Alan, yes I definitely need to reverse the hoses between the valve and cylinder. Thanks.
Pike3e, thanks. Not yet but I'll post when I do.
Flemish, the press weighs a bit over 200 pounds with the cylinder.
Thanks Gehljoe. I took about 2 years to read up on hydraulics, draw lots of sketches, and collect the parts little by little. I rummaged for scrap steel & bargain shopped all the parts except for the hoses and fittings. I probably have $800 or so in it. The build itself wasn't too bad and could be done in two or three weekends.