Convert Harbor Freight 20 ton press to 32 ton

[Steve]

I got a great deal on an excellent product from HF which is their 20 ton hydraulic press. $149 out the door. My old 25 ton press cracked after 20 years of use so I decided to get the HF 20 and modify it. The press is a bit sloppy with the pin moving front to back and right to left way too much so I did a bit of modifying along with increasing the tonnage to 32 with the addition of a new air/hydraulic jack.

The HF hydraulic press is rated for 20 tons which is plenty for most but I am going to be bending some fairly thick metal and I wanted the air / hydraulic option so the hand 20 ton jack was replaced with a 32 ton a/h jack.

The press itself is pretty heavy duty but will not withstand 32 tons without reinforcing it in key areas.

On the top, I added on both sides some 5/16 plate that I cut with my Power Plasma 50. What a great machine! Cut through it like butter. I probably could have gotten away with 1/4 inch plate but I may in the future go to an even heavier tonnage. So 5/16 was it.

On the side C channel, in order to tighten up the sloppiness of the jack carraige, I added some 1/16 inch by 1 inch by 12 inches of flat bar metal to both sides of the C channel supports. Had to grind it down a little to allow for smooth movement but it was worth it. I also bent the small C channel in on the carraige to cut down on front to back movement.

On the bottom, I added some 3/4 inch rod to keep the supports from bending. It really stiffened up the whole frame.

To top it off, I added a 32 ton air-hydraulic jack. Had to cut out the old circular top of jack guide and replace it with a larger one to fit a 32 ton jack. I cannot describe how much nicer it is to have air hydraulic instead of the standard pump jacks. I mean like magnitudes better. It changed this press from being a pain in the butt to use to one that I look forward to using. It is that much better.

Had some problems with Harbor Freight mig wire. I won't use or buy it ever again. It was oily and would not weld worth a darn. Arc was erratic and welds were poor. I would not recommend Harbor Freight mig wire. There are many lists on the internet about which HF products are good and which are not. I would recommend checking it out before you buy!

I would also recommend that anyone who has a Harbor Freight Hydraulic press to get a good thick piece of steel to put over or under your cast iron arbor press plates. Those cast iron plates have in some cases broken apart with some force so they can be dangerous.

I could not have done this without my Power Plasma 50. I cannot say enough about how great that machine is!

I have not painted it yet but I will be sandblasting it and then powder coating it.