ok so i finally got my press done... the stand is an old harbor freight press that i got a a scrap yard for 15 bucks... the top rack is a piece of I-beam with C channel welded to the side to make the slides' the bottom rack is a VERY large piece of C channel with 2 smaller pieces welded on to the front and back (this project really tested my welding skills... first time i've done anything other than just build up material) the dies are 2 blocks of 4140 welded to mild steel backings that fit in the slides i welded up to hold them. before and after pics (black top and bottom racks are the ones i made)

Awesome Junker, way to go.

Thanks... I'm gonna test it out and see how it works as soon as I can make some more charcoal... I'm gonna see how it does making tongs, seeing as I broke mine I need some anyways.

Hand pumped will probably be way too slow for press forging, especially with only 12 tn.

Still handy darned tools even if it won't forge.

Frosty

I was worried about that too frosty... but how close the top and bottom are together in the pic is on purpose... that un-extended... hoping that by being so close it'll be fast enough :)

I'll be interested in how well it works. Keep us posted please.

Frosty

looks better than mine...lol it'll work well. i, off ebay got a 20 ton air/hyd for $175.00
i just use mild steel dies and gave the jack full screwed extension plus die thickness to allow for more room. 12 ton use inch or less dia fuller and i used 2 X 3" by 1" thick flatter set. if you work too far off centre your travel bar might want to tilt and you may, i did, have jamming issues. and you will lose heat quick being hand pump(swapping between pump and release, so if you get someone to help either pump and or release it will go alot smoother. just for tidying up though i found the flatting function awesome.
good job bloke!

thanks for the reply... while it hasn't yet been used for forging my dad has been using it for what it was origionally designed for (pressing bearings) GHASP! so it is currently sitting in his shop:p

Kyle, Air over Hyd is the way to go. Go 20 ton. Pull a piece out of the fire and time the cooldown time. Then time your pump time and effort.
Ken

i have though long and hard about the air over hydaulic jacks... but even from harbor freight they're around a hundred dollars... i don't have that much in the press itself... so the well saught after air over hydraulic jack is going to have to wait while i save for a new forge and FABA membership :(

Junker,

Looks pretty nice - I used one with a very similar design recently (forgot to get pictures because I was so excited to try it out). It still had the hand-pumped hydraulic jack and I was able to reshape a comercial 3 pound hand sledge into a double diagonal-peen 2.2 pound hammer. Having a helper made it work without too much trouble - and after using it we decided to weld on a T-Handle to the release to make the return stroke much easier, and we also decided to weld on the handle to the pump. We then realized that we could make a simple treadle to operate the pump handle so the only thing we needed to use a hand for was releasing the jack - After all modifications we made, we were able to get in about 4 well-positioned pressings per heat for the 2.5 inch stock we were forging.

I am about to make my own with these modifications until I get an air-over-hydraulic jack and when I get it finished, I'll post some pics of it.