Workshop Press

[12bolts]

The frame was based on most existing press’ with a basic H design, and pins to secure the working table position. The height was what I thought seemed a suitable working height for the average home shop, and the width was based on some scrap structural steel I had laying around. The uprights are 125 x 125 x 8 mm angle, (welded together to make a U section), the cross head is 250 x 150 x 15 mm I-beam, the feet are off cuts from the uprights and the platen is some more of the uprights. I will apologise upfront for the lack of construction pictures, I thought I took a bunch but they seem to have disappeared between the camera and the computer so mostly you get shots of the completed press.

I started by marking out my pieces on the 12m! length of 125 mm angle. Man that was a bear to move around before I started hacking it into manageable chunks. The uprights were also plated with 90 x 8 mm flat bar in the area of the adjustment holes to give a bit more meat.

The construction started by drilling the 90 x 8 flat bar with a hole spacing of 150 mm for its length. I tack welded the stack of 4 together to keep the holes all aligned. I just put a 3mm pilot hole through the stack and then separated them all and welded them in position to each upright. Then I followed the pilot holes through with the full size, 22 mm hole, giving me my 2 pairs of angle with nice accurately matched and spaced holes. Then back to the welder to tack the pairs together and hopefully keep all the holes in line. At this point I decided to pause the upright construction and get the platen, (moveable table) built, so I could use it for testing the hole layout.
Managed to find the 1 and only build in process pic!
Because it fits inside the channel formed by the uprights I needed to reduce the width of the table by 20 mm.

I sliced 10 mm from each of the 2 mating edges of the 125 angle. It differs slightly in construction in that I have a solid work top with an opening cut out instead of the more usual 2 flat bars that give a full width open working area.

We shall see if that becomes a hassle down the track but so far it worked out fine. The platen was reinforced with a piece of 100 x 20 mm flat bar laminated to the inside of each vertical side of the angle and again cross ways at either end of the cut out hole.

I had managed to accurately match the pin hole spacings so I was now able to jury rig the uprights and the table and try it out in each position. Success! Time now to weld it together properly. The legs were stitched for the full length, alternating on the inside and out. I did temporary brace it while welding and jumped back and forth from end to end, also partly welded 1, then the other, and did it over 2 days to reduce the heat build-up. Seemed to work ok as it didn’t move much at all.

 

[12bolts]

The cross head was next, with my short piece of big I beam. It had been flame cut off something years back so a bit of work to clean up and square the ends with a grinder. Because the I beam was being used on its side, (that orientation suited my uprights) I strong backed it with 2 lengths of smaller, (150 x 75 x 10 mm) I beam side by side.

With the cross head upside down and levelled, I stood the 2 uprights in place, perpendicular, and adjusted them for hole parallelism, tacked it together with lots of bracing, tested the platen inside it again, and when I was happy I welded it all up. Then it was just a matter of flipping it right side up and adding some feet to get it level on the ground.
The uprights only work in tension so there shouldn’t be any tendency for them to buckle, but there may be some torque in the tension so I welded a couple of solid pins at the top and bottom of the upright working area near the outer edges to reduce any tendency for the sides to twist. As a safety measure I also added a couple of solid pins to the platen at its outer lips to stop any flex during pressing, although how much there would be in that beefed up lump I really don’t know.

I added a small winch to make moving the platen easier. Initially I looked at fitting the winch inside the platen and running the cables up each leg but with the limited space after filling the cavity with all that 20mm thick flat bar it ended up going inside the frame in the top left corner. It’s up out of the way, easy to operate and the cables are run neatly down each leg.

The pins are 21.5 mm hardened steel, and because everything is a pretty close fit they require a bit of twisting to install and remove. To that end I cast a couple of ally hand grips onto each pin to make the job easier.

At the moment it only has a 10 T bottle jack mounted on a temporary bracket but I have sourced a hydraulic ram that I am hoping I can fit in its place. I have a piston pump to operate the ram, and looking to make or scrounge an actuator to make it operate via a foot valve. I think I can get the ram to produce about 20 T, but based on my knowledge, (limited) and experience, and looking at whats available to buy in a retail store press, I think it would satisfactorily handle 50 T. The pins would probably want changing out for heavier ones but everything else I would be happy with.

All up weight is close to 200 kg and the $$ cost minimal. The 125 x 125 angle and drops of I beam were free, the jack I already had, I needed to buy the 90 x 8, and the 100 x 20 flat bar, and the winch. It’s already performed a few jobs admirably and it’s a lot easier than using a hammer or my vice to press stuff in and out.
If anybody wants a better description or drawing of anything just ask.

Cheers Phil

 

[mattthemuppet2]

what an awesome build, looks very professional and admirably overbuilt It'll be even cooler when you get that hydraulic cylinder on there! No way am I ever going to get rid of mine, even though it's going to cost me $$$ to move it to WA.