Help / Advice OTC Shop Press

Joseph Durnya · Mar 20, 2018

Hey guys,

I was lucky to purchase an otc 17 ton shop press at a municipal auction today. Have some questions and need some advice.

So, the prese is rated for 17 tons. This press is around 250 lbs. I was looking at a harbor freight press . 25 tons and that weighted 160 lbs. What makes a press rating ? Aside from the pump of course.

I purchased the press to bend some 1/4 steel pieces, nothing too big mind you maybe 2 - 3 inches wide. so i am looking to purchase or make a break for the press. Any plans or kits available ?

Finally, the press is missing the locating pins that hold the lower beams on I would assume they are a certain strength. Im guessing OTC wants a mint for them so wondering if you guys could point me in the right direction on what metal to use.. i have a lathe and mill that i could size them and put retaining clips on them.

thanks,
Joe

HOMESTEAD · Mar 21, 2018

The press tonnage is rated based on the surface area of the ram piston multiplied by the pressure the pump is capable of producing.

The reason a HF press is rated at 25 tons and weighs a hundred pounds less than an OTC press of 8 tons less rated capacity, is because it is a cheap piece of shit that will flex like crazy every time you operate it at about half it's capacity or more.

When whatever you're pressing on breaks free, the flex in the frame will recoil and the whole thing will jump, and may send things flying. Congrats on winning a press that can be relied on.

Someone more experienced than me will give you an alloy recommendation for the pins.

Milland · Mar 21, 2018

The pins are usually sized to allow low-alloy steel to be used. If the holes are ~3/4" or so then generic 1018 should be fine. Let us know the actual size.

DDoug · Mar 21, 2018

Joseph Durnya said:
I purchased the press to bend some 1/4 steel pieces, nothing too big mind you maybe 2 - 3 inches wide. so i am looking to purchase or make a break for the press. Any plans or kits available ?

Quick rule of thumb for bending (mild steel)
"1/4" thick plate will take 20 tons per foot of bending length"

This uses the standard die width of 8 times the material thickness,
in your example of 1/4" thick material would be a 2" wide die.

So the shortest leg you can bend is 1".

3" of 1/4" thick mild steel should be about 5 tons.

MikeS-54 · Mar 21, 2018

Truck and trailer hitch pins from Tractor Supply. 1400 to choose from.

Search Results for hitch pin at Tractor Supply Co.

cg285 · Mar 21, 2018

SWAG Press Brake Kits

jmead · Mar 21, 2018

OTC should be a fine press. For 1/4 x 2 I’d look at an arbor press for speed and feel.

Joe Rogers · Mar 21, 2018

The pins are double shear. That increases the load they can support. The 17 ton I spec’d when I equipped our new dealership shop was very well made. They offer a winch accessory to hoist the platform that I can highly recommend. Ours was an open throat design that offered 270 degrees of access if the ram was relocated to the end of the frame. Had a nice power pack hosed to the ram too that allowed one to get away from the work zone.
I’d buy it again...
Joe

Joseph Durnya · Mar 21, 2018

Guys, thanks for all the advice and here are a couple pics !

The holes in the body of the frame look to be .750

Where the holes in the u beam seem to be .670 - .680

the bolts that they used to attached the top beam appear to be grade 5 so im guessing that would suffice for the pins ? i noticed following your link for hitch pins that most were grade 5

i also measured a couple hitch pins i had laying around and they are .625 that would work ? or should i find something with less slop relative to the u beam holes ?

sorry for all the questions. i just want to do it correctly i.e. " safely "

thanks,

Joe

Milland · Mar 21, 2018

Find something with less slop. The side beams (plates) are likely not an alloy steel, and with a smaller pin the loads could conceivably start pressing the harder pin into the side holes, deforming them. Just find some regular stock close to the beam holes and use that for pins.

Joseph Durnya · Mar 21, 2018

Joe Rogers said:
The pins are double shear. That increases the load they can support. The 17 ton I spec’d when I equipped our new dealership shop was very well made. They offer a winch accessory to hoist the platform that I can highly recommend. Ours was an open throat design that offered 270 degrees of access if the ram was relocated to the end of the frame. Had a nice power pack hosed to the ram too that allowed one to get away from the work zone.
I’d buy it again...
Joe

Joe, if you get a chance could you measure the diameter of the pins that hold the beam ? thnaks, Joe

Joe Rogers · Mar 21, 2018

I will see if I can find someone that is still working at that shop to measure the pins. I left that job to open a new dealership as the shop forman and have since retired. It may take a few days to reach out to a few old coworkers to find a tech I can trust to get a true diameter.
Joe

Joseph Durnya · Mar 21, 2018

Joe Rogers said:
I will see if I can find someone that is still working at that shop to measure the pins. I left that job to open a new dealership as the shop forman and have since retired. It may take a few days to reach out to a few old coworkers to find a tech I can trust to get a true diameter.
Joe

Joe, no worries.. as long as i can find some grade 5 or better material ill turn them to fit on the lathe !

thanks !

Joe

dsergison · Mar 22, 2018

that is a fantastic first press.

a farm or hardware store will have perfect "hitch pins" for that, or just use long bolts.
whatever fits will work. when loaded it will self center anyway so you will not notice any slop in use.

for bending stuff look at this image search for ideas.

4 sided brake die - Google Search

you can buy dies, there are some of the standard 4 sided dies on ebay reasonably for about 1 foot section. then you can buy any number of different style and radius dies for it and build a guide.

or you can really cheap out and whip something nasty up out of angle iron welded to a plate.... either will work for bending 1/4" strips.

here is a decent home made die set. nauseating camera work though.
Hydraulic Press Bending Steel - YouTube

What are you going to put on it for a cylinder?
It is designed for a hand pump hydraulic powerpack cylinder. You have the shelf for the pump. did you get the pump and cylinder?

this is how that press is typically configured.
17-1/2 Ton Capacity Heavy-Duty "Open Throat" Press | OTC Tools

what's your budget?
horrible freight has shitty hydraulic units that can be made to work.
I have an adapter for mounting the cylinder that I made and I would sell it very cheap.
I have since moved up to nicer pump/cylinder but this is serviceable.
this shows my ram adapter
http://www.sergisonmachine.net/images/press.jpg

Joe Rogers · Mar 22, 2018

Called up a friend that has access to the press and he measured the pins at 0.69” if that helps. And IIRC they had a loop bent into the end for ease of manipulation.
Joe

Joseph Durnya · Mar 22, 2018

Joe Rogers said:
Called up a friend that has access to the press and he measured the pins at 0.69” if that helps. And IIRC they had a loop bent into the end for ease of manipulation.
Joe

thanks so much Joe !

Joseph Durnya · Mar 22, 2018

dsergison said:
that is a fantastic first press.

a farm or hardware store will have perfect "hitch pins" for that, or just use long bolts.
whatever fits will work. when loaded it will self center anyway so you will not notice any slop in use.

for bending stuff look at this image search for ideas.

4 sided brake die - Google Search

you can buy dies, there are some of the standard 4 sided dies on ebay reasonably for about 1 foot section. then you can buy any number of different style and radius dies for it and build a guide.

or you can really cheap out and whip something nasty up out of angle iron welded to a plate.... either will work for bending 1/4" strips.

here is a decent home made die set. nauseating camera work though.
Hydraulic Press Bending Steel - YouTube

What are you going to put on it for a cylinder?
It is designed for a hand pump hydraulic powerpack cylinder. You have the shelf for the pump. did you get the pump and cylinder?

this is how that press is typically configured.
17-1/2 Ton Capacity Heavy-Duty "Open Throat" Press | OTC Tools

what's your budget?
horrible freight has shitty hydraulic units that can be made to work.
I have an adapter for mounting the cylinder that I made and I would sell it very cheap.
I have since moved up to nicer pump/cylinder but this is serviceable.
this shows my ram adapter
http://www.sergisonmachine.net/images/press.jpg

Dsergison, thanks for all the info.. id love to see pics of your current setup... as well as pics of the cylinder mount you want to sell. i was thinking i would go air / hydraulic as far as a pump situation.. haven't really put time into figuring the pump bracket setup.. while i dont mind spending some money, i did look at pricing from OTC and its ridiculous. Hopefully i can whip something up in the shop.

i got the press as you see it... i think someone in the shop where i purchased it from was slowly stripping it, hoping that they eventually would toss it. and he could grab it out of the dumpster... LOL

dsergison · Mar 22, 2018

I bought a used enerpack air / hydraulic pump and a larger better cylinder. The new cylinder has a threaded gland end so now it sits up higher in between the top frame. http://www.sergisonmachine.net/images/shop-1.jpg
The new cylinder has a large 1" or so ID thread in the end of the rod so I can screw different tools to it easily.
I make different size drivers out of 1" bolts. I just turn them down to whatever diameter. I also milled a bolt head into a tiny gooseneck bending die.

If I were to upgrade again I'd get a hollow cylinder or a power twin cylinder. then you put a large threaded rod inside it for height adjustment.

One of the jobs I do on it is pushing broaches. that takes about a 10-12" stroke. that's pretty much not possible in a single push -with any normal press.

Joe Rogers · Mar 23, 2018

Joseph Durnya said:
thanks so much Joe !

I just got an update after I called to thank my contact. He measured a Dake not the OTC. He measured the OTC and it mic’s at 0.62” not 0.69”
Sorry for the misinformation!
0.62” for the OTC
Joe

dsergison · Mar 23, 2018

Some tooling

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