Is 304 stainless bad to use on a hydraulic press?

[Rob F.]

but what is wrong with the press?

It is made of Chineseium

 

[woodchuckNJ]

you might want to drill the pin out and create some inserts for it.
that's how my home made press is.

I have inserts of 4140 or 4130 (can't remember) for general use.
and then I have a bunch of different punches that I can stick in to push out narrower things, or set narrower things.

drill it out and make a new end. BTW I put a set screw in to hold whatever I put in the end.

 

[72bwhite]

First thing do this to it



Then use real bolts

 

[lalojamesliz]

First thing do this to it

View attachment 315368View attachment 315368

Then use real bolts

So your saying to make one?

 

[bosleyjr]

Uno.... that's hilarious!

I do like the lexan idea. I can only think of a few more things that I'll need the press for before I sell it. Will 1/4 lexan be thick enough? Weave wire cloth sounds nice too since it will be easier to hang.

A few commercial curtains use 1/4 lexan in a frame. Maybe bolted to a piece of square tube, top and bottom, and hung? Lexan was width of press and about 3 foot tall.
The wire mess curtains extended from the height of the press to a couple feet from the floor.

Thermite may write funny*, but he did experience real life combat. For him to be impressed with a projectile flying around, well, I take that scenario seriously.

BTW, if you do weld a tip on the end of the press pin I'd face it first. I guess you gotta bevel, too, to get proper penetration.

*One is reminded of James Joyce's comment on his work "Anyone wanting to understand my work will have to spend a lifetime". Or somesuch (anyone got the exact quote?)

 

[Gordon Heaton]

So your saying to make one?

No, he's advising you to make a substantial ram guide. One that will keep the ram vertical and centered. Most of the chinese presses come with a single loose-fitting plate.

 

[Laverda]

I have heard more than a few times of the Harbor Freight 20 ton press being a scary thing to use if you attempt to get anywhere near 20 tons. The frame will flex and bend and the part will go flying. Sometimes directly at the operator. It works fine for for small jobs but don't push it to its limits. The Chinese seem to have a special grade of mild steel they make many things out of that is not much stronger than aluminum.

I have a Chinese made 60 ton hydraulic log splitter I bought a year ago. It was the biggest one I could find. The 60 ton rating is a joke as I would be surprised if it even gets to 40 tons. But anyways the first time I ran it hard on very big pieces of eucalyptus, all the bolts marked as being good grade hardened steel, sheared off and almost took my leg with it. I replaced all the hardware with USA stuff and all is fine now. But as its made out of the same crap mild steel, I pay very close attention when running it.

 

[72bwhite]

Yup the way it came from china the ram waded up like a pice of tin foil
And the work went shoot across the garage.
Now it just creeks and groans.
Also managed to put a bow in the lower support so replaced that with some real chanel

 

[thermite]

Thermite may write funny*,
.
.

*One is reminded of James Joyce's comment on his work "Anyone wanting to understand my work will have to spend a lifetime". Or somesuch (anyone got the exact quote?)

Never got that far.

"Work" my arse. "Masturbating with the printed word", y'mean.
Joyce wasn't just hard to read. He weren't worth the effort!

Ireland only blessed him for lack of the distraction of a potato famine in his time to temper their wicked sense of humour.

 

[bosleyjr]

Never got that far.

"Work" my arse. "Masturbating with the printed word", y'mean.
Joyce wasn't just hard to read. He weren't worth the effort!

Ireland only blessed him for lack of the distraction of a potato famine in his time to temper their wicked sense of humour.

See? See?

But I did catch the use of the "u" in humour. Writing in Irish, very clever.

Seriously though, wasn't Joyce doing a bit of the same thing with the printed word? And don't deprecate your writings here - it is a body of work. Good heavens, Bill, can you imagine 3000 years hence, somebody finding the PM data repository backups, and for some reason could only decrypt and read the oeuvre of "thermite"? Man, that might send a less solidly grounded anthropologist into the loony bin.

 

[DDoug]

First thing do this to it

View attachment 315368View attachment 315368

Then use real bolts

Bolts won't fix a bad design, implemented badly.

 

[lalojamesliz]

Since I'm only going to use it for some control arm bushings, maybe the rear bearings on that same car and possibly a couple bearings on the transmission I'm thinking of I'll just do the lexan shield with some square tubing I have and replace the top bolts and then sell it.

The top bolts are 5/8"x6" now. You guys think grade 8 bolts are good enough or look for something stronger?
I'll get some 1.5" x 5/8"

 

[lalojamesliz]

No, he's advising you to make a substantial ram guide. One that will keep the ram vertical and centered. Most of the chinese presses come with a single loose-fitting plate.

Oh, okay. Thanks

 

[72bwhite]

Bolts won't fix a bad design, implemented badly.

Hence you fix a big design flaw first

 

[Rob F.]

The top bolts are 5/8"x6" now. You guys think grade 8 bolts are good enough or look for something stronger?
I'll get some 1.5" x 5/8"

Grade 5 should be fine. To do a nice job don't use the 1 1/2 bolts, they will have threads in the holes, get bolts that are straight shank in the holes so all or most of the threads are outside the holes. Different brands will probably have different shank lengths so shop around if you can. To make that look good you could cut off the excess threads, if they will be seen inside it.

 

[lalojamesliz]

Grade 5 should be fine. To do a nice job don't use the 1 1/2 bolts, they will have threads in the holes, get bolts that are straight shank in the holes so all or most of the threads are outside the holes. Different brands will probably have different shank lengths so shop around if you can. To make that look good you could cut off the excess threads, if they will be seen inside it.

Grade 5 it is. Thank you Rob.

 

[Rob F.]

Something else to do when you swap the bolts is to get all the bolts in hand tight, then put some pressure on the jack to raise the head up in the bolt holes and then torque them.