Shop press

[matty]

I have had a cheap (Pacific rim allegedly a 6 ton) press for around ten years now, and in all that time i have mostly only used it for jobs its really not strong enough to do.
The most notable frustration with this thing is Pushing in and out VW/ Skoda Front wheel bearings, its a job involving the use of a hammer when you use this press, a bigger press would make the job much easier. I have two bearings to do on my own Skoda In the next few weeks, and i can borrow a friends 30 ton Press to do the job, which is good of him but its a 30 mile trip and, i just walked by the little press and thought .... "Do i just bite the bullet and get a bigger press new or used, and sell the 6 ton to help fund the purchase, but on the other hand its only really car front wheel bearings i am struggling with, and i am not changing them out every day.
Now "What do i do". Stick with it because its there its not needing finding collecting paying for and installing etc, and yet its really not quite man enough for some jobs. But i dont need that capacity regularly anyway.
What press have you got or would like, and what are your press requirements / recomendations.

 

[EGR]

I got this thing thinking it would not see much use. Wife’s Honda’s wheel bearings. Choice was into shop, not close, double trip, need to find/hire car, yada yada. VS spend the money on a press, pop in bearings over weekend, done.

Turns out it sees a lot of use. One crazy thing was cook pot repair. A couple off TAT camped on my place with broken bike waiting for parts. The cook had badly warped her favorite pot. Steel plate sandwich on the pot bottom. 48 hours at about 15T in the press. Like new. 😎

 

[matty]

This is the same type of cheap 6 ton press i have right now, and this fiasco is typical of the messing around you have to do to change a typical front wheel drive wheel bearing on a small press like this.

 

[MVI]

The 20T is about right for most DIY fabricators. Since I do a lot of axle work for people, I heavily modified the NT 20T unit. It is now over 7' tall and has an electic winch mounted to the top to load in heavy tooling.

The height is so that I can press axle bearings off of full size axles as needed

 

[ZoomerP]

I have had a cheap (Pacific rim allegedly a 6 ton) press for around ten years now, and in all that time i have mostly only used it for jobs its really not strong enough to do.
The most notable frustration with this thing is Pushing in and out VW/ Skoda Front wheel bearings, its a job involving the use of a hammer when you use this press, a bigger press would make the job much easier. I have two bearings to do on my own Skoda In the next few weeks, and i can borrow a friends 30 ton Press to do the job, which is good of him but its a 30 mile trip and, i just walked by the little press and thought .... "Do i just bite the bullet and get a bigger press new or used, and sell the 6 ton to help fund the purchase, but on the other hand its only really car front wheel bearings i am struggling with, and i am not changing them out every day.
Now "What do i do". Stick with it because its there its not needing finding collecting paying for and installing etc, and yet its really not quite man enough for some jobs. But i dont need that capacity regularly anyway.
What press have you got or would like, and what are your press requirements / recomendations.

How much will a 20T replacement cost?

How much will it cost to replace the bearings and hub you bugger up with your current 6T + hammer process?

How much will you enjoy pressing the next bearing knowing that your 6T press just buggered up the last one?

If I had the room, I'd have a standard 20T press. Using it to drive a finger break would make life better.

 

[MVI]

I owe some photos here...

Have several of the SWAG press' with finger dies, hemming dies, etc,
Also made several dies myself for various things.

 

[gpounce]

circa 1900-1920's compounding screw press I picked up last fall. Included some basic tooling, but not sure how that large V block on the lower left is used. Previous owner scratched the "up" and "down", which is helpful The arbor press attachment on the right side is conventional but does have a ratchet downfeed.


Its an interesting mix of old and new fasteners but relatively straight and square compared to my Northern Tool "12 ton" hydraulic press. I love these screw press units- they end up being quite large compared to the small hydraulic units but have a fantastic feel.

 

[matty]

I Fitted Both front wheel bearings on my Skoda fabia 1.4tdi wagon today with my 6 ton press.
The job went ok but was slow and although i pressed the new bearings in just fine , getting the old ones to move was a faff.
Although i did the job this time its not like its the last of these car fwb bearings i am ever going to change.
I am looking for an old press i want something 20T to 50T area.

 

[matty]

FFS. I just had a quick look on fleabay uk, and used older presses are what i would class as mega bucks. The cheapo 20T offerings however are available new £150/ £200, So i think i will have look around any forthcoming sales , see if i can spot a big old press. If not ill just buy one of the Cheapo 20T ones, in fairness it should do what i need ok, but i would like something old and proper if i am spending money. So it depends on what i can find. A bit shocked at the ebay prices if i am honest.

 

[matty]

No deal struck as yet but saw this , it looks neglected and is now outside. It might be mine. fingers crossed a 50 ton .

 

[ZoomerP]

Solid. Did you get a chance to squeeze something? If you have the information from the data plate, you might see if there's a rebuild kit available, or how much a local hydraulic shop will charge to do the work.

 

[matty]

Solid. Did you get a chance to squeeze something? If you have the information from the data plate, you might see if there's a rebuild kit available, or how much a local hydraulic shop will charge to do the work.

It still works they have a Newer press, Its sat where that one lived, its only been sat outside a week or so, but its well used on the ram etc, so not going to ever be a show piece. But as i say i have not closed a deal yet, and at this stage not sure whey will sell it me, at the £150/ £200 area, (price of a new 20T cheapo new press).
Its like this i they dont , ill just order a new 20T one.
Mentioned it to a mate today, and he asked me what was the difference to turn the 6 ton into a 20T ??? And i could not answer him, it could be a jack ("0T) and some frame reenforcement could get the job done, but i dont fel adequately l experienced in such things to know exactly what might be involved/ or even if its possible or practical.

 

[gpounce]

I'd say thicker frame, deeper shears- all about stiffness. The 6ton frame might hold with a 20ton jack on it, but it will deflect/twist with that much on it. My piece of junk hydraulic "12 ton" press twists and settles a bit when I squeeze stuff and thats just the crappy welding and fitup flexing into equilibrium. On the other hand I had occasion to use a 10 ton screw press some time ago- its an A frame setup, about 6' high at the top, the ram about 3" diameter. Its table was so heavily built that the OEM put a winch on the side of the machine to raise and lower it. The frame and table didn't flex at all when we got onto it a bit with the compounding levers for some bearing work.

I love the shear on the table and frame with the press above- fantastic.

 

[ZoomerP]

It still works they have a Newer press, Its sat where that one lived, its only been sat outside a week or so, but its well used on the ram etc, so not going to ever be a show piece. But as i say i have not closed a deal yet, and at this stage not sure whey will sell it me, at the £150/ £200 area, (price of a new 20T cheapo new press).
Its like this i they dont , ill just order a new 20T one.
Mentioned it to a mate today, and he asked me what was the difference to turn the 6 ton into a 20T ??? And i could not answer him, it could be a jack ("0T) and some frame reenforcement could get the job done, but i dont fel adequately l experienced in such things to know exactly what might be involved/ or even if its possible or practical.

If you like the size & weight of it, you could make an offer, but tell them you want it now, not after it sits outside rusting up. If they don't go for that, move on to a 20T and don't give the old girl another thought.

If you buy it and want to clean it up, taking it to a manual car wash with heated, soapy water will get the worst of it off. Spray it with a degreaser a few minutes before the hose down, and blow it dry when you get it home. I'll bet it'll look great with a coat of paint.

gpounce is right about the differences. There's no substitute for big & heavy when it comes to equipment like that. Cheaper brands may also not be in square, and the cast arbors they come with can be crude.

 

[matty]

Its been under an open fronted building many years , and the Quary outfit are spending a bit of money on new tackle and a press was a thing they upgraded from what i can tell . And Its just sat there, and looks unloved, as you say it will tidy up well enough, and even if i just give it the diesel wipe over it probably wont rot away in my kids kids kids kids lifetime. But i want it and am sort of wanting it to restore and look nice and presentable.
I am hard set on my £200 celing and not a penny more, but if i can get it for £150 or less ill be more than happy. If not its the cheap 20T and at least on a pluss the 20T will be delivered to my door and no collection on a trailer or work to clean up but no creadance of quality either. .

 

[matty]

Just looked at 20T jacks, and its a non starter beefing up the little 6 ton, the cheapest ones are £35 to £50 up to £100 not practical, i have an old 10Ton jack i supose i could sub for the 6 ton, and supose that might be more in the little presses strength zone. NAH! i NEED THAT BIG OLD PRES.

 

[ZoomerP]

Just looked at 20T jacks, and its a non starter beefing up the little 6 ton, the cheapest ones are £35 to £50 up to £100 not practical, i have an old 10Ton jack i supose i could sub for the 6 ton, and supose that might be more in the little presses strength zone. NAH! i NEED THAT BIG OLD PRES.

Trying to add a higher rated jack to a lower rated press frame is a bad idea. I can't say what you need, but you don't need to do that.

 

[gpounce]

If its a crappy import 6 ton press and you put a 10ton jack in it, the result will be more and worse. I suggest buying good tools. Not saying it won't work but it won't be good. Cheap, good, convenient - if you're fortunate you can get any two, if not then maybe you get just one.

Go get that old yard monster, if nothing else its a good story. Nobody will care about a story where you stayed under budget and bought a P.O.S.

 

[MVI]

Trying to add a higher rated jack to a lower rated press frame is a bad idea. I can't say what you need, but you don't need to do that.

^^^^ THIS. DONT DO IT.

Mechanical and Hydro Presses are engineered to Ultimate Load specs.

A 6 TON rated Press is engineered to 9 TON Minimum Ultimate Yield. If you apply 9 TON to the Press , it will fail / should fail.

The entire chassis, cross bar, cylinder support, pins etc would/should need to be beefed up.


I have a 20T that is heavily modified, 7' tall for HD truck axle work, but I engineered it to be correct to maintained the Load Rating and Minimum Yield Calculation Factor of Safety.

 

[MVI]

Just looked at 20T jacks, and its a non starter beefing up the little 6 ton, the cheapest ones are £35 to £50 up to £100 not practical, i have an old 10Ton jack i supose i could sub for the 6 ton, and supose that might be more in the little presses strength zone. NAH! i NEED THAT BIG OLD PRES.

You do need the 50T.

if the cylinder is bad, and you cant find parts, You can always retro-fit with a lighter 20T , 30T, 40T or even 50T cyl safely.