Hydraulic Handy Press

[mlochala]

I know there are probably way too many hydraulic presses already shared here, but here's one more. I have built several hydraulic presses over the years, most bigger than this and a couple smaller. But, this press I recently built is my favorite of them all. It's just perfect for probably 90% of the work I need to do and it's very adaptable.

I built it so that I can do a wide variety of jobs with it. It's large enough to do most of what I need, but small enough to use on my work bench. It's made of thick wall materials and I normally use a 12T bottle jack, though I have used a 20T version.

It works opposite from most small presses, meaning the bottle jack is on bottom and pushes the press plate upwards to the anvil. However, it can easily be modified to work like a conventional press, if need be. The top of the press has removable adapter plates so that I can make and use a wide variety of different heads for different jobs. For instance, the "normal" plate has a 1" nut welded to it so that I can use standard 1" bolts as anvils for pressing bearings, u-joints, etc. Then, I also have a 1/2" drill chuck that is attached to a short 1" bolt so that I can use it to hold press punches for pressing out pins, roller pins, stubborn bolts, etc. Finally, I have another adapter plate with a bending brake blade so that I can use it with a bending brake base for forming metal stock. At any time I need to expand its capability, all I have to do is make another adapter plate for whatever function I desire.

I'm happy with it and I thought I would share for your benefit as well. Enjoy!