" plate and they bent like a bananna but i knew they would. My buddy said just hit em with a sledge. Nope too much work. So i hauled them home and put them on 4" riser blocks in my press and flattened them right out...Bob


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