How to Build a Hydraulic Forging Press 

Finally someone who can actually weld and who knows how to set a proper flame on an oxy. Good work

Damn!!! What a nice press you built! Awesome man. Congrats. Very much deserved thumbs up!

Like the build. Only suggestion is to make your die mounts square so you can rotate dies either orientation for unforseen situations. Good work.

Very nice work. SHIELD YOUR HOSES MAN! TRUST ME ! BUILD A SHIELD! Also find an AFFF Fire extinguisher! It only takes one slip and that fire risk can take your shop in minutes! *Been there ! Please build a shield for your pump , hoses and tank ! !

Cleanest home designed press that I've seen. I think I will use your design as inspiration when I build my first. EXCELLENT Video.

Love the simplistic design. Might have to copy a few things for sure.

Hi Paul This is the best hydraulic press I have ever seen. Good work man

Thank you, tidy build. I’m planning my press, so your vid is priceless ☀️

Have been searching for a good vid on how to build one. This is the best, simplest on youtube. Thankyou!!

2 safety issues, big ones! You have a good channel, please don't die. 1. Cover all the hoses you can. A stream of high pressure oil will do more than bruise you. You will get an injury from both the force of the fluid and from the injection of the fluid into your body. You'd rather be shot in whatever body part the fluid hits than hit with the fluid. Solution: 1. cover all that stuff at the bottom with some sheeting. 2. sleeve all your exposed hoses "hydraulic burst protection sleeves" I've used Eaton Guardian, like $2-3 a foot. Be careful many hydraulic stores will have abrasion sleeves(lose nylon weave) and not burst protection sleeves(dense weave). Get the right stuff. 2. Bolt like a bullet... I like your slide design, large surface area, relative to die size, BUT that bottom bolt... If you work to the outside of your die that janky lower bolt WILL fail. The other bolts are likely safe due to design (but id change them anyway) It looks like a 1/2 grade 5 you've got there. My suspicion is you have anywhere from an 18 to 25 ton press there. That not accounting for pressure spikes. The forces on this system are dynamic and eccentric. That bolt will fail at a static load of around 8 tons, Dynamic, I bet its 1 ton or less and failure. Solution: Drill that hole out so that a 3/4 inch grade 8 fine thread bolt with JUST fit (no slop in hole AT ALL), Install a good brand name grade 8 bold and torque it down with a torque wrench (you'll need to borrow a 3/4 inch torque wrench 300ft/lbs). to be clear this would be a "3/4-16 grade 8" That bolt should be able to handle the full static load of your press, seems overkill, but remember "DYNAMIC and ECCENTRIC" This is a dangerous machine. respect it.

I like how clean yours came out. All the details are down below which is real clean looking.

What an awesome press Paul and I am very impressed with your fabrication skills. I do have one small concern besides the 50 comments about a shield over the hydraulic system lol I noticed the sleeve build onto the I beam is very well constructed but what about proper lubrication? As you may well know friction and abrasion are steels worst enemy. I'm sure by now you have taken care of that lol but I figured some good high quality high temp grease every so often would work great. Other than that it's freakin perfect. Far better than any production built presses I've seen.

I just want to be clear. All of these problems existed before that sticker was on the I-Beam. ;-) That press made you some money and built your channel, but It's awesome that you now have the knowledge and resources to upgrade. Congrats!

Nice job on your forge press build

thanks, that was great info on my next build, thankyou.

Its a pleasure to see the exercise of skills to build a good solid machine

Very well thought out build Paul. I built an H-frame 16 ton 2 years ago. There are advantages to a C-frame press, but also advantages to the H-frame design. I used a 4" bore x 8" stroke cylinder. But now have a 5" bore x 8" to retrofit. Need more squeeze power Looking forward to seeing this one in action.

To have to rebuild a major tool is a pain, but your re-design features sound really top notch improvements. Hope it allows you to explore great adventures in forging, using own design dies for small production runs.

What a beast she is!! Nice work. Wish I had the skills and confidence to build something like this.

"My Dad hanging off the back." - That's exactly what we are here for. Priceless

Amazing build - ya I noticed the exposed rubber near to where hot metal being worked on. Some kind of overhang, sheet metal like suggested below. Saving this for a future DIY press. Thanks!!

Paul you did a great job on your rebuild of this hydraulic press the set up was also a couple people made comments about you beveling the 1 inch plate I would’ve done that that way you can get total penetration because something like this you don’t want it to collapse on you but it look like it’s pretty sturdy so good job

Great build. I built one out of a log splitter and have the same issues you had with your old press with the twisting and bending. Thinking about putting a larger beam on mine, or just building a new one. Thanks for the tips!

Holy shit that squashed that huge piece of steel in 1 go. That was impressive!

Awesome build. It should serve you well for years to come.

Man this brings back the memory of me watching the first of your vids on building the press initially. I love how you have beefed it up here man! I don’t know if you recall but I bugged you about some specs on your initial build and you were so kind to give me some tips. I still haven’t built my press yet but I scored a free 7.5 hp Baldor motor a mos ago and am in the process of getting the steel and other components I need. Hopefully I will have it built by the end of the year. Really been leaning towards a h-frame but man I love this new version you’ve got here! Awesome

Nice,one of my bucket list items! I'll have to buy mine since I dont have the tools to build it,but I would buy plans to that!

Just a thought. Something you want to be real strong. You should be beveling the edges. With 1” plate your not getting nearly enough penetration.

Looks great!! I'm extremely impressed with how straight and clean your free hand tourch cuts are!!

Nice! I dig the gray color. Looks perfect.👌

Wow, what a great forging pres. Perfect design, I'm going to build one for sure.

You have a steady hand.

Awesome job brother!!

Nice press! If I may, I would suggest that the bottom die holder/ bottom shelf needs to be hollow so tools and punches can pass through it. For Example if your trying to put an eye in an axe head, you would need the dies to pass through the axe head and this through the bottom die holder/shelf. Amazing inspiration

Ive been wanting to build one for awhile but it just seemed to big a project. this really helped simplify things and i think im going to go for it useing your design! thanks paul!

Good job Paul. Simple and very effective.

Great to see a young man with a great skillset. Keep up the great work. I enjoyed this video and may use some of your ideas when I build mine.

i am mad jelly over the tools and machines you have at your disposal! great vid!

impressive, i aspire to learn the talent and patience you must have to have fabricated that tool. you truly have something to be proud of there. New subscriber

great build good stuff It was once said to me =sometimes you have to do it twice to get it right

Wow nice looking press, excellent work...and very powerful! best looking one I have seen on RU-vid!

Damn all the steps are simple yet what you created is quite awesome. Great Job.

Well, how about that! Nicely done. Thank you for sharing.

Looks good, but I would have beveled the steel to make sure I got plenty of penitration with my welds. That's a lot of pressure your dealing with.

Молодец мастер!👍 Отличная машина,супер видео⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great Press, thanks for sharing your experience.

wow awesome job on that press paul i need to make one my arm needs a break lol great job

VERY NICE WORK and THE BEST HYDRAULIC PRESS!!!

That's one substantial press dude. Well done, you got a sub. Greetings from Ireland.

That is a heavy duty press! Can’t wait to see you build more cool stuff on it. Great video. Keep up the good work.

Awesome job brother. Love the build. Would you kindly provide complete list of material needed for the build ??

Sketchup plans Paul? Yao know we’d buy them!

What a badass press!!!

I like your Press. I was wondering what valve you used?

Paul can you give a list of what I need to buy for the hydraulic pump set up and where to purchase.

Great job on the press, I want one. Have some of the components and a dream. Thanks for sharing.

Playing with the angle the cylinder is at can offer some surprising benefits. Being perfectly plumb isn't your only choice. Have a little thinking at it with respect to what happens when your dies contact the work. Sometimes subtle seemingly insignificant options are not considered when building heavy duty toys. I'm half way through the video so I'll adjust my thoughts after I've watched the whole thing. So far, cool can't complain about 1" plate. Peace

Awesome man, well done. Question, What’s the specs of the motor and pump?

Very impressive build - thank you for shattered this.

Super bro. Please share videos about hydraulic power pack

You got some good tools my brother. And good skills to go with them.

Great video dude - very helpful. Thanks for sharing!

Great job!! Thank you very much for sharing this.

That's a great build. I do have two questions. 1, why did you use nuts on the track instead of tapping the plate to recieve the bolts? 2, Does it really matter if the lower die plate is locked in? You're just pressing down on it. As long as it's held sideways can it still slip out?

That's a mighty fine build. Well designed and executed, clean. I'll second TexaCajun's input concerning the bottom bolts on the slide. The further away from the face of the main beam you put pressure, the further from the center line of force you are from the cylinder rod, thus torquing the ram die. This has the effect of trying to pry the bottom of the slide plate off the beam. I've seen many "log splitter" conversions here on YT and it's common for folks to make a combo die with flats and round drawing dies with one extending out from the beam face. I cringe watching them powering away on the outer edge of those dies and seeing the loose slides they've constructed straining under the pressure. Considering what you've probably spent on all that thick steel and the main beam (btw, what DID you pay for all that steel out of curiosity...want to compare to what similar costs around here)...I think the cost of some good grade 8 bolts is negligible. I'd also say get fine thread too (fine thread is stronger than course thread in both tension and shear). A pair of 3/4" fine thread grade 8's and the corresponding grade 8 nuts shouldn't run more than about $15 for a pair of each. While you're at it, I'd go ahead and replace the others with 1/2" grade 8's too (1/2" grade 8 fines and nuts are about $3 for one of each), so figure around $30-$35 to replace all of your bolts. Well worth the safety margin and peace of mind. And definitely, DEFINITELY do something to protect yourself from a ruptured hose. I knew a kid growing up that almost lost his leg to a hydraulic hose rupture on his dad's log splitter. It was like a liquid knife through hot butter. He had to have several surgeries to fix it all up and lost a good percentage of his right thigh muscle strength and function.

What's the RPM on your electric motor you used?

Wow that is so cool, you're a great craftsman, and so skilled, you put me to shame, well done, can't wait to see this beast move some metal.

Well done video. All the best in your future.

You're rly talented in building your tools. cool 😎 I like it.

Awesome Paul, that thing should do you well for a while! Great Build!!!

Beautiful build.

WELL DONE BRO !

CAN YOU SHARE THE CONSTRUCTION PLANS FOR THE STRUCTURE?

Awesome build, and cool slippers, bro!! Seriously love this channel, and look forward to more great videos

Impressive work. It is a masterpiece!

I’m getting ready to add a C-frame hyd. Press to go along with the H frame I already built my question is how did your die holding set up in this improved press work out? I’m happy with the setup in my original press and will most likely stick with that although the flip lever holders do tend to get bent up over time. That I could work on for sure. Can you show me what you finally ended up with please 😎 looking for ideas

what was the overall cost of materials and how much time did it take for the whole process. As a hobbyist blacksmith, I understand the "make it yourself" mindset but it seems from between all the tools you have, time and materials, it might be just as well to buy a premade press.

Impressive work man... this thing might even out live all of us... LOL

Question for you Paul. Are you a welder by trade, or a hobby welder like me? Seems some of these welds are pretty significant given the pressures being exerted. Do you have any concerns about welds cracking?

Paul, I want to thank you for going through the build learning curve for us and then sharing. I was really impressed with your first press, but this build is beefy, elegant, compact and just plain awesome. Do you have a pressure gauge & have you calculated how many tons you're now pushing? When I finally build mine, I think it will take a lot of ideas from you. Thanks again!

Power and Art...........thank you

Nicely done! Thanks for the video...

Amazing work man, congrats!

Dude, how did you get your hands on so much awesome equipment? That equipment looks like it costs a fortune... probably more than a new house! I can barely afford something that costs more than a few grand. Anyhow man, you have all the cool tools I only dream of and this is a cool project and a cool video.

Thanks Paul that was superb 👍🏻

Much better than the black one, I like this design better, what’s the tonnage on this?

Have a look at Surplus Center - Much cheaper than Northern and interesting hydraulic selections, many ex-government.

If you do order from benchmark abrasives add a mixed pack of flap discs then use the code freemix at chechout and the mix pack will be free.

What pump n motor setup? I got access to 38 gpm pump and a cylinder that looks similar to yours by looks. Also what size reservoir and valve lever?

Hey Paul any chance you can post the cylinder you used?

Instant sub. Great fab skills and an awesome press you’ve made. Good job dude!

Awesome Job Paul!

Wow man you just got a Sub in me bro! You have the best build I’ve ever seen I’ve watch prob 20 diff builds… hey did u have to heat treat any of the steel for ur permanent top die? Also where can we get that valve?? Like what are these hydro/electrical mechanical pieces called?? I’m tryin to figure out how much it’s gonna cost I would love to copy your steaze my man I’ve never seen a press demolish a cyllinder like u demonstrated at the end holy balls is that powerful? How many tons? I don’t think u said?

very good toys.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Is it possible to install two shorter hydraulic cylinders and get the same force or more?

👍👍👍👍👍Geez you've built 2 to my...none lol. Looks great!

Use Smaw to weld that stuff!

Please put parts list in the description. (Or link.)

U will steal need a 45 degree support on ur I-beam. but its a good project. Can u pleas tell me about how to match the coupling with the electric motor and the oil pump? I made the coupling my self and it makes one hale of a noise. thank You

Glad your back