11" 1957-2 Refurb

[dcsims]

MBfrontier,
I used an alkyd enamel from TSC (tractor supply). It's basically farm implement paint. Colors were IH white (basically a light almond) and MF grey. I've had really good luck with alkyd enamels if they're done right. They take a long time to cure and really do best with a primer (but they're usable without). I really like the grey as its dark with a lot of green in it and looks "vintage". I just finished my 20 ton press and did it in the same grey.
View attachment 185787
View attachment 185788


I must say, I'm a little jealous of your Logan! It has everything that I'm missing: 55" bed, the cabinet I prefer, and a VFD! I also like that belt tensioning mechanism on the drive unit better. Mine seems a little hokey.

What jack are you using that will work in an inverted position?

Dennis

 

[Dmp2275]

THANK YOU!!! Thank you for posting these detailed photos in your build thread. (You did an impeccable job by the way) I was given a Peerless 1/2hp and couldn't find the proper wiring diagram for 120v "LOW VOLTS". I wired it in the "HIGH VOLTS" configuration and put 120v to it and it worked so I knew that I had the wrong "LOW VOLTS" diagram. You saved me some money and a bunch of time by not having to run 240v in my garage.

Glad to be of help!

What jack are you using that will work in an inverted position?

Dennis

Hey Dennis,
I saw the conversation you sent over but wanted to give feedback publicly to help anyone else looking around. I used a harbor freight 20 ton air over hydraulic. The purpose for using this jack was the super low cost and ease of availability. I had to modify it to function inverted and didn’t want to ruin a more expensive bottle jack.. in order to use it inverted, you basically have to disassemble the jack and insert tubes into the suction ports that are found in the jacks base plate. I drilled the orifices out enough to press fit a section of brake tube, reassembled, and refilled the jack. It works fine inverted afterwards. You can find instructions on this modification online and most any brand of bottle jack is constructed similarly. Your mileage may vary considering the origin/quality of these.


I also wanted to add an update correcting one of my earlier comments during the lathe refurb.. I had mentioned how bad the hand brake sucked.. after replacing it with a proper piece of quality leather (3/4” strapping from McMaster) it actually works really well! Apparently some grease had leaked out of my rear spindle bearing (since the caged bearings aren’t fully sealed and I had repacked them with a bit more grease than necessary) which ended up soiling the first piece of leather. I ended up replacing the spindle bearings with sealed units last fall (skf front and nochi rear) and haven’t had any issues with the leather brake, since! It’s turned into a handy feature as I use the lathe more.

 

[dcsims]

I thought you must have added a dip tube to pick up the oil with the jack inverted but wanted to be sure. I saw where Harbor Freight said they would work either vertical or horizontal but that doesn't apply to inverted.

I built the frame for a press over twenty years ago but balked at the cost of hydraulic ram when I priced them. I was shooting for 50 to 75 tons. Now that I am old and retired I don't think I would need that much pressure. I will go for the 30 ton HF jack and be happy. Now the frame will get some use other than just being in the way and collecting dust.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Dennis

 

[Dmp2275]

I thought you must have added a dip tube to pick up the oil with the jack inverted but wanted to be sure. I saw where Harbor Freight said they would work either vertical or horizontal but that doesn't apply to inverted.

I built the frame for a press over twenty years ago but balked at the cost of hydraulic ram when I priced them. I was shooting for 50 to 75 tons. Now that I am old and retired I don't think I would need that much pressure. I will go for the 30 ton HF jack and be happy. Now the frame will get some use other than just being in the way and collecting dust.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Dennis

Welcome! Not sure if you’ve had one of the bottle jacks apart but It really Is a fairly simple assembly. I forgot to add that I think (it’s been 2+ years now) that I had to add 2 pickups to the jack, one for the manual operation and one for air over hydraulic. I believe this one had 2 different suction ports.

I’ve used mine a ton and I’m always pretty impressed with how much work you can do with 20tons of pressure. I even made a 30” wide press brake and have bent some 1/4” plate for various projects.

Just a side note, I also took the time to drill and tap into the high pressure port and install a 10k psi gauge. This allows me to judge tonnage by calculating the pressure reading by piston diameter. Because my frame is so beefy and I work on some fairly large stuff, I figured the possibility was there to overload the jack. That being said, I rarely see over 2k psi when pressing bearings and normal stuff. Even using the break I don’t seem to get near 20 tons for the stuff I’m working on.

 

[dcsims]

Thanks for the further explanation, I watched a couple of U-Tube videos and figured there must be two ports on the air over hydraulic. That is the route I will most likely take also. I just don't like pumping the handle that much but it would be nice to use air to move the ram down and load up the pressure then use the manual handle to ease up on the pressure.

I built my frame years ago and used I-beam that has 1/2 to 5/8 web so the frame would stand 100 tons but when I priced the hydraulic ram that was designed for a shop press it would break the bank so I just stopped at that point. Now years latter I will settle for the 20 ton HF jack which will be more than enough to press on bearings.

Thanks for all your help,

Dennis