[silentpoet]

I have decided to make a small shop press. I have a 4 ton jack that I can use for my press. I know it is not super powerful, but better than nothing. But will it be enough to press the bearings in and out on my 2003 pt cruiser. That is the current job I am needing it for. I have all or almost everything I need to make it onhand. I might have a slightly bigger jack someplace, but the 4 ton was all I could find in the basement where most of my tools and junk are. After thinking about it the 4 ton is probably the bigger one.

The other main question is about the ram end of the press. I am not sure what sort of profile I need to have on the business end.

[timothale]

After 25 years my old 25 ton press needs a rebuild It has an adjustable screw ram that i like a lot better than the HF ones with a fixed ram. If you have an old junk jack with an adjustable ram I would take it apart and have it mounted, well braced to the moving shoe. it handy to be able to hold the part and adjust the ram by twisting , instead of having to pump the jack handle. most jacks won't work upside down. a few will work sideways.

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by silentpoet

I have decided to make a small shop press. I have a 4 ton jack that I can use for my press. I know it is not super powerful, but better than nothing. But will it be enough to press the bearings in and out on my 2003 pt cruiser. That is the current job I am needing it for. I have all or almost everything I need to make it onhand. I might have a slightly bigger jack someplace, but the 4 ton was all I could find in the basement where most of my tools and junk are. After thinking about it the 4 ton is probably the bigger one.

The other main question is about the ram end of the press. I am not sure what sort of profile I need to have on the business end.

I built a shop press in an adult ed welding class. I used 5" channel iron and a 20 ton bottle jack. I basically copied the HF frame design but used much heavier materials. The whole thing cost well under $200 for all materials, including the jack. Given the beefiness of the frame, I'm planning to upgrade to a 50 ton air over hydraulic jack in the near future. The pumping gets old if you're pressing eight lug studs out of a dually rear drum, for example.

My frame is basically an inverted "U". The jack is mounted to a cross bar that slides up and down inside the frame. The piston of the jack pushes on the underside of the top of the frame. Springs hold the cross piece up against the force of the jack. An adjustable work platform mounts below the cross piece. Holes in the frame on 6" centers allow me to move the work platform up and down to accommodate the workpiece. I welded a short piece of 1" round stock to the underside of the sliding cross piece, directly under the jack as the ram.

[BOBCRMAN@aol.com]

Originally Posted by silentpoet

I have decided to make a small shop press. I have a 4 ton jack that I can use for my press. I know it is not super powerful, but better than nothing. But will it be enough to press the bearings in and out on my 2003 pt cruiser. That is the current job I am needing it for. I have all or almost everything I need to make it onhand. I might have a slightly bigger jack someplace, but the 4 ton was all I could find in the basement where most of my tools and junk are. After thinking about it the 4 ton is probably the bigger one.

The other main question is about the ram end of the press. I am not sure what sort of profile I need to have on the business end.

I would go with an 8-10 ton jack as these wheel bearings can be a B#*#*ch. to break loose and the bearing usually explodes. At least here in the rust belt.

My press at home is made from the channel steel of a mobile home hitch.

Must commercial press use a plain large 1 1/4" or larger stud that uses slip over set screw attachments.

I have two large crates next to the press full of old shafts, bearing races, plates and shapes. All make good press tools.

[silentpoet]

The frame I mostly already have. It is made of square tubing(roughly 2 inches square or a little less), something close to 3/16" thick walls on the base and top with the uprights being slightly more than 1/8th thick. Just need to put a base in and reinforce the base. It is kind of an unusual spot. What is the side of my soon to be welding table. I am going to have the ram side on the upper side so it can be at roughly waist level. It will serve double duty as a vice. This way I can save as much space as possible. Got to organize the basement better and make it work for my projects.

I may wait till next week on the ram part. I could work on the frame a bit this week. But I am basically broke till the next paycheck. I was hoping I could make do with what I have. I have plenty of steel and the jack. So I thought I could whip something up real quick. May be able to find something in a pawnshop this week, didn't get up soon enough for any of them to be open today. Well went to one and put a little craftsman compressor on layaway. Which is part of why I am broke right now. That and Christmas shopping.

I know it may be hard to say, but do you think I could reinforce the frame enough to use a 20 ton jack? I checked harbor freight and they have the 20 ton jacks for like 40 dollars which is not all that much more than they want for the 8 or 12 ton jacks. But if I can find something decent local I might just go with that. I guess I am thinking outloud here and rambling a bit.