September 12, 201510 yr I was planning on making Batson's H frame press according to his directions, but in the materials list it calls for 3 x5 x 1/4" angle for the four uprights. this seems a little light to me and when I look at similar presses like the carolina custom knives 24t press the uprights appear to be 3x 5 x 3/8". anybody made one or have any recommendations? also, last time I was at the scrapyard I came across two pieces of 5 x5 x 1/4" square tubing and I thought I could make the uprights out of that instead for a design similar to the Claiborne press only having the cylinder on the bottom pushing up. this would be the cheapest option, but I want to make sure it is strong enough. I do think Batson's design looks the strongest as far as having plenty of surface area for strong welds. Using the square tubing would require the joints of the horizontal section to be simply butted and welded, instead of the sandwiching that happens with the angle in Batson's design. any insights would be greatly appreciated.
October 18, 201510 yr I'm close to finishing a Carolina clone and share some of your concerns. I welded 1" square bar between each pair of up rights for more rigidity and to keep them from spreading apart. I also overbuilt both platens. I pre-assembled the frame with 1/2" grade 8 bolts to insure everything was square and plumb before welding and cycled the cylinder with compressed air to check for binding.. I'll probably leave the bolts because, well they're already there and kinda look art-deco. .
October 18, 201510 yr I'm close to finishing a Carolina clone and share some of your concerns. I welded 1" square bar between each pair of up rights for more rigidity and to keep them from spreading apart. I also overbuilt both platens. I pre-assembled the frame with 1/2" grade 8 bolts to insure everything was square and plumb before welding and cycled the cylinder with compressed air to check for binding.. I'll probably leave the bolts because, well they're already there and kinda look art-deco. . Got any pictures?
October 19, 201510 yr Author teritorialmillworks; I am assuming you did use the 1/4" 3 by 5 angle iron then? I would love to see some pictures too. thanks
October 24, 201510 yr Hope to be photo ready next week...wife's going to see her mom.....so lots of shop time. SSSHHH, don't tell her I said so...
October 24, 201510 yr Author Hope to be photo ready next week...wife's going to see her mom.....so lots of shop time. SSSHHH, don't tell her I said so... i have the exact same "time constraints" I look forward to the pictures
October 12, 20169 yr I'am also ready to build the same press from the same book, I will be using 4x4 sq. tubing. I have made large power hammers with 4x4 and have not had any problems with it.
October 13, 20169 yr I built a Batson style press according to his instructions, but used what I already had in the shop. I used 4"x4"x1/4" for the uprights and built it all on a wheeled cart so it was moveable. The square tube got reinforced as the build went along. If I was to do it all over again, I'd use heavier steel all around. A 24 ton press might look small, but it packs a huge punch. First time I used it, retracting the cylinder tore it up pretty good. So build heavy and good luck.
February 16, 20179 yr I built a Claiborn style H frame, overbuilt the frame, but used small channel iron for the ram guides, bend them and went with 1/2" x 4" flat bar, and am bending it, not bad, but enough to get out of square, need to use heavy angle or larger bracing. I don't think it's possible to overbuild a hydraulic forging press.
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