Nail Plate / Truss Plate Hydraulic Press --DIY Homemade Welding Project

We are going to install a number of metal nail plates in our house build. I put my fabrication and welding skills to work and built a 20-ton press that will drive nail plates into structural wood members. Truss plates, nail plates, nail repair plates are all similar in function and need to be installed properly to do their intended job. Anyway, a few pieces of salvage angle iron, bolts, rod, springs and a hydraulic jack provided another useful machine and part of the vision.

[@grassroots9304]

That is very well done. That was some sexy prep on that heavy angle without a mill.

[@SpencersMountain]

I do have a bench mill but lately a 4-1/2” angle grinder has been doing a lot of machine work. It is amazing how much metal can be cut with cut- off wheels and grinding wheels. I have made a few fixtures to create machined surfaces with a grinder. Thank you for watching!

[@michaelcrossley4716]

I'm copying this. Thanks!

[@SpencersMountain]

Glad you find it useful. Thank you for watching.

[@bobweiram6321]

Great channel! You get straight to business without trying to be a star or cult leader.

[@SpencersMountain]

Thank you! Guess I don’t need to be a star. I like to show there is a person doing the work but after that, I assume people just want to see what is being done. Hopefully that inspires others to make their own things and maybe a few how-to ideas get paid forward. Thank you for the comment and be sure I value your support!

[@Scaleman]

I really enjoy your channel and the machinist’s level of problem solving. That’s a really cool press

[@SpencersMountain]

Your enjoyment is the primary goal of this channel. Accomplishment is generally breaking down a problem into a solution. Thank you for taking time to comment and thank you for your support!

[@MJ-wz6jo]

Yes your back.

[@SpencersMountain]

Thanks! Been a weird winter collecting materials for projects. People have been stingy with materials. Appreciate you following along!

[@gusm5128]

Please use cutting fluid , drilling goes so much better .

[@SpencersMountain]

Been a machinist for over 45 years. Cutting fluids are not always needed. The bits in this video are at least 40 years old and had drilled hundreds of holes in press and lathe operations. I also do “chip breaking” where the bit is advanced and stopped to reduce length of the chip. Then I don’t have to deal with long chip. But, I always use high pressure moly lube on taps and dies! Thanks for watching.