FILENAMES: Press.jpg DESCRIPTION: Picture of a hydraulic press made by Steve Smith . Steve provided the following description: ======================================================================== Hydraulic Press Steve Smith (tamlene@juno.com) This is a picture of my hydraulic press. The cylinder is 6" diameter (inside) and will move the ram at 1" per second. When a load sets in, it drops back to 1/4" per second and will reach 30 tons (I could crank it up to 36 tons/2500 psi, but haven't needed to). Note that 1" per second is plenty fast. The lower anvil table is much wider than the upper. The upper is 6" wide and 10" deep. The idea is to keep it narrow so you can see around it in use. You can always attach a wide (thick!) plate if you need to. The lower table is about 18" wide and 11" deep (just what I found at the scrap yard). The outboard areas I've drilled and tapped arrays of holes in to match my mill holddown hardware (3/8"). I use these areas to put stops and guides in. On the lower table you can see a flat/half round die. The die is held in place by edge clamps--the die base is 1/4" plate. On the front corner of the lower table is a barrel shape. It started as 4"x2x2 stock, and has been squished down to about 2 1/2 x2x2 in one stroke. This is absolutely my favorite tool. I highly recommend building one if you have the welding skills. You will never think the same way about thick metal again. You can see my second favorite tool behind and to the right of it--my 18" power hacksaw. The press is designed from Jim Batson's plans, which are available for purchase from various sources.