I have needed and wanted a press for some time, so I finally got off my ass and put this one together.
The frame was built out of 4" channel, as were the top and bottom cross beams.The carriage height adjustment holes are 7/8"diameter on 5" centers.The carriage pins are
made of 3/4"diameter cold rolled round stock,with large washers welded at one end,to act as stops.The carriage
itself, is made of 5" channel with 4" channel spacers.
The jack cradle is another piece of 4" channel.The jack
is a 12ton model.I believe from harbor freight.
The verticle cradle supports are 1"diameter axle shafts
from a garden tractor,cut to 12" in length.I drilled holes
in the cradle and turned the ends of the supports down
to 3/4"diameter,with a1/4" shoulder height.This allowed
me to weld them on both top and bottom of the cradle.
The tubing these slide in,is just some scrap I had on hand.
The upper crossbeam is made from two pieces of channel,with a piece of 1/2"x8"flat stock running the whole
width and depth on the bottom of the crossbeam.There is a small piece of 1 1/2"square tubing welded in place to
locate the top of thejack.In between the two upper crossbeams, there are two small pieces of 4"channel welded on center,in the shape of an " ][ " beam.
The feet are made of two pieces of 3"x3"x1/4"angle,
24"long.The main frame is bolted with 3/4" grade8 bolts
and lock nuts,as well as welded with 7018 rod with my
Lincoln buzz box.The springs and eye bolts were found
at a local surplus store.
Press plates: I purchased a piece of 1" thick by 2` square
plate from a locale scrap yard.I then marked out two 8"x8"
squares,along with the triangles and half round shapes with my torch.The plates were then cleaned up with an angle grinder and a flapper wheel.
The brake attachment: Suprizingly it works pretty damn
well.It consists of a piece of 1/2"x8"flat for a base,a piece
of 2"x2"x3/8"angle for the bottom die,along with two pieces
of 1 1/4x1 1/4x1/4 angle for support.
The top half consists of a piece of2x2x1/4 angle with a
piece of 2" solid square stock,centered and welded in
the "V". There is a 3" long piece of 1 1/2"id tube welded
on center of the 2" solid square.There is another piece of
tube welded to the bottom of the cradle,on the jack center line.This allows the use of differant length attachments.They get held in place by 3/8" set screws.
To date,I have been able to bend 1/2"x2" mild flat stock
with no problems.I have also used it to bend 3/8"x6" mild
flat stock to 90* easily.I`ve seen very little,ifany,deflection
when doing this.