forge press premade under 200 bucks?

dereklee12

dereklee12

Well-Known Member
I was reading some of the posts on presses or hammers the other day which lead me to a video of a press made from harbor freight tools. Today when I was picking up some magnets I noticed a 20 ton shop press. my question is this...could this be altered to become a press for forging small blades? I was thinking, replace the jack with an air assisted jack and make some plates that would act like an anvil and hammer. Its rather large and I would much rather build my own, but with a 199.99 price tag is it worth taking the time to modify?

if anyone is interested the link to the harbor freight page

http://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton-shop-press-32879.html
 
Just google air over hydraulic 20 ton bottle jacks. I got one shipped to my door for 112.00. I am making a press for smashing some metal. Nothing production mind ya , just having fun sometimes. I have seen this work for mashing motorcycle chain , and some timing chains to make a little bit of " damascus ". Scott
 
I got a friend who has one of those. He has had to replace one of the angle irons as it bent, he has had to reweld the frame where it was welded and just the other day he had to hang a new jack on it. I don't buy HF unless it is a last alternative. If you handy with a welder make a trip to your local scrap yard and see what they have for sale, in the way of HD scrap iron. Buy a quality jack with a good warranty. Bucks ahead IMHO!

Every time I buy something HF I always wish I had saved the money and invested into something good!
 
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