HF comes through again

[rashid11]

For you Damascus ppl. Last flyer I got advertises 20Ton
press for under $200 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=37999

I am stuck in me town-house so I can only dream of forging

 

[Will52100]

That while a very usefull shop tool, is utterly useless for forging. It isn't strong enough to handle latteral loads, is too slow, and you'd need to fabricate a means of holding dies.

For pressing bearings, squishing your own homemade mycarta, I use one for making stacked leather, they are very handy.

 

[JCaswell]

That while a very usefull shop tool, is utterly useless for forging. It isn't strong enough to handle latteral loads, is too slow.

These are very good points.
A forging press has to be FAST. Mine moves about an inch as second as currently arranged and that's fast enough for me. The air-over-hydraulic cylinders I've used move about an inch every 20 seconds (too slow for anything but doing initial welds), and the pump cylinders, just forget it.

As Will52100 suggests, these types of stamped-steel presses wouldn't stand up to the abuse of forging, but are suitable for other jobs that a forging press is not. Insertion and straightening duties in particular. It's also nice that you can adust the working space by moving bolts around. If you're only going to have one, I'd go with a larger version. These smaller ones bend their beams pretty easily if you crank em up too high.