Tabletop Hydraulic Press

D. Crawford

D. Crawford

Well-Known Member
Benchtop Hydraulic Press

Here's a benchtop size hydraulic press I've been building. Like most of us I'm pretty low on floor space so I wanted as small a footprint as possible in order to mount it on a small work table. The press is 44" tall and 13" wide. The cylinder has a 4" bore & 2.25" ram. Only about 19 tons of force but ram speed will be about 2 inches per second. I left enough space to be able to swap up to a 5" cylinder if needed. Comments or questions are welcome.



with paint
 
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Looks good to me, but I have no idea of what's required for a 20 ton press other than STRONG!! That one looks strong...

Congrats - you gonna be making Damascus before you know it.

Ken H>
 
KenH said:
Looks good to me, but I have no idea of what's required for a 20 ton press other than STRONG!! That one looks strong...

Congrats - you gonna be making Damascus before you know it.

Ken H>
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Thanks Ken. Yep, I'm looking forward to making my own steel.
 
I used the same tubing to make a small press based on a Air/Hydraulic Jack. More for proof of concept than anything. Concept being that I could actually make Damascus in my little shop. It works just fine but a little slow since my compressor is not very big. I subscribed to this thread and will be following your progress. I am just starting to get parts in for the hydraulics for a 24 ton press as outlined in James Batsons book. I would not have thought to make such a compact press and have been planning to make the H Frame press in the book. I will be interested to hear about your progress and your thoughts on the structural integrity of the tubing under those pressures. Even with my little press I only used the tubing for the bottom and the uprights. For the ram bar and the upper cross beam I made them out of 1/2" X 2 1/2" plates welding them together and for the upper also to the frame. With the 20 ton jack running on my little compressor I felt I wouldn't even come close to over stressing anything. So far I have had no problems. I have made a 358 layer billet and a 450 layer billet so far. Thanks for posting this.
 
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Don, I know what you mean about "proof of concept" and that was my goal in trying a smaller framed press. Like you I'm eager to see how the frame performs. I tried to address some of the stress issues by using the cross tube mounted cylinder - putting the stress at the base of the cylinder onto the 1.25" 1018 round bar rather than on the welds at the cross member. I'll get this thing plumbed & will post my results.
 
Looking good, David-
I might be goofy, but it seems like the weak link will be the upper shaft- does the horizontal sleeve on the cylinder rest against the top horizontal square tube? The space on the sides of the cylinder sleeve will create more of a tendency for the shaft to bow. But, I know you said you wanted to leave yourself the option of slipping a larger cylinder in there later. I'm kind of OC, but I think I would add a little more structure across the top. You have way more at the bottom, but the top will experience the same pressure as the bottom. Otherwise. looks great. I'm getting the bug to build a press, now if I'd just get the funds and time to go along with the bug! But, I sure appreciate guys like you that forge ahead and then share your work and ideas.
Thx,
Bill
 
Bill Hubbell said:
Looking good, David-
I might be goofy, but it seems like the weak link will be the upper shaft- does the horizontal sleeve on the cylinder rest against the top horizontal square tube? The space on the sides of the cylinder sleeve will create more of a tendency for the shaft to bow. But, I know you said you wanted to leave yourself the option of slipping a larger cylinder in there later. I'm kind of OC, but I think I would add a little more structure across the top. You have way more at the bottom, but the top will experience the same pressure as the bottom. Otherwise. looks great. I'm getting the bug to build a press, now if I'd just get the funds and time to go along with the bug! But, I sure appreciate guys like you that forge ahead and then share your work and ideas.
Thx,
Bill
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Bill, all good points. I left about 1/8" between the crosstube and the top cross member. I wanted enough space to be able to install the cylinder easily but still be close enough that the frame would halt any substantial flex in the round bar. It would certainly be easy enough to reinforce that end of the press and I may well end up doing just that. I agree also about the space on the sides of the cylinder sleeve. I'll probably end up making a free floating spacer for each side of the cylinder to keep it centered. Thanks for your post - I appreciate the extra brainpower on a project like this.

D-
 
So correct me if I'm wrong, your pump will move 6 gallons/minute? And your calculating your numbers based on 3000psi?

Im working through my calcs on my setup, and am just trying to confirm numbers.
 
PierreR said:
So correct me if I'm wrong, your pump will move 6 gallons/minute? And your calculating your numbers based on 3000psi?

Im working through my calcs on my setup, and am just trying to confirm numbers.
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Hi Pierre. Yes, I'm using a 6 gpm vane pump off a 7.5 hp electric motor at 3600 rpm.
 
D. Crawford said:
Hi Pierre. Yes, I'm using a 6 gpm vane pump off a 7.5 hp electric motor at 3600 rpm.
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Thanks David! Appreciate it! Im trying to decide which pump/motor combo I need to go with, and must admit the learning curve is a tad steep. I have no hydraulic experience.
 
PierreR said:
Thanks David! Appreciate it! Im trying to decide which pump/motor combo I need to go with, and must admit the learning curve is a tad steep. I have no hydraulic experience.
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I'm a hydraulics rookie also Pierre so I did two years of research and parts collecting before I started this press. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I'd be glad to share any info.
 
Here's the mounted hydraulic pump. Since the pump is a hotspot for noise I wanted it vibration free.
This is a foot mount bracket I fabbed from 1" thick plate. Cost me $8 to make and is substantially more rigid that the $60 store bought versions.

 
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Here's the press plumbed with 1/2" lines. Next up I'll 1) add supply and return lines to the tank, and 2) mount the motor & pump assembly.
 
Awesome job, not the same design that I am planning on building,
but the end result is the same and that's all that matters.

I would like to know how well the holes you have in the supports
hold up, I'm curious to see how well that steel does as far as shearing
strength. Now, I have no idea and the only expectation I have is if the
top bracing bars hold, there will be no damage, but if it doesn't hold
it could be bad.

Please! Do keep in mind these little jewels are as dangerous as they are
useful!! If a weld was to break, it could send a chunk of steel hurling at someone
(or something) at very high speeds! I can weld, stuff that won't be under
extreme pressure, I'm self taught and I KNOW MY LIMITATIONS!
And welding steel that could end up having several tons of pressure
exerted on it is NOT within my ability!
I seriously hope it's within yours!!!!

GOOD LUCK WITH EVERY THING
and please check your welds before you use it every time!!!!!!
Rex
 
I think the only thing that could fly is the pin that connect the cylinder to the moving die. Everything else is annealed and would just slowly stretch and tear up if underbuilt.
And this press looks somewhat underbuilt, but the main issue i see is the ram guides, they don't look like enough to prevent the rocking of the upper die....i would weld 2 square pipes "embracing" up the 2 columns.
 
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