I Made a Hydraulic Press...With a Twist

[@Entarra]

A suggestion I've seen elsewhere in regards to services like send-cut-send is to add alignment tabs to your designs to help with the assembly, since their cuts are quite accurate.

[@travisschulz6342]

I would’ve just added a plate for a small spacer to clear the weld rather than grind a chamfer but just my 2¢ awesome project !!

[@zeke112964]

I thought the same thing

[@SuperRede4u]

Ditto. 1/4" or so would be all that it would take.

[@Bosbulls]

I love this small press. I can definitely see a lot of other uses for it. Similar to a arbor press. One thing I would definitely add to this setup is some method to attach the bottom and top dies to the press. That way, when you release the jack, they stay in place and yoy can shift the plate to the next hole. But overall a neat design.

[@Wyld1one]

magnets

[@user-cg2iq5qs2y]

Really cool design, I like it, here are some ideas to improve it: put the first feet fordard, at least 20mm in front of the bottle jack’s center The shoulder screws are cool, but you need to have much tighter tolerances, the slot width should be max 0.5mm larger than the diameter of the screw shoulder, or you could use some brass rings, I would recommend at least 1.5mm in wall thickness, and around 0.1-0.5mm gaps Most laser cutter places offer laser engraving, when I can, I usually engrave the outline of every connecting part, so in the assembly, you don’t have to measure or eyeball anything, just put in the outline and weld it I hope I help for your future designs, have a great weekend 🫡

[@ronintoecutter7690]

I had agreed with everything you said in that video. I don’t know how old this video is but possibly using dual plates on either side and then some bushings and washers would keep your guides within a certain amount of play as well as strengthening the press itself. Don’t misinterpret me. You’re awesome.

[@matthewpeterson3329]

This was a very cool project, and one I have thought about as well, except that I want to make a broaching press, but I digress. A few notes if I may, as I could see you selling this as a kit (which I would totally buy) or as plans that could be sent to send/cut/send. Some of these have been mentioned by others, but are worthy of repeating: 1. Tab the stiffeners for precise alignment. 2. Add a third rib in the center for strength... no need to go thicker on the plates. The center rib could terminate behind the upper jack cross plate so that it doesn't interfere. Should be crazy stiff. 3. Chamfer the thicker plates so you don't have to use an arc welder (though yours turned out very nice). 4. Open the guide slots enough to insert a slotted teflon or delrin bar for the bolts to ride in. Should make it very smooth, and send/cut/send can do plastics too. 5. If speed is needed, say for hundreds of dimples, a link/lever will give you more than enough force to drive the dies. Would require a little engineering, but would make the overall tool fast and cheaper. 6. figure out how to make the dies captive so they pull out of the dimpled holes when the jack retracts. To be honest though, I would buy your plans right now if they were available. Or maybe partner with S/C/S so that folks could just call in an order for the "Tim Welds Dimple Press Kit". This would be a super fun item to build with my kids as a weld-it-yourself project. Great job sir!

[@turboflush]

For the jack filled problem. Just insert a 1/4" plate to fit in there. Stitch Weld front and rear.

[@davidhenderson3400]

You did not have to grind the jack. All you had to do was put a spacer block (1/4 to 5/16 thick) under the jack to raise it up off the welds. The spacer would be cut short enough to clear the welds.

[@norcoatomik1]

Now this is a better idea hahaha . But either way works

[@ceesvanberkel9162]

Really liked going through the thought process

[@1nvisible1]

*I'm a hack compared to you, but five changes for v3.0, **_maybe_** :* *1. Invert bottle jack so piston travel is downward reducing presser foot into a 2"x2" bull's foot equivalent (would allow easy insertion of large items like aircraft-style auto seats)* *2. Add 3" lever arm on jack release screw to avoid pull and reinsert handle 2x each dimple.* *3. Foot pedal with pressure gauges allows consistent pressure and removes operator fatigue variable.* *4. Remove any vertical "slop" with narrower diameter shoulder screw and hardened bushing or simply a sacrificial nylon bushing on existing.*

[@grippgoat]

Your on-screen presence is a lot more on this project that you're clearly pleased with. 👍

[@rossmarzano]

To make the press stiffer, add more material to it by enclosing the profile. By that I mean instead of having plates that run the perimeter of the fabrication, join all those plates together

[@Hey_Its_That_Guy]

Nice project, Tim. Thanks for taking us along. I might suggest a set of roller skate bearings on your shoulder bolts, tracking inside a guide bracket, to keep the moveable carriage better aligned.

[@TimWelds]

Thanks! Great suggestion! I built my first plasma table using skateboard bearings and they worked great.

[@rukinaa]

There's actually calipers made for scribing like that, the tips are harder than regular calipers, I own two of them and they are indeed time savers!

[@brianb-p6586]

There are also marker gauges, which are designed for this function and work better.

[@rukinaa]

@@brianb-p6586 That is indeed another option. I have one of them actually but rarely use it. For my personal usage it's not worth the time grabbing the tool every few times I do need to use calipers to mark something. I do however use them a lot when I know I have a load of lines to scribe on the edges of plates to drill holes etc!

[@jaredgray7872]

As you were showing the slop issue it reminded me of a video I watched by flawed offroad where he used some nylon shims to take the slop out of a harbor freight press. Maybe useful, maybe not

[@mythril4]

I'd use a large piston pneumatic ram. The reason is simply because I can achieve the same for but with very high reset times. Say you were to dimple 10 holes, you'd need 30 seconds to a minute with air. In hydraulics you can achieve the same using accumulators however the cost goes up dramatically.

[@jackrichards1863]

You should get the dies that cut the hole also. They use a 1/2" guide pin to align the top & bottom dies. Therefore a small hole must be drilled to locate the dimple on the work piece. (1/2")

[@av8shunmeckaneck]

Add doublers with lightning holes to the side plates to stiffen it. Use the lightning holes as rossetts to weld the center areas of the doublers.

[@8145dwerdna]

Those jacks can be disassembled and modified to work inverted too, so you wouldn't have to have something moving along the frame.

[@FrostyMopar]

Love this, my only quibble is.... with your example with the cardboard I can only understand how those pieces would strengthen the side plates if they were being put under compression. In this design the pressing motion puts those plates under tension instead of compression, it seems as if the heat from welding all the pieces between those side plates is more likely to create a weakness than give it strength.

[@tullgutten]

The front feet should be in front of the assembly to prevent it tipping every time you use some force on the lever. Can also give it a 5th leg in the middle there extending out a little. Also you can make it so the release knob is a small 2 or 3cm lever that points to the 2 a clock position when closed, it only takes a little turn to release it. Also you can weld on strengthening bars on the outer frame at a 45° angle in the corners where it is most in tension. Don't need to go for thicker material, you can also have a same size plate extra on both sides but have it just 1cm smaller towards the edge and weld it so you double it up. Often cost much more for double thickness plate than just two smaller ones

[@Iowa599]

Add shim washers under the shoulder screw heads to eliminate carriage slop.

[@chadchoate]

Springs and Ropes. Use a rope similar size to a recoil starter on a go-kart. Loop it around the hook, set it, and pull the rope out.

[@TimWelds]

Great idea! I've never heard of doing it that way, but that would be much better than pliers.

[@mattglandorf9600]

Why not just add some thicker steel around the C area to stop the feflection, and maybe a washer on your shoulder bolts, could have a strip of steel with 2 holes drilled in it for each side

[@1978garfield]

Thanks for leaving your problems and struggles in the final edit. So many YT types edit everything to the point that homegamers like myself start to think "perfect on the first try" is normal. Most people, even industry professionals don't get it right the first time. Having said that I think a Rev 2 would make a great video and then you could sell plans.

[@raghupathyvp7105]

Wow very nice simple method but worth ful for sheet metal job . Thank you sir 👌👍😊💐

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

Biggest problem is where you have your feet relative to the jacking point. You have the jacking point in front of the front feet so it is always trying to lift up the back feet. Also instead of screwing the shoulder bolts directly into the threads. If you make a plate with two holes in it, you will probably find it will try and bind less (obviously need longer shoulder bolts).

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

You read my mind!

[@matheushorstmann1816]

Very nice upgraded bottle jack, thankyou for the video. And don't worry about scribing lines with the calipers, everybody does that, even machinists.

[@TIMUR-ASKET]

SUPER VIDÉO MERCI BEAUCOUP 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍

[@taylorsellers5244]

You are the Bob Ross of welding 👍 your voice is so calm and relaxing lol

[@bluesteel5841]

That is awesome!! You should patent that bad boy..you could sale minus the jack..good job!

[@Dwarfracer88]

Instead of a jack use a rack and pinion like an arbor press. That would make the speed of the projects go faster.

[@gweave17]

Great video! Some thoughts design wise: Use washer with your shoulder bolts, thinking g that will take up some of the gap and correct the movement before it gets in a pinch. Also, a third 1/2" rib would probably solve the deflection problem, but it's going to be quite heavy.

[@ssskids123]

Like the washer idea, but I mights also try a plate between the body and bolt heads that covers both bolts…that would tie them together with resisting twist.

[@bryce_hello]

Hey Tim! My welding class hasn't gone over reading welding blueprints or how to understand symbols in the 2years I've been there, and it's really giving me a disadvantage in competitions! Any chance you can make a video explaining some of this confusing stuff?

[@brianluck84]

Seriously? I took a 6 week class and they covered it week 1. Your teacher is giving you a disadvantage! Might be time to bring it up

[@staffanakerhjelm9780]

Are you paying for that ”education”?? Sue for money back…

[@stewartwoerle6351]

Google it, it’s all there

[@sparkythawelder]

In my experience the most important thing you can do in a welding school is burn as many electrodes as you can. Building your welding skills with their consumables. Most entry level welding jobs will not require print reading.

[@guembo]

make those slots bigger and put skateboard bearings on the bolts and just brace it with a few peices of metal , make sure you weld it loaded so itll have less deflection

[@MyLilMule]

Nice. I think you could have improved the assembly of this by designing with tabs and slots. Those stiffeners would automatically sit in the right spot. Fusion 360 has some engineering functions that you can also use to test the strength of the design by adding a load and seeing the failure points.

[@paulg3336]

With tabs and slots you could use through bolts instead of welds

[@anthonyjcarroll9872]

What about adding a stop bolt to it so you can set the retract distance when open. This will mean less pumps on the jack for the next hole and increase productivity by about 3 pumps each hole.

[@dumpsterfire6351]

Slick build! 👍👍👍

[@tomfull6637]

Inspiring! 😃 I’m not a welder I’m just a mechanical engineer so feel free to advise me if you have documented knowledge proving me wrong. This thread would benefit from that. …You see my direct and spontaneous reaction to your dilemma with the footplate of the jack not having enough room was - just grind bevels on the side walls and weld. Gives enough penetration and weld cross section to withstand the forces. Fill up the weld (and if necessary grind back to a 90 degree joint). Kind regards Anders Sweden

[@dougiedoug2921]

Really like the press! Some feet extensions closer to the front might help with the tipping when you are jacking.

[@narancs5]

Fixing the carriage wobble with putting some copper shims under the shoulder bolts might work.

[@jamesb3199]

Man, I like that. I wonder if a heavier version would also act as a punch press, even with electrical knock outs and air over hydraulic Jack

[@Wyld1one]

could probably punch the holes as well. Wonder if it could be designed in such that you could just bolt it together. be able to get it as a flat pack. be able to store it as well when not needed

[@ChainNut]

instead of grinding on the bottom of the jack ,why not just add 1/4 or3/8 thickness plate to raise the jack past the filet of the welds.

[@TimWelds]

That definitely would work as well!

[@akbychoice]

Could add a narrow plate under the jack to bridge the filet welds.

[@justin456]

You can also also add a 3/16 gap on each side and change your settings to run your fillet flat by changing your settings.

[@codygavenda8853]

Would you be willing to share the files? I’d definitely be interested in making this for my home shop!

[@bretthays2674]

My thoughts exactly!

[@houdini8o8]

Dont you just love your fab table! saves so much time in making things square and flat!!! i started out with a certiflat weld table before making the plunge in upgrading to a buildpro

[@sootymammal2891]

If speed of operation is the objective, I think a fly press is what you're looking for.

[@juancarloscisnerosortega3937]

Excellent, I would like to know if you could share the drawings to make the hydraulic press ?

[@G58]

Your front feet tabs need to be quiet a bit further towards the front of the press, because when you pull on the bottle jack lever, the whole device tilts alarmingly towards you. Otherwise, I like this idea. And I agree that solid pieces of steel in the slides would be far superior. Those bolts will cause damage to the slot eventually. Thank you for sharing.

[@jessyltr581]

Pick a smaller shoulder bolt, press a bearing on it with the previous bolt diameter. Wabam got yourself a pretty good press.

[@knobsdialsandbuttons]

Awesome job ! 👍

[@james10739]

You could probably get some shims to take up the slop or just grind down some washers but that's hard when they get thin

[@crakilldurmom]

I own a C Frame press in my shop. As I see your design the only weakness I see is in the gauge steel you used for the frame. Risk of twisting

[@TylerHicksWright]

I would suggest using locating tabs on laser cut parts next time. Give about 0.005" clearance and then all you have to do is keep it all square. Otherwise, it will just jig itself together.

[@andrewharvey4123]

Hey Tim, do u have the drawing for this project for sale anywhere? love you work!!

[@bretthays2674]

Agree, I would also be interested in that.

[@chip-load]

Great idea and nice that you shared improvement ideas. You might consider incorporating your existing porta-power ram. Much cleaner than that jack and even easier to use.

[@jaredahrens5996]

good concept for a small portable press thanks

[@r.h.b.4980]

Try some cam following bearings that will screw to your ram slide. You may need to open up the frame slots, but they come in several different sizes.

[@robguyatt9602]

Well done. My first impression was the sides could be thicker but then again, is that flex an issue for your particular usage? It is light-duty work after all.

[@peterfitzpatrick7032]

A piece of 1/4"packing plate under the ram would have been my solution rather than grinding the ram base... but your solution worked so 👏 😎👍☘️🍺

[@SpringRubber]

This came up in my feed because I watched a few of your intro tutorials on how to stick weld. Nice video and cool setup for a DIY press. That welding table looks amazing. Not that I need one and tbh I doubt that I would even need to make dimples, but very cool to watch. 👍

[@devindecater]

Neat project, though the industry is way ahead of you. I think you could manage this with an arbor press no problem, and have a more versatile tool in the shop.

[@who-gives-a-toss_Bear]

6:20 I use odd legs, a superior underrated tool. A sliding bevel works but not as good as odd legs. Overall a standard "H" frame press would be a better build and generally more useful.

[@stevencolbert2304]

I have welding table envy.

[@JMRSplatt]

I would think some simple reinforcement, like a couple flat bar pieces connecting the bottom to the top would eliminate any flex. It would ruin the beauty of the device you made, very nice.

[@arnesen.design]

Awesome build! Looks like it's the little cousin of the Rougue Fab tube bender!

[@juandediosortegazepeda3471]

I think that the video part of the fabrication could have been speed up 2 times for a more dynamic video.

[@johnbarker5009]

That's a nice little press!

[@lastnightsdinner]

probably suggested by someone else, but make a knob for the pressure release so you don't have to remove the jack lever each time? Nice build

[@leekirtley7234]

A very nice project👌👌👌

[@theimpatientbrewer]

Could you not have put a plate into the carriage, instead of grinding the jack? Regardless of how you did it, the video is very well presented. Thank you!

[@neffk]

Nice build. Might be nice to attach the die to the lower part of press. Well, there's always little things that could be added. Maybe it's better to start simple and use it for a year before considering refinements

[@petem6291]

Tim You do nice work ... what I tell my boss and the engineers. I work with is plan it in to the job so I can make one for you guys to look at first. Then we know what changes to make before I make X amount of them . My point it is very hard to make one of anything perfect.the first time . the first time is the learning curve...

[@terrysaenz3009]

Do you have plans or a cut sheet available?

[@The_Seal77]

Great video, from start to finish. Just one question, couldn't you have use a Arbor press instead?

[@larrybud]

I think some quick fixes could be some washers on the shoulder bolts to take up the gap and the knob you were speaking of.

[@brianb-p6586]

As others have commented, you wouldn't have the unwanted tilting shown @9:58 if the front feet were at the very front, instead of so far back.

[@Everfalling]

Funny that you took the time to make mounting holes to anchor it to the welding table… and then proceeded not to use them and instead brace the whole thing with your hand.

[@homemadetools]

Nice little press. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum this week 😎

[@brianb-p6586]

A hydraulic version of the classic arbor press. Depending on the force required, a regular arbor press might work for the dimpling.

[@MarekKubi]

Good video. Especially I like the criticism and improvement notes. Would like to see you cutting all details by yourself though.

[@hectorrivera7703]

You have a link for those 5/8 fasteners you used to secure the press to your table?

[@jvazquez53]

Awesome looking tool!!!

[@comeradecoyote]

Personally, I think it would have been better to build it from square tubular stock, with some reinforcements on the throat, and the hydraulic cylinder integral to the C frame. A precedent for this is called a “hydraulic riveter” or C frame. They used to common in machine foundries for speeding up riveting without airhammers. Generally they have a big yoke, so they could move around by crane. But yeah you’d see these do rivet jobs, flanging, punching, fillets, etc. The originals were almost always cast, but given cost and shop constraints, you could fairly easily fabb one out of tubular stock; or cut one big C form out of plate, (with the cord of the C thickest around the curve) and weld reinforcement plate around the throat, and have a simpler but as rigid (or more rigid) design.

[@jerrygoldfuss466]

Looks great Tim. 👍

[@grosbeakmc]

Great project!

[@bob1947essex]

If you turned the main frame into a box section by welding plates between the sides (back and front) it would probably be about 100 times stiffer. Those new plates would be the main load path through the structure. Look at an I beam loaded in bending, the flanges take all the load.

[@SixBarrel]

Thanks 🍺 , a cool AND funcional project.

[@stevesrt8]

you could use some steel plates to shim under the dies so you dont need to jack so much to get it started

[@paulscott3266]

Nice design, I look forward to building my own.

[@prebaned]

Very nice setup. HF 12 ton press worked out cheaper for me though.

[@rickswanberg4995]

Great build, do you have any concerns that the piston of the jack is not centered in the body of the press?

[@stwrtmck7067]

Hi Tim, your videos are great!! Inspirational, authentically teaching with a humble care of yourself and others. I really enjoy them as Im putting into practice your advice in my stick welding and steel fab.. Stewart Australia.

[@LunasEmpireSL]

Add fish plates to the outside to remove the deflection cheap and easy fix

[@danielchambers1958]

Tim, your talents are amazing! I wished you lived closer to me….. lol

[@gregpiecuch3802]

Hey Tim that's pretty cool! That makes a press portal.

[@donaldhalls2189]

Would it be stron enough with 50mmx75mmx3mm rectangle or would it flex too much, it's just that's cheaper than 4mm flat steel, awesome press, could be useful for a lot of thing's, thanks for sharing, all the best to you and your loved ones

[@Yaroslav_Tselovanskyi]

That's damn good weld you did with that stick

[@tedbastwock3810]

So glad you're doing projects, I've loved all of them so far, this is great, thanks! Ps can't wait to see the second gokart :)