What can I do with a hydraulic press?

So I'm thinking about buying a press to do the bushings on my miata. I guess I need it for rear wheel bearings too, like those'll ever go bad. But what else can I do with it?

Someone already has a channel on youtube crushing stuff, and while I'm sure I'll still crush stuff just for fun, I'm having trouble taking up that kind of garage space for one use.

I don't have any other vehicles now, and my extra money is going to a motor swap instead of a second car.

I guess, sell me on taking up valuable real estate. Unless they happen to come apart easy, in which case shelf space is cheaper than floor space

Smash things in it. Theres a hydraulic press channel on youtube. Its amazing.

Make v-block for light plate brake. Hole punches. Press u-joints.

You can always put it on casters to move around easier.

All your gearhead friends will want to use it, be sure to exploit that. They don't take up a ton of space, all the tooling (save old bearings and such) can go on a shelf on top of it. You can store stuff under it too.

"Can I use your press?"

"Sure, come on over with a dozen beer and we will discuss."

You can do some stamping using cutout dies and rubber mats.

Great for cracking walnuts without crushing the whole thing. Also, you know how every bag of pistachios has a few that are not quite split enough to open easily...no more problems.

If you buy a gauge, you can use it to test valve springs or even suspension springs.

Nice for dimple dies.

U-joints will no longer be a hammer and vice job.

If you do get a press, you will need to budget a footprint the size of a milk crate to hold all the accessories.

You will feel smug every time you use it

Also good for straightening bent things that ain't supposed to be bent.

STOP THE PRESSES!

Sorry, nothing of value to add. Just always wanted to yell that out!

There used to be oil filter crushers for presses. I can't find the basic ones any more. Those are nice.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/uwlAvsPvPfg

DIY olive oil.

Well, I do enjoy feeling smug and eating pistachios. And crushing tiny heads.

looking at it some more, it does look like it could tuck under some shelves that are built onto my back wall. At least somewhat.

Currently taking up a lot of space is my radial arm saw, and I'm just worried the press could turn into the same. Like it's great to have, but I use my 12" compound miter saw far more often just for ease. I even have a full set of dado blades and accessories, but I couldn't tell you the last time the saw was even turned on. At least 4 years since we redid the porch into a downstairs bedroom because it used to be setup right in the middle of the bed.

Castors though, I hadn't thought about. Just assumed I'd have to bolt it to the floor to reduce twist or something.

I have a friend that uses angle iron on his for a sheet metal brake. Pretty handy tool if you're imaginative.

I don't leave mine assembled. It only takes 10 minutes to set up or put away. I only pull it out for bearings, bushings, bending thicker steel, or U-joints... on average once or twice a year.

Man, I need to start using mine more! Paco Motorsports decided he needed a 20 ton press so I bought his 12 ton HF unit for cheap. In 6 months I think I've used it twice.

revrico wrote: Well, I do enjoy .... crushing tiny heads

Ive been doing it wrong! Dang Canadian educational programming!

I made a shelf out of wood that sits on the bottom of my press to hold all the bits and pieces you end up using to press various bearings out and in. I also put caster wheels on mine as soon as I put it together. I ended up putting all of my shop equipment on wheels. Both welders, my 4 wheels scales cart, the press, my parts washer, and last my blast cabinet. I store them in the corner of my basement and wheel what one I need into the "shop" area, then wheel it back when done using it. This keeps my work area uncluttered.

You can flatten the ends of roll cage tubing to make bolt in bars.

With two pieces of angle iron it's a sheet brake.

Break the bead on motorcycle tires.

It makes a pretty serious vise for stuff that won't fit in a real vise.

Use dimple dies to make strong holes.

And there is always projectile roulette where you pile E36 M3 on there into a tower, every one stand around it facing the tower nuts first then add pressure until it pops sideways.

All kinds of stuff:
SWAG stuff

Also on the typical Harbor Freight equivalent presses, the cast arbor plates are almost guaranteed to turn into shrapnel and potential maiming ER visit, ditch them and buy or make some that aren't cast.

Dude got "punched" in the face with a chunk of a cast arbor plate.

I think SWAG is a little proud of their arbor plates, but they are beefy.
Arbor plates

Resetting the timing belt tensioner for a 1UZFE. Building a Lotus 910 exhaust manifold from scratch. Building AK47's. Hundreds of other uses. Very handy.

And do be careful. 20 tons of pressure is very dangerous, like the pic shows.

I use mine very often. It's one of those tools that becomes handier the longer you have it since you realize it offers a lot of different methods to do the jobs you've always done the hard way. I also have the SWAG press brake too. It's good for building professional looking brackets.

fasted58 wrote: Also good for straightening bent things that ain't supposed to be bent.

And for bending straight things that you want to be bent

Seriously a press is useful for all kinds of brake & hub work and of course bushings. Gotta use one this weekend for some brake & axle work.

In reply to bigdaddylee82:

Yes, steel plates and pushing pieces only(look on CL, ebay or diy), everything must be square or stuff will go flying, if you absolutely must do something sketchy lean a piece of plywood against the press to protect yourself. 40,000 lbs of force is no joke, you're basically dealing with a big unstable spring at that point.

Those look important. Doubles the cost of the press, but that could do some serious damage if it decided to break on me.

Although it looks like there's a lot more skills I get to try to learn. Maybe I'll push the bushings until after paint, so I only have to learn one thing at a time.

On the bright side, if I figure these things out, and combine them with my friends mig and portaband, between us could be the makings of a half assed fabricator.

You could turn round holes into square ones with a broach set.

And crush stuff.

What can you do with a press?

Whatever you want..

They don't take up much space and when you need it you'll be glad you have it.