Cheap hydraulic press

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Has anyone here tried using one of those cheap hydraulic presses they sell on Amazon for forging?

I can't help but see those going for around 80-160 dollars and think, I should buy one and modify it to use for forging. I'm wondering if there are any huge drawbacks to something like those.

I'm sure they're rickety, but that can be fixed by modifying it myself. I would love to hear anyone's experience with it.

I've seen someone modify an electric log splitter to use for forging, so that seems like an option also, but will probably cost about 200 more dollars.
 
Speed is usually the issue. Also, the tonnage ratings are often far greater than the actual power.
 
I was afraid it would be too slow. Yeah, they may be around the same speed as a car Jack for all I know.
 
There has been a ton of damascus made with presses made with a HF air over hyd jack. Slow but works.
 
Do you have an item number of the "cheap hydraulic presses they sell on Amazon for forging"? I've never seen a forging press on Amazon and would like to see what you're talking about.
 
They're not "forging presses" they're just cheap hydraulic floor presses.

Strongway 12-Ton Hydraulic Shop Press https://a.co/d/2FLCAzN

They would need some modifications to be able to forge in any capacity, but those would be pretty simple.
 
I think links like you posted are a no-no on this site. You are allowed to post an item number, like "B00ULDG0LE" and by entering that into the Amazon search box the item will be shown.

Now I see what you're talking about - nope, those don't work very good for forging. Just a manual hydraulic jack and a frame that's not near strong enough for a 12 ton forging press. You got a welder, or access to a welder? If so, using "H" style frame in Coal Iron's 9 ton press (they list it as 12 ton, but with a 3" cylinder it's only 9 ton at the spec'd 2550 psi) you can build a 12 to 15 ton press for $1K to $1500 or so, depending on how you source the materials.
 
I'm not too worried about the frame. That I'm fairly sure I can reinforce quite easily. It's the actual hydraulics, and how that's going to work that I'm concerned with.

I suppose I'll just put this off for a while. Honestly looking at the log splitter presses I've seen when I decide to go down this road, that might be the option i choose, they seem to work really well from what I've seen.
 
I've read of a few folks trying the log splitter route. Something you might wish to check as you're looking at the log splitter, size of cylinder and operating pressure. I think it should be ok to post this link since it's to a calculator and not anything for sale. https://www.baumhydraulics.com/images/calculators/cyl_calc.htm

A 3" diameter cylinder operating at 2550 psi will give around 9 ton pressure, same as the Coal Iron press they call 12 ton. You can check the size of cylinder by measuring the OD of the cylinder - The piston will be somewhere around 3/8" less than the measured OD.

Good luck and have fun.
 
Thanks for the help!

One thing I do wonder. Is how much pressure is actually necessary? What is an average hammer blows pressure compared to a press? I'm sure the fact that a hammer is coming down and impacting rather than pressing skews the comparison a bit.
 
Basically the more tonnage and the faster the ram speed the better.

Lots of folks prefer speed to pressure though, if there is too be a trade-off.

The dies on a press really suck the heat out fast, so the less time on it takes to get the work done the better.
 
I'd be interested to hear from other folks on the amount of pressure of power hammer vs press. I don't think there's any comparison, they work different.

On the tonnage required in a press - I've read 8 tons is too little to even think about. Well, 8 tons will work pretty good. The Coal Iron 12 ton press I purchased came with pressure set at 2200 psi giving only 8 ton rather than their spec'd 9 ton. It actually worked pretty good. Remember, what counts is the "tons/sq in" of die size. The Coal Iron "12" ton press uses small dies, only 1.5"X3" which is 4.5 sq in. Considering a 2" wide billet that's only 3 sq in of area to press. The 9 ton press has 3 ton/sq in.

Consider their 25 ton press with a 4.5X8" die plate. With the same 2" wide billet that's 9 sq in of area to press, or 25 ton/9 sq in = 2.8 ton/sq in, about the same as the 9 ton press they have.

It really doesn't take many tons to set the welds, and with the billet at forging temp it squeegees down pretty easy.

On speed the press really needs to have speed measured in "inches/sec", not "sec/inch" :) 2"/sec works pretty good, and 3 to 4" sec is really good.
 
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Of course you can't beat a real press. I used a air hydraulic press sure it's slower than my 30 ton press, but for probably around $300 bucks it can get you by and do things that would be difficult by hand. Check out You tube JT knives hydraulic press. They are slower and smaller dies. Sell it when you buy a new one. I kept mine.
 
Gilbert M said:
Of course you can't beat a real press. I used a air hydraulic press sure it's slower than my 30 ton press, but for probably around $300 bucks it can get you by and do things that would be difficult by hand. Check out You tube JT knives hydraulic press. They are slower and smaller dies. Sell it when you buy a new one. I kept mine.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I had watched his a while back. I'll give it another watch though, I likely forgot some stuff he did with his.
 
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