Improvements to a Harbor Freight 20 Ton Hydraulic Press Part 1 

Great suggestions, thanks.

That sounds like a really interesting project. I would love to see video(s) on that build. I am sure that I am not alone here either.

Right back at ya. It's the great comments from the community that re-inspire me to try new things, so thanks.

Thanks for sharing your approach. I have gotten a ton of great ideas from other peoples solutions and improvements.

@@DudleyToolwright you're welcome

Thanks.

I found that the finesse that comes with the manual actuation of the bottle jack came in handy for my uses.

I'm just not sure about that knob, I find it better/quicker/easier to weld a rod on for a handle.

I read that in "Quality of Shop Time" magazine Swim suit edition last month.

I need a functional bearing press, but cant afford a fancy store-bought,, i have some steel pipe & rusty bolts,,,,

Great suggestions, thanks. I had briefly thought about an upside down jack but forgot about the idea when I got to the design. You make a lot of good points, and I think you are right that it would make for a much better operating experience. I like your support bar solution. That one never occurred to me. Necessity is the mother of invention. I realize that the more tools I get, the fewer creative workarounds I come up with. Thanks for the comments.

Ohhh you are so right about creativity! I have exactly the same problem. Just recently I bought and found all the parts to make something and thankfully just before I got started a much much simpler way dawned on me. I think in future I will make myself K.I.S.S it before I start. Cheers my friend. 👍👍👍🇦🇺

K.I.S.S. it is. By the way, I've visited Melbourne where my sister and brother in law lived for 5 years and I love your country. Amazingly creative and friendly people. Cheers.

Thanks mate, that’s very kind of you to say. I’m in Canberra but we go to Melbourne 3-4 time a year to visit family. 😁😁🇦🇺

Thanks. I am only just beginning, but love the subject.

Good to know. Thanks for the info and I hope to hear from you again in the future. I am all ears. Lets not let manual machining go the way of the dodo! We need people with experience to share the hard won knowledge. Thanks again.

I do not take it personally at all. I welcome constructive criticism and, as a beginner, I would be a fool's fool if I did not take advantage of those with more experience. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me and quite possibly others out. I love the rubber washers idea. Thanks for the suggestions of feeds and speeds. I have used coolant on my lathe exactly once and my mill never. I have to admit that I bought both machines new and really hate corrosion. I know that the coolants have rust inhibitors in them, but am still a bit afraid. Thanks again.

As a beginner, i like this video and the ideas. But your comment makes the value - short and easy to understand. Thanks to both you and Dudley Toolwright.

Machinist Handbook: Will give you more info than you will ever want to know. Metal cutting is all about speed, feed, cutter and lubrication. As you noted, with the diameter change the surface finish changed. Book will get you into the ballpark and experience will get you home. There is a time for carbide and a time for HHS. Most of my specialty bits are HHS because they are so easy to shape and sharpen. I do have a dedicated tool cutter grinder and it does precision grinds but I still like the quickie touchup a bench grinder allows. In school I wanted to be a machinist and took 5 credit hours of machineshop but Uncle Sam had a different game plan. Those hours gave me enough background to be able to machine 'stuff' all over the world for different career paths I've taken and the experience that has come from it has made me the 'machinist' I am today. There are things I do by the book and things I do by experience. AND I modify just about everything to either make it better or fit my work ethic. On my agenda is a mod for my carriage feed to make it infinitely variable so I don't have to change gears and so I can have a rapid reverse travel.

How remove from Toyota Tacoma 2000 u join

I too did my engineering apprenticeship but have to admit this guy is pretty useful for a beginner. My old Myford has been sitting unused for 10 years. Life & everything as usual gets in the way. But he has inspired me to get going again. Thanks Dudley.

Thanks for the info! Excellent feedback.

Thanks. I try to balance the machining with the project results. It is a difficult balance and sometimes I miss. I really appreciate the feedback, thanks.

@@DudleyToolwright I meant I liked the machining, I was pleasantly surprised that it was much more than a review and immensely impressed by your machining talent!

Thanks. I have had at least an equal number of ideas recommended by the people commenting on the videos. Add all these up and Harbor Freight could really have a decent product, for a price that the average home shop hobbyist could afford.

It's weird, but I was totally focused on this project and didn't think of the mod in general terms. You are absolutely right. Great idea, thanks.

Nice mods. I agree - its very functional and a bargain for the cost.

Milk crate with a cardboard box inside

I usually put a rod in the tail stock and feed it into the hole of something I’m parting off. That way when it falls off the rod catches it and you still have both hands free

Excellent point and after broaching your point was even better illustrated.

Thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

VERY GOOD

I did the same much later. Very useful.

Thanks. I never had the opportunity in high school or I might have taken a different career path. Life seems to come around though. Cheers.

Thanks for the comment.

I don't know why I always forget about roll pins. They are so very useful and more forgiving than dowel pins. Thanks for the idea.

I have putting some thought into the ram extension idea, but the magnetic holders ar intriguing. Where exactly are they used?

A counter bore inside with a neodymium magnet to hold them in place. MrPragmaticLee has a good video on making the extensions. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OMM56hnK7Bk.html - Making them will be another good video. (Edited to correct inserted video link - MP)

Your link didn't work. Page not found.

flick22601 - Sorry about that. Don't know what happened. Try this one: https: //ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OMM56hnK7Bk.html

Nice solution. Thanks for sharing. I bet a lot of people will find your suggestion really helpful.

Great idea. Thanks.

Nice solutions. Thanks for sharing those. I have very limited knowledge of hydraulics.

I love your suggestions. There are just so many creative people out there. Thanks for the comments and ideas.

Thats a good idea but my pump leaks so much it would be full of oil in no time

Clayton Parks,Better than Snap-On ?Let's not get ahead of ourselves.He has made a cheap press much more user friendly,but at the end of the day,it's still just a cheap knock off.

Great suggestion. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the sub and the kind words. Much appreciated.

Thanks. I really appreciate the encouragement.

I like this idea as well. The two springs really aren't great and I was wondering about longevity. I did get two more springs for the return plate on the air motor jack. I should look to use those. Thanks for your many good suggestions.

I like your mods. thanks for sharing them. I might steal a few...

Thanks. I have a couple other ides floating around in my head and if they work out, I will share them as well. Cheers.

Thanks for the ideas. I was planning to use mine for a press brake as well and your suggestions will be very helpful. I love to benefit from others experience. Learning the hard way gets old fast.

Thanks, I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Thanks. I am not sure why in this instance Harbor Freight does not include, at least, some sort of plastic knob.

I didn't and didn't even think of that. I probably would have after something terrible had happened. Thanks for the great suggestion.

Yeah the whole hindsight thing. You might as well take advantage of mine. I'll tell you what happened. I was replacing an idler pulley on my nephews '96 suburban and the new pulley had the bearing cockeyed in it. So I thought I would just finish pushing it in straight with the press. Got it down there close and let go but it kept going. By the time I got it stopped it had smashed the pulley up beyond any hope of using it. So I ripped that lock off and pulled the bearing out and put it in the old pulley. I use the air to get close and then use it manually for the delicate work. I figure most people will but some projects can be expensive or irreplaceable. Just really glad I learned the lesson on something relatively cheap.

Same thing here. Absolutely, remove that trigger lock!

I had never considered that possibility, so thanks for the cautionary tale. I realized that under large loads, all of the parts on the press would build in some "spring", but I had never adequately considered the consequences. Thanks, you probably save me from some bad situations. I had ill considered the cases when a part would not give way gently, but rather all at once. Something to always keep in mind.

Join the list. I appreciate the sentiment. I have no easy way to mass produce any of these items, I wish I did.

Thanks for the very helpful suggestions. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. I am completely onboard with the Vee block idea, I just don't have any small ones at this point, but I intend to solve that issue. I like the slitting saw idea quite a bit. I have some, but have only ever used the very thin ones. Next time.

I agree. I would like to see them.

I like your ideas. Thanks for sharing them. Now, everyone can benefit from your innovations.

Thanks. I don't have access to any CNC type machines so mass production is probably not in the cards for me, but I really appreciate the compliment. Cheers.

@@DudleyToolwright I second Larry's comment...

Glad it helped!

You are not the first to want me about the arbor plates. I hope that Harbor Freight is paying attention and mods their design. Maybe they already have, because the way my plates cut, lends me to think they were not cast iron. Thanks for you replacement suggestion.

I think the new ones your press has steel ones. My orange press plates are in 7 pieces now lol. I use an old i beam as a base and a 2" thick stage weight to press on. I also had to replace the top beam the old one buckled so bad. The bottom hasnt because I flip it from time to time but I may box it in to add strength. Cant complain the press paid for itself the first time I used it.

I am mostly, but you can never discount RU-vid contributors as teachers. I have watched, quit literally, thousands of hours form some very generous people.

Thanks for the warning. I'm going to test that idea soon. My press plates did not cut like cast iron, but still could be brittle. Cheers.

Great tip! Thanks for sharing.

Interesting. I did not consider that. I was going to make a flat plate to press against, perhaps I should reconsider how I will pin that one. Thanks for the perspective.

Dudley Toolwright - +1 just like Brandon said somehow I never have a press job where things are perfectly straight/align so the plates must and need to be "everywhere". I even had them in a vertical position on ocasion!! Although I leave one suggestion that works for me, it's cheaper, easier and don't get in the way... thin rubber glued to the face of the plate. will not "lock" them in place, but the surface tension is enough so they don't slide everywhere. An old mouse pad or a tire tube are perfect for the job. Felt pads used in chair legs also work well. Cheers. ;-)

Thanks for the great ideas and your perspective of experience. I never considered that I would want the press plates anywhere but centered.

Flip the plates over when the pins interfere.

Robert Masarik think about that.

Cool projects, thanks for sharing your approaches.

Good idea, thanks. I wished I'd thought of that.

@@DudleyToolwright not too late, I'm sure you'll break more ;)

I think you gave a fair assessment. I chose this press instead of something better like a Dake, because 1. Dake's are really expensive, and 2. for the challenge. I really enjoyed this project and intend to do more like this in the future.

I look forward on your take on improvements to this press. I have sub'd as well. Thanks.

Just finished my Bridgeport knee/drill adapter. I think I may start on at least the jack release knob this week.

I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

Ever thought of using a porta power cylinder with air over hydraulics foot control box??

Thank you very much. This video is fairly old, but I am still using the mods. Best of luck on your own approach.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am not familiar with those. I will have to look into that. Thank you.

I appreciate the kind words, thanks.

Very interesting solution, thanks! I was trying to figure out a way to use the existing screw and I think you have found it. Thanks a bunch for sharing.

You are one of many. If I had a CNC machine I could probably make them for a reasonable price. I don't. Perhaps I will make a few and sell them at a loss for my viewers. Thanks for the request.

I have the same press and all i did was use a 2 inch piece of copper tubing which fitted tightly over one of the pins and rotate it that way. It only needs to turn 1/4 of a turn anyway. I agree with better blocks. Those black one are brittle. I have snapped one with an almighty bang. Now that you have drilled it, it will probably break easier. I like the airpump will have to look for one, I use a very short stick to pump it down quickly . I love your lathe. JD

Thanks 👍They can be quite expensive, but it's the tooling that really gets you in the end.

Thanks for the ideas. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas. I will definitely use them. I have been thinking about various solutions to an adjustable push rod. It would make the prep work so much easier. The big boys seem to use an acme threaded shaft, much like the piston on the bottle jack. I even considered sacrificing the new/old bottle jack ram for this purpose. Thanks for the ideas.

It will work without them, but it will be harder to use. You should be able to pin the plates with a hand drill if necessary. If you drill into it and the chips come out powdery rather than stringy, replace the press plates, because they are likely cast iron and dangerous. Some of the other changes I made are for convenience. If you want a better press, you are likely looking at close to, or over $1000 new. The Harbor Freight press is under $200.

@@DudleyToolwright Thank you for the reply and feedback I really only have one job right now I know throughout my life. I'm sure I can use it. I particularly like the hydraulic valve release knob that you made the pins holding the table I would never be able to manufacture for the caps. the pins for the plate I'm sure I could do no problem. Nice to know about they made cheap out and give you cast instead of steel,,,,, if you happen to make any of these items again. The knob and and end caps. I would be interested. Thanks and enjoy the rest of the afternoon

I will remember. Thanks and best of luck.

The new models come with steel plates instead of cast iron. In fact I just picked up this same press today!

Thanks for the comments. I had some concerns about putting any additional holes in the plates as they can be expected to see upwards of 40,000 pounds of force, especially since I am not sure about how large a safety margin, Harbor Freight products build into their tools. If I had to guess, they would be less than a Dake. The turnings from the drilling suggest steel over the powdery chips of cast iron, but I am no expert. Thanks for the comment.

A friend of mine has a similar press, I don't know what brand, but he told me the accessories like the plates can cost more than the press.

Dudley Toolwright cast steel. They snap easy

InsideOfMyOwnMind yea look the cost of the steel alone! They are cast steel because it’s super cheap.

Thanks. The idea came to me after the second time the plates slid off the crossbeam and almost hit my foot.

I don't have the drill press, but I just cut a square piece of plywood and JB welded to anvil plates.

I like that idea. Thanks. I might very well do that. It makes good sense.

This is the number one complaint I have about mine! Just too damn short! I'm only 5'9", I can't imagine a really tall guy using one of these. It should come with knee pads?! :D

Nice. I haven't used this press much yet, but if I used it often, I bet your mods would make it a heck of a lot easier to use. Thanks.

Can you post some pics? Or describe the set up?

I am not sure. I tried to look up th eold receipt on the website, but they only track web orders. Sorry I could not have been more help.

Dudley Toolwright not a problem. Just curious. Thanks for trying anyway!

Thanks for the recommendation. Much appreciated.

I knew a man, but seriously thanks for the comment.

Robotics team, very cool. Thanks for the comments.

Thanks. An improvement on the design might be to make the whole shaft knob as one piece. It is not an overly complicated part. I didn't think of this idea until after I was done.

So that the end of knob is the part that threads into the jack? Thanks @@DudleyToolwright

There is a "T" handle on the shaft that acts as the valve to let the jack down. My knob was designed to fit over the shat and "T" portion. A better solution might be to build a knob on an integral valve shaft. It doesn't look too hard and the tolerances don't appear to be that tight.

Ahh yes. Makes more sense. Thank you. @@DudleyToolwright

True. I considered that option, but my welding skills are more amateurish than my machining. I was a bit concerned about the forces involved relying on my welds. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks. I made this mod after a several repeat instances. I am really clumsy.

Excellent question. I go to Harbor Freight for three reasons: one I am a hobbyist and have limited funds, so I pick my expensive items to buy. I am very lucky to be able to afford some nice tools and have a very understanding wife. Secondly, and probably most importantly, most of my viewers also work on limited budgets and I like to offer affordiblei deas to them. Finally thirdly, I love the challenge of improving on existing designs. Besides, buying the raw materials to make my own press would be more expensive than the HF press was complete.

Like the rest of us, the more saved at HF, the more to spend on other stuff, besides I like HF, have bought tons of stuff as good or better than brand name for 1/4 to 1/8th the price.

Very kind, thanks. If you scan the comments others have suggested even more good ideas.

Very kind of you. Thanks for the kudos.

Dudley Toolwright you're more than welcome.

I think you have offered fantastic options and I really appreciate you sharing them so that others can take advantage of your insight. We all use the tools we have at hand and you have been very creative with your solutions rather than my brute force approach.

Thanks. I did.

You have some really good ideas, apparently as a result of need. I completely agree with the kit idea. It would be an easy Harbor Freight add on sale. I will accrue one myself as I discover uses for the press. I still don't know half of the things it can be used for.

You make a very good point. We live in a throw away society with nothing made to last with Harbor Freight and the like, square in the middle of the problem. However, I am torn because without them, there is zero chance for many people to own their own tools and build/repair things at home. I get that they sell a lot of crap, but it is affordable and often usable. I am highly sympathetic with your point of view and thanks for the comment.

It's not HF who is to blame. They just took advantage of what our very own government has done to this country. We are caught in the middle. HF is no different than most any other retailer. They all sell China made products and it is near impossible to buy American at an affordable price. The laws, restrictions, liability and taxes in this country prevents companies from making an affordable product. Where as in China, they can produce products on the penny to our dollar. Nobody likes to buy China products but sometimes there isn't an affordable choice.

@@halfstep67 dude it has nothing to do with taxes or regulations stop the right-wing radio Party Line bullshit. Jesus Christ my family's own businesses inside was hell set before I was born. my dad was a staunch right-winger until the party lost its Collective fucking mind about the time that George Bush Senior and his buddies in Canada and Mexico drafted NAFTA and then that idiot Bill Clinton signed it into law. You know it's funny everybody fucking blames Bill Clinton when it was a collective Republican party effort for years going all the way back 2 Richard Nixon to form a North American Free Trade Agreement. That was just one of the nails in our coffin. Wages have not kept up with productivity in this country if people were making what they should be we would all be able to afford American made products but introduction of Japanese first and then Chinese in Taiwanese products built on slave labor and sold for the price of a cardboard airplane his skewed this countries economics so badly that there will never be a recovery from the situation. I buy for example American-made or German made insert for my lathe they're like four thousand times more expensive then Chinese made. because they're better I don't care what they fucking cost that is helping America American companies that pay good wages to American workers or sometimes German I will admit but the fact is I buy the best for what I need. If I can't afford it I save up twice or three times or 10 times longer that's just a fact of life I don't run out and buy something from fucking Harbor free that's going to chip away at our economy. Yeah our government is fucked over this country but we're all blaming the wrong fucking group it wasn't the fucking taxes Jesus Christ people they don't companies laugh about that whole situation because you can end up paying almost no taxes if you just do your job as a business owner and take all the deductions you're supposed to. It's not even that hard because even a small mom-and-pop store like we started out with had a tax accountant to pursue that. They pay for themselves 10 times over. Tax is left in the hands of purchasers like me and you does a hell of a lot more for this economy than tax is left in the coffers of a business. A business doesn't buy upper portion amount of goods for the amount of tax breaks it gets it just sits in the bank or goes in the guy's pocket that runs and owns the company if it's a small company which most are in this country. but when a person has the money they immediately spend 90% of it because they have to do to live and that boost the economy people don't know what the fuck they're talking about when they blame the tax code or tax code before deductions is high nobody can argue with that but with the phenomenal avenues that have been provided for companies to pay zero tax most do if they don't have their head stuck up their ass. It's funny because you can sit back and listen to right-wing talk show host talk about the terrible regulations in this country and all regulations are nothing compared to Scandinavian countries that their economy is booming. And the only difference between are CEOs and their CEOs is ours make about 570 X what are average worker makes and there's make about 11 times what their workers make. Our system of government was bought and paid for by Corporate America 60 years ago and it's gone downhill ever since you can change the tax code as much as you want and it ain't going to change a fucking thing because our system of government are rules and regulations are legislators themselves are geared towards making individuals rich and only the individuals that are paying them. And anyone that cannot see this after all these years never will because they're choosing not to they would rather root for their own party and be right at any cost then concede one line of text that they've ever typed

@@halfstep67 Chinese manufacturers can and do make items to any quality level specified by the customer. They make it exactly how the customer wants it. Harbor Freight wanted a 20 ton hydraulic press they could sell for about $150 so that's what they got, just like most of the rest of the tools HF sells. They could make a 20 ton press that is the equal or better or any built in the world in China. Precision and quality are measurable and can be obtained by any manufacturer. It boils down to what the people ordering the tools/parts want. Our government didn't do this to anyone. In the 1700s all manufacturing in the US was in cities where the workers and customers lived because you couldn't make money otherwise. When the railroads came along in the 1800s manufacturing moved outside the cities into rural areas where land was much cheaper and workers could be found that would work for lower wages compared to those in the large cities because the costs of living in those rural areas was much lower. They could ship raw materials in and finished goods out back to the cities. They could even ship them economically to smaller communities by the railroad. There was similar uproar about forcing them to bring the factories back into the cities where they had been based. What we are seeing now is just the same thing globally. If you want to know why America was such a huge manufacturing base it was because of WWI and WWII. The rest of the western worlds manufacturing abilities were crushed during the world wars. Since America was so far away we were able to make everything the world needed for a few decades. Now the rest of the world has caught up and there is no advantage to making it in the US. The bottom line is that it costs more to make it here no matter what laws and tariffs are put in place. The only thing trying to force manufacturing back to America does is hurt US consumers. We either pay higher prices for goods made in the US or higher prices on foreign made goods because of tariffs. It takes more money out of our pockets to try and bring back US steel and manufacturing. The genie is out of the bottle and there is nothing anyone can do to bring us back to the 1940s through 70s manufacturing domination we enjoyed. I bought a HF press because I occasionally need to use a press. I can spend $150 on it and have it when I need to do small jobs or pay $25 to $50 each time I need a press to a local shop that will do it for me. Financially it was the best use of my money and time to buy the press. I don't use it commercially and that's not what it was designed for. It was made for occasional use by people at home. I have already used it enough times to justify the purchase and it's still like new. The laws in this country protect workers on the job (osha) and protect their rights. Environmental regulations make sure they aren't poisoning the air, water, and ground in the areas where they are located. The taxes go toward making the communities they are based in better. Those places make use of the roads, fire, and police services as well as many other tax payer funded programs locally and at the state and federal level. Liability? Not sure what that is about maybe you think they shouldn't be held financially responsible for faulty or dangerous products that cause harm to the people using them. I don't care where something is made. I buy the product I need. If I need a cheap press I buy a cheap press. If I needed a high quality press for commercial use then that is what I would buy. Nobody is buying a $1200 commercial press for their home workshop unless they have more money than they know what to do with. 99.9% of home users will never need that expensive press and a cheap chinese press will work just fine for what we need to do. If you own a shop and make money with a press then get a good one. Nobody would be able to afford to do anything at home if everything was made in the US. Everything would be priced out of reach. If you want to be mad at someone be mad at the GOP who don't want to do anything about paying workers a living wage. Wal Mart employees get about $6 billion a year in government assistance because Wal Mart is not forced to pay them a living wage. So you and I and every other tax payer in the country subsidize Wal Mart employees pay. Every other company in the nation that pays minimum wage is the same way. Maybe we could afford to buy more American made products if those companies paid their employees enough to live on instead of paying them as little as possible and letting the government pick up the slack with food stamps, housing assistance, and other programs. Your lack of knowledge about the root causes of manufacturing moving overseas and why Americans can only afford to buy less expensive foreign products is very telling. You have a strong opinion about a subject but you don't know the first damn thing about it. You simply think that because you want something to be true means it will be. That's not how the world works. You can't bring back the good old days. You can move forward and work toward actually making the nation stronger with good legislation and leadership or you can sit on your porch thinking about how great things used to be and watch China, India, and a lot of other countries sail right past us on the world stage because you wanted to MAGA. Your ignorance of global trade coupled with your opinion that the US can strong arm the rest of the world is a major problem for this country. We have 330 million people and the rest of the world is about 7,100 million people. They really and truly don't need us. They can get anything we can make somewhere else and they will as long as people like you refuse to accept that we will never be the manufacturing giant we used to be.

@@ClownWhisper ,In response to your long-winded diatribe about Bush,The Republicans,etc,I would just say Clinton was the president when NAFTA was enacted.It was his job to see that Bill for what it was(a Bill that was ruinous to American businesses)and veto the shit out of it.He didn't do this,evidently he spent his time chasing tail and getting blow jobs in the WH instead of looking out for America's interests and her people.The Republicans aren't innocent,they played their part as well but it was CLINTON who allowed NAFTA to get passed.It is the single worst piece of legislation passed in the history of our country,In my opinion,and has done the most damage to our country.

Those are some really good suggestions. Thanks. Multipurpose tools are very handy and can save the home gamer a lot of money. I appreciate you taking the time to help me and presumably others out. Cheers.

I added some casters a while ago, but never video'd it. I have space issues, so everything that can be mobile, needs to be.

Thanks. I try to share as I learn.

Interesting. QC does seem to be a problem surrounding a lot of inexpensive tooling.

The latest version of the bigger one does have a bolt on top bar. Harbor Freight mods their gear constantly, possibly by going with a different manufacturer. Their tools are slowly improving.

A great set of modifications to the Hydraulic Press. CNC machines make so many complicated projects, simple. Having access to one is very useful. I considered remaking the hydraulic cylinder release pin from scratch, but ended up just adapting the knob to fit. I like your solution even better. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks and I really respect the ingenuity in making your own. I thought about trying it and one one front was the cost of the raw materials being more expensive than the final product and the second, I am not sire that I would trust my welding abilities when forces like these are involved. Cheers.

Great feedback, thanks. I love to hear other peoples experiences. I was trying to figure a way to get a hardened threaded bit on the working end as well. I have considered disassembling the jack I replaced and use that, but I have not made up my mind yet.

Cool mod. Thanks. Your idea never occured to me, I really like it.

@@DudleyToolwright I also made the mount for the bottle jack so it could slide left and right to make the press a bit more functional, glad you like !

A wise choice. Mine came with carbon steel plates. I think they must be learning and improving incrementally.

I like the foot control Idea. Having both hands free could be key.

Nice. I like your improvements. You are the second person to recommend inexpensive cutting boards as a source of HDPE. Thanks for sharing.

Great idea. Kida like garage springs that have the rods running down the centers. Nice.

I have a video where I push the press to see if it can deliver 40,000 lbs and you probably won't be surprised at the results.

Very nice solutions. Thanks for sharing those with me and others.

Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated.

The stand sounds likes a great idea. I have tested the plates in a different video after a bunch of commentors ssid the press plates were cast iron an prone to catastrophic failure. Link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Z6PG3CCherU.html

I love that you can see a way to make the parts with other tools. I am terrible at hand work and have massive appreciation for those that have decent hand eye coordination. If you choose to make similar parts by hand, I hope you shoot it and upload the results. I would love to see it and I am sure that I am not alone.

Dudley Toolwright It’s about figuring out a challenge without the right tools 😂 where there is a will there is a way. I would like to make a video of it honestly, If I can afford to do it, I’ll do it! Challenge accepted.

You make it and I'll watch it. I look forward to seeing it. It's easy to have a machine make an accurate part, but it takes skill to do it by hand.

Dudley Toolwright It will take me a bit too get the press ,but I can do it! I want to start a welding and repair/restoration company/youtube channel.

I agree. I offered all of my mods to Harbor Freight in the hopes that they would take advantage and make the changes. I still hope they will and then everyone will win. By the way, please be as critical as you like. I always appreciate constructive criticism. It forces me to look at alternate ideas and I always learn something. Thanks.

I like the tray idea. Quite a few others have commented on the issues with the press plates. Mine do not seem to be cast iron, like others have reported. I will still be wary of potential issues. Thanks for the heads up and good suggestions.

I love stories like yours. I think it is a crying shame that people design in obsolescence or early failure into their products these days. They want to sell you a new widget every X number of years. It's a crime.

I appreciate the kudos, even if I screwed up. I like them too, thanks.