Home Made Multifunction Press
I have always considered making a hydraulic press, but never bothered as I couldn't find a use for it that would justify the expense .... until now. A few yesrs ago I bought a HF 3 in 1 unit (break, sheer and roller) which I mounted on a stand. Was a great idea, but quickly found it SUCKED big time unless you were cutting and bending tin foil. The concept of the unit was terrible, so it sat there for a few years until I finally tore it apart to make space (something I dont have much of). This is what the unit looked like.
Bender/Sheer Unit
So, with this thing sitting on a bench in pieces I decided to make my shop press and set it up to also be able to bend and sheer using bits salvaged from this crappy unit. Here are my starting bits.
So, decided to make the press with 4' inside clearance so I could use the "bits" without cutting them down. The plan is to mount a bending/sheer assembly on the press BELOW the normal press table, which will be made to slide up out of the way and allow the hydraulic piston to "pass through". This will allow the bending unit to be raised to the level that will allow the piston to push down on it to make bends and cut.
First thing was to cut down the sides to use only the section that holds the bending and cutting "bits". Here are the sides as they came being "modified", with the top part used for rolling (will save the cut offs)
With the sides cut, I now needed to "square up" the tops, as they will later be a seat for the bender section.
With the top squared with the feet, I decided to "open up" the bottom cast indent, as I didnt like the idea of all the force being on the 4 little leg landings. I milled out the channel to accept a section of 3/8" steel plate that will spread the force over the entire side.
With the sides done, its time to start putting together. Used bracing to put the bits together and then cut and milled a block for each end of the upper break section. Made a hole through it to accept a 5/8" guide rod with a little slack (11/16" hole). Then made a plate assembly for the side of the lower brake section (its also the top sheer section) to act as a landing for the upper spring which will open up the break when pressure is removed. Once the unit is mounted on the table of the press I will true up the guide rod and weld it at the base.
Below shows how the 5/8" rod will pass through all section and act as a guide as well as a spring retainer (rod will go through the springs).
I now had to make a sturdy guide to hold the upper brake section true when being pressed (5/8" rod is not good enough). Made a angle plate after milling out a slot in the uper section of the plate. The upper brake section will bolt to this bracket (not tight, but fixed to allow the upper brake section to slide up and down on it, while keeping it perfectly vertical).
After welding it, I took the assembly to the vise, and using a 90 deg angle (perfect 90 deg used for milling) I clamped it in and welded the other side, making sure it stayed 90 and the cooling weld didnt pull it out of square.
Once both brackets were done, drilled them out and mounted them to the side top. I then drilled and tapped a 3/8" hole though the upper brake section in the slot of each guide. Then using threaded rod, wended a nut to one end and bolted it through the front. On the back I will use 2 nuts on each rod so I can "lock them" in place so they wont loosen, while setting a small sliding gap between the guide and upper brake section.
More to come
Press Frame
Affter looking around, I was unable to find any heavy channel that most presses use for the side rails, so I decided to go with 4" x 3" x 3/8" tubing. I will later weld then together to make a side rail that is 8" wide (giving me a 8" x 3" x 3/8" tube with a center 3/4" section.). If I find this isnt strong enough, I will weld 1/2" plate to the outsides.
Once I got the 4 pieces cut, it was time to weld them together to make 2 sides. First I laid two together on a length of 1/2" plate and clamped them together and clamped them flat with some 1/2" chunks. Welding took a while as I had to do small spots and then flip it over to stop the weld from pulling it. So it was weld some spots, flip, weld some spots, flip and repeat.
Now that the sides are done, I will put the leg's together, which should make putting the sides on a lot easier. I cut two sections of 3" angle and added an small section on the ends to hold the casters. After buying a set I decided to fork out some more and get bigger ones capable of 500 lb each. After stringing them together with some 2 1/2" flatbar (spaced it so the legs would drop tight in between them on the legs for welding) and adding a couple of braces, I temporarily stuck the caster on. Its heavy, sturdy and moves around really easily, so now I can remove the casters and paint it before assembling the frame.
I also cut the side sections for the brake/sheer table, which I will have to brace and weld later. Also stuck a couple of cut-off bits in to see how the sides would fit (they fell in as I was taking the pic, but they fit fine) .... perfect. I think I will paint the base now and while thats drying I can figure out a good way to drill out the table pin holes in the sides so they are as straight and true as possible. Think it will be a lot easier to drill them now than when its all welded up.
With the base done it was time to clean it up and paint it.Stuck with the standard rust paint grey and it turned out good.
With the base done it was time to paint the sides. Figure I will paint then then weld them in place, and once that is done I can make the pin holes.
While the paint was drying it was time to start on the brake table. After cutting I welding in some braces and made sure the top ones were in line with the brake sides. also had to add some tabs to bolt the brake base on as it overhangs the table width slightly. I also added a plate on top of each leg are to sit up in the recess in the base to help distribute the forces better.
More to come
