More Improvements to the Harbor Freight 20 Ton Hydraulic Press Part 2 

Taking the extra time to not just come up with a solution but making it ascetically pleasing. Nice job. I have a lot of tools but no lathe. Now I'm wishing for one.

I've watched every video on bottle jacks, and this is the first that actually shows the details of how they're put together. Thank you for that. It's easy to sit on this side of the video, and comment. But I seriously doubt the lifting shaft could tolerate the forces if it were cast iron. It's great to know how that thing is made. My press consists of a bottle jack and a very big section of I-beam. One of these days I've got to put a press together. These videos have provided some great ideas.

Nice job! Clever use of the extra ram. Most times I've seen slip on adaptors for different apps of the standard bar. You still may use them, but having that screw in the old ram is priceless. Again, Nice Job!

I like the way you do these videos, for a hobbyist, you do real nice work. Everything you say is to the point and informative. no wasted words, unlike a lot of guys who really must love the sound of their own voice...

I like your innovation , I have a similar press I've modified as well . Some folk do not understand why go to all this, but something is learned every time you think out of the box , and oft times it's far better than want is currently available . My innovation is providing the capacity to open 2 ways ,rather than having only one .

Every time you makes an improvement, please send me the piece, I should have a full press in about 10 more episodes? Fantastic Loved it...whens Part 3?

I like all of your ideas. I bought 20T HF press a few years ago that came in orange. I like your color much more. The number one thing that bothered me was those two black springs that lift everything back in place when finished. I think the main issue was mine were not tightened enough and stretched with time, so I was always practicing arm curls to get the unit back up. Finally, I replaced them with a cable and weight system. I should make a video of it, but here is what I did: I used 3 OH garage door cable pulleys (3") on each side. That style of pulleys have ball bearings. For each side: I ran thin steel cable from the top horizontals (drilling and inserting a bolt between them to attach the cable end), down to a pulley on the "press bar", then straight back up to a 2nd pulley above the top horizontals. The cable stays between the two top horizontals. There is a 3rd pulley cantilevered to the side of the press. Two wide sheet-metal "angle irons" sit above and are bolted to the top horizontals, sandwiching pulleys 2 & 3 for their support. So the cable path goes down, up, horizontal, then finally hangs down to a suspended weight. My weights are scrap iron, each weighing 20 lbs which is overkill because of the multiplication factor with the press bar pulley. It all works very smooth and always pulls the bottle jack up tight.

Fabrication and Modifications are "KING" to make the Tool you need!

Man I never comment on any videos. But i read a lot of comments. It's awesome you take the time to reply to comments. And receive constructive criticism openly. Keep being rad!

Some people clamp their chuck on a shaft/broomstick to provide a good handle. I have also seen wood blocks with side stops like wheel chocks to prevent rolling. Rolling the chuck off onto your foot is a BIG consideration along with denting the ways. Thanks for sharing!

I had a project i needed to crimp the ends of pipe. I think it was 125 pipes crimped both ends. I turn on the air motor full time and just opened and close valve. It worked well. Thanks for sharing

You had me at "Release the Schmoo!" and subscribed!

Nice additions, you gave me some ideas on modifications to mine.

Very good improvement, I own the orange version of that jack . So many times I feel I can improve it but fight the little time I have in my shop to do anything about it. Thanks for sharing

Nice job Robert, the use of the second Ram is simply genius!

Great shop walk through, I also believe in constant shop upgrades. Your ideas work Dudley. The only problem I had was time, now I have to quit my job to catch up.

Your down right impressive for a hobby guy. I suppose the biggest thing is having the right tools but everything your doing seems really quite well done. Great job!

Dude! The title of this is “Make Improvements to the Harbor Freight 20 Ton Press...”, you should have taken a few more episodes and call it: “How to make your own USA made 20 Ton Press with dual adjustable pistons”!!! Lol. Solid work man, solid!

This is such great stuff! I've been waiting for this press to go on sale and tomorrow is the day so I'll be using some of your great ideas. I really appreciate all of your videos and can't wait to get to work on this project. Thanks!

Good useful mods. My HF 20 ton press came with the round stock welded in crooked and I didn't unbox it till well after the 90 day warranty. So I need to make a straight ram.

There's plenty of room for improvement on these Chinese, Taiwanese made equipment. They tend to use cheap, re-cycled steel which are softer and full of other elements. We are seeing a trend towards these kinds of re-engineering lately and this clip is one of the best. My 1950's British made press is mechanical and I will be converting to hydraulic soon. Thanks for posting, enjoyed watching.

Very nice work, and great video!👍🏻

I built my press and i added the ability to thread a large thread into the bottom with a design like the one you showed in the beginning to so i did not have to destroy a jack to have this adjustable feature. I can mount different pushing shapes just by screwing the next attachment in.. I also added a means to raise and lower the press support by adding a houst and cable so i don't have to play with the support which weighs then try to load the height pins .

AVE is cool and very informative and his sign off at the end of his videos drives my wife nuts. lol

I bought a really big pipe wrench to rebuild my floor jack. If I had to do it again I might try a strap wrench made to take a tee handle. ABOM repairs hydraulic cylinders it looks like you need an in at a hydraulics store to get the good prices. Ah, you mention Abom. I agree with dismounting lathe chucks onto a board and have seen some nice custom ones that prevent rolling and position the chuck near its final height. I like the idea of clamping a bar in the chuck as a handle to move and position it.

Great video, I learned something just by watching your channel. Thanks for the "Tutorial"

I love how you use tools, to make things for your tools, so that you don't have to use other tools to adjust your tools. (thinking about the knobs for the springs there :). Really great videos, thanks for posting them.

When it comes to using your Lathe, I would recommend running down the external diameter to keep "the wobble" TRUE for your application! Sure wish that I had a Sturdy Lathe for the 3× a year (maximum possibility of use) within my shop/garage...

I added a winch with cables crossing over the top of the Press connecting to the handles on each side. I used a bearing w/long bolt across the top of the Press (this is used as cable guides.) The purpose of this set up is to raise/lower the table. This makes it easier when you have a heavy item on the table.

On my press the channels that form the work table were tall enough to cover a set of pin holes in the uprights . I drilled two holes to accommodate an extra set of pins so it is supported at four points rather than just two . An older press I have has deformed holes in the uprights due to repeated heavy use .

Wow... I just picked up a HF 20T Press for $154 (on sale). Thought I got a pretty good deal. After watching a couple of these "HF Press Mod" videos, I'm excited to know that If I save my pennies (~$200K worth of them) I too could have all of machines necessary to turn my $159 shop press into a $1K shop press all by myself!! Great video BTW.

Nice put a triangular gusset on the top piece so as to stabilize it preventing twisting. Above the Jack, Like a 3/16" flat stock on both front and rear, triangular, Like 8"wide on bottom and 12"wide at top or bigger. Nice job . You have machinery I'd love to have... I also have the 20 Ton HF PRESS...

I basically have the same press it's just older. It has always done what I needed it to do. I always wanted something nicer but with the modifications that you showed this seems like the route that I'll take. That way I could put the money into something that would expand my capabilities. I'm a new subscriber and enjoy your channel.

First time watching your videos, enjoyed the lathe work. I have the parts for an older press, this gets me some things to think about. I've been welding for over 30 years, you are doing fine. The biggest thing is every time you weld you get better. Thank you for the great work. Btw my daughter set me up to subscribe and I will in a second. thanks

Great contents. You turned $200 press into $2,000 press.

Nice vid, thanks! On the piston shaft, I’m not sure why you thought it would be cast iron, as cast iron brittle and could shatter under the imperfectly unbalanced loads in a job which was not set up perfectly (most of them ;-). It needs to be incompressible and resistant to bending, while not fracturing.. so it needs tough and strong. Cast iron is hard (so it make a good end cap) but could shatter when bent. IMHO of course .

We have a huge drill press looks like it was made in the 1930s has that art deco style to it, we need a motor for it to get it going. We have many industrial tool's heavy duty machine's that we got from old timers that are no longer needing then. They see my brother's and I are always building are working on stuff. I guess they feel like there tool's are going to a good home that will get used. I have many nephew's and there friend's that like building thing's to.

I love overkill stuff... Just wish I had your skill set. Great video!

Thanks Dudley. I'm going to direct copy you. All good stuff.Don from Oregon

Btw, ATF can also work well as a cold weather hydraulic fluid. Great ideas here, some I will definitely borrow. Thanks!

Simply amazing watching you mill your own parts!!! I am just facilitated with any videos on lathes!!! I sincerely appreciate both of these improvement videos and wish you all the best!!! Perhaps you should try and design some type of new Gatling gun that can fire billions of rounds out in a minute for our military!!! Lol Thanks again Art PS: I only got nervous twice in this video and that’s when you’re reaching into the lathe to catch your parts!!! Please be careful as the “Big Guy” upstairs only gave us 10 fingers!!!

Great Video... I think if I had your Tools and Knowledge I would have just built the press my self... You do Nice work...

Great Video. More great Ideas to upgrade the HF Press. You're well on your way having a good Press for not much money.

awesome upgrade gave me some ideal to fix mine

the newer versions of this have boxed steel on the push bar instead of c-channel, there's a plate under the jack itself, and the top where the ram sits is a ring instead of the two fold channel from front to back. there's some improvements that can be made with the new model, but not as many need to be done.

The joy of working metal to make it fit just right with what you've got at hand. Very inspiring! Now all I need is to get some more tools...

Great machine work! I don't have the tools or skill to do anything like this. I do have 1 little idea for your shop press. On the very top of the press I installed 2 broom spring clips to hold the handle for the jack so it wouldn't stick out, or get misplaced.

Good video. I make my knobs with a spindexer & a ball end mill works well

Ive rebuilt several 20 and 50T jacks. Getting them apart requires a huge pipe wrench and a hand maul Instead of parting the cylinder, id have used a band saw and then faced it. I think suggest having the screw head hard faced. At 20T you will be close to the yield stress for the soft soft screw head and so subject to brinelling. A good welder can put 50 thousandths of hard steel on this to protect it. Better quality jacks are not painted together as this one was,

Nice upgrades,no way that push shaft would be very stable at high pressure. Your remake just made it five times more stable plus stronger. We've wrecked a couple of those presses in a repair shop having them twist and parts flying in the shop. Now it wasnt I who did it but I saw the remnants.

If you ever decide to manufacture any of them knobs, id be happy to buy one from you! I hate using that handle to open the valve on mine.

Got to say that I think this is a masterful effort indeed. Would like to copy this for sure. 👍 It’s a shame they don’t come this way from the manufacturer, because all of the improvements make a lot of sense to me from an operator comfort / satisfaction point of view. Poor design soon leads to dissatisfaction if using it becomes a bug-bear. I’m after a shop press, never owned one - mostly for broaching internal keyways - but also pressing bearings in and out etc. I think this would be a great addition to my shop. Thanks ever so much for showing all your improvements, all well thought out & executed. I’ll have to subscribe now. 👍👍👍🇦🇺

There's a potential consideration I would like to mention, bottle Jack's can be modded to work right side not up. The acme thread clearance adjustment shaft does then appear, as luck would have it on occasion, pointing the way of the udder. Good day and I'll watch for more of your, how it should have been done, videos.

Like I stated in another video, I made D shaped handles from 1/16" x 1" flat for the cradle shafts to make them easier to work with and installed a cable winch & pulleys to move the cradle up & down much easier, particularly useful when adjusting with a work piece in the press. Otherwise, excellent ideas.

Considering the design limits of the 20 ton press I am wondering if limiting the input pressure to the air over jack to 90 psi would de-rate it to around 17 tons?...oh yes I did drill those extra column holes and that came out well

On testing the Half-ball-bearing valves on old Rolls-Royce jet engine fuel valves, the test pressure was 2000 bar kerosene. More than enough to cut the end of a finger clean off, which it did to one of my colleagues, much to our delight.

Thank you I injoy youf videos

I always seem to find videos that I want to comment on years after they have been posted. A thought on why the screw isn't hardened is that hardened parts are "slippery" there is no give to the surface so other hard parts can't dig in and will have a tendency to slip off. That's not a good thing when jacking up heavy items that don't engage the grooves machined into the top of the screw.

Nice upgrade

Put a match to it, see if it burns. LOL - Press out the plug. Yes/No? - Spindexer and ball end mill would have worked for handle scallops. - Did you mill a flat on the shaft where you brass bushing contacts the shaft? - It's different from other adjustment modifications I've seen. Hope to see it in use.....soon. Great work, and video.

Pressing shaft is called a ‘ram’. I like the mods. Technical name for male bosses concentric with a part is ‘spigot’,

Nice mods, maybe you could add a gauge to the ram somehow. At my job we have a 50 ton and a 20 each with a gauge. I like the idea of knowing how much pressure (psi) is applied. FYI for cuts and scrapes super glue is your best friend. Clean said cut dry and apply small amount to cover area. Brake cleaner will find any cut. the glue will protect from dirt grease out. just peel glue off when finished working to clean up.

Can I come and work in your shop !! Great video

great job Brother, I have this same press. You have some great ideas here I may use some of them.

That's the best press I ever seen!!!!

Watch pressing on that press plate that comes with the press, you can break them pretty easy and they shatter, I know I did it to mine.

machining brass is like magic alright it gets to places you think are impossible!

I was surprised that you did not make the side tangs ( the pieces that you welded on ) a little taller to keep the twisting front to back down.

One suggestion would be to take the frame over to the mill and bore a pocket into your 3/4" plate as a 3rd register to locate your pusher screw

I only wish I had a mill and a lathe so I could do the same thing. I think I can come somewhat close and not as sexy looking. Question for you: Can you show some examples of the tools that you would make to attach to the new ram head? (I think that is what you call the rod that presses in side the press). I may have to see if I can get mine turned down to a perfect circle so I can do the same. Nice job, subscribed.

I too have some press upgrades currently going on. Never gave much thought to that pusher pin ram thing. I may have to address that, since I'm upping mine to a 30 ton air/over hydraulic, with additional gussets, boxed in supports etc.

Thats a good Project ! Love it!

Question. Would it not have been better to mill a piece of hardened steel round bar and insert it inside the hollow tube, either welded in or press fir to give the whole assembly the strength you are looking for? That would eliminate ANY chance of it failing or deforming in any way. Just a LATE suggestion as I am just now seeing this video! I subscribed after viewing the first of these 2 videos. And will continue to watch your uploads! Thanks for the information! It was good to watch the process as you went through it. Also, I now, know how HF bottle jacks are made! Thanks, again for the videos. They've been very informative!!!!!

Great work! Great informative video

I have no idea of what you are using for a camera so I don't know if you have a manual focus mode. Other than that the photography is excellent. I think I would have put a recess in the plate under the jack for the shaft and clamped it at that point rather than in the middle of the 2 x 4 tube which would give the shaft even more support. I would have run the shaft up into the plate and then bolted the plate to the 2 x 4 so that every thing was in alignment. Knowing that the shaft is not truly round I think I would have tried to true it up on the lathe. I'm going to see which of your modifications I can use on my HF 12 ton as I do not have room for the 20 ton unless I build a smaller work bench. I'm also building a stand for a 6 inch Buffalo vise (came with the Bridgeport I bought at auction and replaced with a DX6 as soon as I had the money) that will bolt to the floor for my rod bender made from Tom Lipton's plans. It will be handy for removing jack parts, too. I've disassembled several rusty jacks to use the pistons for mill clamp supports. They were older than yours and did not have paint holding them together so I was able to get them apart with very large pipe wrenches.

Great ideas to upgrade my Chinesium press, I have ordered an air/hydraulic jack. A pressure gauge would be good, but how to do it?

Bad ass. You've earned a subscriber. Can you please make me a bleeder screw knob! I love that feature!

you should make yourself a holder for your jack rod, I find it annoying how often mine falls.

On my application drilling additional 21mm holes on the 2 column uprights inline and halfway between the existing 4.5" center holes would allow adjustment for my 2 sets of dies,,has anyone drilled holes in that manner, any ideas of structural results,,?

You know that nicely honed outer tube that you saved and liked so much during initial tear down. Why don't you cut it down and insert inside the rectangular tube to add reinforcement at distortion points that will arise as force is transmitted through your (piston shaft) new press pin. This is not criticism, I really like your idea and applaud your creativity by not just scrapping a worn tool but using it to make something better. I think it would add a lot of strength to the rectangular tube where the piston rides against. Still, it is thick, it would be nice if you could update function/wear after a few years of use.

I would thread the old ram for ironworker nut and use it for punching making a die holder plate for the bottom.

You mention that Harbor freight did not do a careful job machining the jack ram. It looks like you use a 4 jaw independent chuck . Why did you not indicate the ram while installing it in the 4 jaw chuck? Or, is the ram slightly bent from pressing stuff?

Thanks for the ideas. Also, love the machine room dictionary word "craptastic".

I like the adjustable ram. Yes, the original setup on these presses aren't that great. I'm always trying to find the right-sized widget to take up space to press something. I keep a bucket of cut-offs for just this reason. I thought of taking mine apart and drilling/tapping that ram. Something.. ANYTHING that would make it adjustable. Your idea is better to replace the whole thing. I might steal this from you if I run across an old bottle jack. I also like to recycle old tools into something new. Just something about having a big press makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn't it? LOL!

Love your videos , keep them coming!!

the internals of yours looks a lot better than my jack mine was full of rust

Pimp my Press , Nice work !

I am curious how you made the hand turn knob on the bottle jack?

I was considering this mod, except I don't have a lathe. So then I thought about buying one from harbor fright, but then I began to wonder how many videos and mods I'd have to go through to make that operational. By the time you get done with all the mods on one of these presses, I'm about to believe it'd just be best to buy a quality one and be done. On the other hand, wouldn't it have just been easier to cut off the shaft on the press and attach the second jack upside down?

Nice mod. I have a 20 ton Chinese bottle jack press I bought a long time ago. The presser foot attachment is not perpendicular to the travel. I faced the foot but that of course didn't fix the problem. It is just held on by a set screw so no rotary reference. Will change that. I had been considering making a threaded foot extension on the lathe but your solution seems better. I want to make some adapters to fit the presser foot. This older press is quite a lot heavier made than the newer ones but still sloppy in it's travels. It came with two very soft, very irregular bars of steel for the pressing surface. I machined them flat and square edged but they get dinged up very easily.

Great video, I will do some of the same things or sort of !!!! Thanks

I watched both, thanks for showing us, fully agree with the improvements,i would do the same,*but* ,just curious, with all that expensive machine shop equip' there, why didn't you just get a proper 20 ton press in the first place,with a real ,a fat one, 20 ton jack ? You sped up that jack, maybe you do *a lot* of pressings? if so,a good 20 ton press would make sense; if not,speeding up the jack(expensive!) is the only thing i would not have spent extra money on; the bottom threaded adjustment is gonna make me wish my press had one lol

Would it have been cheaper/easier to machine your own presser shaft, cut the acme thread, etc, rather than sacrifice a working jack? For support, would it make sense to cut a small cup in the base plate? So the shaft is supported on the end by the cup and the two wall thicknesses....

Great job is there way to order all this great improvements for me? Thanks

I'm interested to know what the ID was on the bottle jack ram and if it would have been possible to just slide it over the existing piece that was provided by the manufacturer? Might be an easier way for those of us that don't have machines to make all of the machining changes that you made.

Great video. Cool project. Oh yeah, ram [piston] the hydraulic cylinder, to push, is a ram.

Nice work. Youll also at some point want to make the two plates , black ones .. flat.

You could have clamped one of your lathe chucks on the milling table to hold your part.

Nice press videos. Swag off road makes press plates to replace the HF ones. Thanks for the videos.

When I assembled one of these today, I noticed the vertical frame doesn't actually touch the base of the feet. It's just resting on the bolts. There are also four struts at the bottom that are suppose to keep it from wobbling, but the two pieces they bolt into aren't on the same plane so the strut has to flex to be tightened. It all seems fixable but haven't noticed anyone mentioning it so wondering if I just got a crappy unit.