DIY Shop Press

Nice one!

That's half the fun, having to make the tools to do the job!

I was bought a small pipe bender for use on my solar panel project, I had to spend a few hours fettling the thing before it would work properly without squashing the tube...don't you just hate that?

It wouldn't have cost them any more to make it right in the first place!

Funny, I just about did the same thing, not long ago. I didn't have suitable channel sitting around, so priced some at my usual steel supplier. It ended up that I could buy the entire press from Northern Equipment, for the cost the pieces!

But I admire your industriousness!

Hi Ken,

I too have made things that I later found I could have purchased off the shelf (OTS), whatever it happened to be, for less $.

That said, sometimes even if you know such things in advance, it's the pure, outright, challenge that makes you do it anyway. Sometimes you think well maybe, if I do this and that, I can make a better one! If not necessarily better, at least maybe it will do certain things that an OTS wouldn't do. It does happen you know. Even if it doesn't do half the things a purchased unit would do, look at the fun you had building it! (and the lessons you learned along the way).

Northern does have good prices though and many times they carry items that are otherwise hard to find.

Regards,

John

I agree. There's a lot of satisfaction in doing things yourself. I have a small lathe and have made lots of things that look like $5.00 widgets, but which would have been $150 dollar machining jobs if farmed out. For many projects, if I paid myself a reasonable wage, the cost would be many times higher than I'd pay for an OTS part... but the satisfaction of running the lathe alone is worth the time spent.

I just spent some time at a machine shop that was very well equipped with 3-4 CNC mills, 3-4 CNC lathes, a really impressive CNC machining center, and various manual machines. The guy who owns the place does it as his second job (he's an engineer) and he has 4 guys working for him. He spends a lot of time there, mainly because he just enjoys the machining process and figuring out how he'll make a part.

We talked a lot about the difficulty of remaining competitive. He said some of his clients get finished, assembled pieces contract built in China for less than he would have to spend on materials alone. Delta is now sending aircraft to China for heavy maintenance: it's much cheaper to fly a plane over, pay $100,000 for the work, and then fly it back than it is to do the work here, where it runs closer to $1,000,000. Staggering.

Meanwhile, my Northern Equip power hacksaw (made in China, of course... as are most Dewalts, Delta, Bosch, etc. etc.) keeps humming away. It was a phenomenal deal, and I have yet to get the blade up to more than body temperature when cutting through 1" bar stock. Our stores would be empty without stuff from China. Our factories are becoming empty because of stuff from China.

Getting even further off topic... Ultimately, I suppose things will even out: workers in China will demand higher wages so they can buy the things made there... our wages will go down some, theirs will come up quite a lot, and wages throughout the world will naturally become far more equal. We'll all learn to consume resources more efficiently (maybe), to control population, to live in peace...

But, yes, there's nothing better than doing it yourself.

Hi Ken,

Yeah, I know what you mean. Even Ace hardware is selling a lot of these Chinese made power tools (some unnamed brand or at least I can't remember what it is).

I bought an 8" power miter saw for $49.00 from Ace. I thought it would last maybe a couple dozen cuts but the thing is really built surprisingly well. Even though I've got a DeWalt 10" sliding/compound that I mainly use, I just couldn't resist the price.

Also bought from them a Chinese made 1/2" impact drill (same brand as saw) for $19.95. Haven't yet tried it but I'm quite sure it will work okay for occasional homeowner use.

The enclosed manuals however ...

Off the main topic but just wanted to share that.

John

The enclosed manuals however ...

You are sure to liking the enclosinged magazine for instruction words. We writing are this book so to be puzzle for your funning.

(LOL) Good one Ken! That's about right on.

I also had at one time priced out the channel iron for this project and decided it was too much. Harbor freight has a press for about the cost of the materials. I just sat on this project until I had the need and the scrap bed frames, which were free.

Yo, folks, newbee jumping in here. I have built a 20 ton air/manual shop press and it is a scarey hunk of metal. First used 3x4 channel, bent the hell out of the whole mess, then (thanks to a good friend who ownes a scrap yard) used 3" c channel. Made it table top but soon found out I needed more capacity so I bought a 12 ton from harbor freight. Use them both daily. Enjoying reading your comments.

Hi canman,

Welcome to CR4. What do you use the 20 ton press for? Or did you build it just because you could? I started to build one once but just didn't think I would use it often enough to let it take up space in my small shop. In fact I ran across a commercial one (50 ton, I think) for $100. Passed it up though. I should have bought it for resale for profit but it was heavy!

I usually make tools, equip. as I need them. As usual, like most of us, I always have everything I need EXCEPT for that one particular item that I need at that moment. Sometimes it's just easier to go to Northern Tools. They have a lot of stuff (no Hellfire missiles on hand I'm sure).

Regards,

-John

JohnJohn, thanks for the welcome. The 20 ton press paid its dues yesterday when it straightened out a 3/4" brace rod, on my shop hoist, bent while unloading the first of 2, new, 300lb, 6 1/2 x 10" horz/vert (Northern Industrial Tool) metal cutting bandsaws. Unlike your 50ton press, I couldn't pass up this deal. Now where to put them? Being retired, I survive mainly on shop "projects" to keep busy. I also run the house (blessed with a working wife) and am the chief cook and bottle washer. Talk about small shops, mine is built in the back yard, out of pallets and OSB. Have expanded it 4 times and still need more room. It has heat, AC, and closed circuit TV. Oh, well, enough about me. Later, Chuck

Hi canman, glad to see I am not the only one who has made a press, although yours looks much nicer then mine. It sounds like you do many projects, if you would like to share other projects of yours let me know and you can post them in the workbench creations blog. This blog is intended to be for everyone to share the things they have done that others might find worthy of doing.

Hi, Frankd20, yes, I do a lot of projects. Comes from being scared by a Bridgeport mill at an early age. :-) One of my latest projects is a cnc machine. A friend has a plasma cnc and I thought it was interesting, checked on prices, no way, I can build one myself. Been a good learning experience. I could post some pics if U have interest. Chuck (canman)

"LOGIC" a system used to arrive at the wrong conclusion with confidence.