74 Weak Press Plates in the Harbor Freight 20 Ton Press?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.พ. 2019
- This video investigates the claims of many of my viewers about the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic Press and the under-designed press plates.
Please Note: I am a beginning machinist and I do not pretend to know everything. Please always operate machinery in a safe manner and if you don't know, find a reliable source. DO NOT COPY ME. I make a lot of mistakes. I provide these videos for entertainment only. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Great video, thanks for going through all this effort to test a couple plates that some viewers cautioned us on!!! I was a little concerned as I’m still tweaking my press.
Take care and wishing you the best!!!
Art
Your welcome. I am still in the same boat - tweaking and proceeding cautiously.
I have the same press and therefore the same plates. I had also heard about their frailty and was worried, but after your video, I am no longer concerned. Thank you.
Harbor freight has multiple skus for items currently in stock. Presumably they source from multiple manufacturers. You should check just to be sure.
@@DudleyToolwright Yes, I'm aware but the different SKU's, at least as far as I have seen, are all built slightly differently. Welded vs bolted on components, differently shaped components, etc. Mine looks exactly like yours. However, I may be able to tell when I drill holes in the plates, as I plan to hang them as you and several others have done.
Thanks Robert for another great video. I don't care what video I have watched of your I always learn from you.
I am 71 years old and will never be too old to learn. I just wish I would have taken up toolwright when I was young instead of being a heavy machine operator and construction.
I'm right there with you on the career path. None of my schools ever offered any kind of shop classes. I might have done something other than an engineer if given the opportunity. Thanks for your very kind words and I really appreciate you watching and the comments.
They quit the cast iron plates years ago. Ive done about all the mods to mine as you did. Thanks for the vieos on that.. I milled and ground mine flat . I guess because I could. Also made a sheet metal brake for it. I just did a video on CNMG and WNMG on my Colchester lathe video.
I'll check out those videos, thanks. I love watching other people content. I always learn something.
Watching you work all these machines I really miss Junior high school!! That was the only (and last) time I have a full machine shop at my disposal!! LOL
I wish that any of the schools I went to, had offered any classes like machining...
I am glad to see this as I have one of these 20-ton presses to press bearings out and in.
I was glad as well, but also a bit sad that I didn't get to have an exciting end to this video. I guess I should be happy that Harbor Freight learns and improves their products over time.
Hey Robert, another great video. Great demonstration. Lets me know those plates are safe, without me doing the work myself. Saves me time & money! 'Til next time.
Hope all is well. Thanks for the comments as always.
Out of curiosity how much was your saw, I have a Jet horizontal that was pushing 3k when I got it. I use a portaband for my vertical work but it takes a while to cut some of the harder stuff (I don't do machining so high tolerances aren't a problem) I've been considering getting a vertical cut for a long time just not sure its worth it for my uses, Its kindda hard to find a middle ground vertical cut saw, its either consumer grade or full industrial it seems. My buddies shop has a Baileigh with a tilting table can cut 24" but it was like 45 grand. Cool video!
All told, with the extra option of variable speed, the cost was around $4500 , if memory serves. You could save $1000 or so without the variable speed option. I can put you in touch with the company I bought it from if you like. Email: dudley.toolwirght@gmail.com.
What size tap is that on your bench next to the wooden box. Looks like an excellent conversation piece! Great content and keep up the good work.
It's a 2.5" tap and that is what it is there for. It was selling for almost nothing on EBay and I thought it would just be an interesting piece to have around. I can't imagine the force it would take to actually use.
Great Video. By the way, what type of Lathe is yours? I know you told me earlier that is an Acra brand, but I've been looking at Lathes for the last week, and I'm not sure what the different types are, Engine Lathe, etc???
Also what size is yours?
Thanks in advance.
I'm no expert, but I think an engine lathe is one that has a gear box instead of change gears. I can move levers to adjust the feed rate, thread pitch, or speeds. Smaller lathes use different gear sets that need to be exchanged to make these changes. My lathe is an ACRA Heavy 14. It has a 14 " diameter turning capability unless you remove the "gap" (which makes this a gap bed lathe) under the spindle and then I can turn something like 16-18" items. My lathe is called a heavy because the chip tray and base are solid cast iron making it fairly rigid and literally heavy at 3400 lbs.
@@DudleyToolwright Thanks, that was great info. I was wondering what the hell a Gap Bed Lathe was. Lol
Cool vid! Your press plates dont look to be cast iron. Mine do but I bought my press probably 6-7 years ago from Harbor Freight. Also, your lathe turning is always cool. You convinced me to try 4140 PH etc from this vid and your other previous ones
Thanks. I always love the feed back - good or bad. I did this video because I had so many people warn me about the plates. A couple comments down and a gentleman broke three ribs over a shattered plate. I love to try new alloys. I just need a project for Inconel...
@21-15 (ish) - it's the same force as preciously, but 4 x the pressure. (Mechanical engineer here.) As you correctly state, the variables are force, pressure and area. The press is a source of force (it's why they're rated that way). The tooling changed the area, therefore the pressure changed. (Like when a high-heel shoe is compared with a running shoe. Same force - different pressure.)
Excellent point. Thanks. I get tongue tied sometimes. Thanks for the correction.
G'day Dudley Toolwright. Many thanks for doing this video. I have what appears to be the same press and the same cast plates here in Oz. I was pressing a wheel stud into an axle flange when one of the plates shattered. A piece of shrapnel about two inches long, with a razor sharp end, hit me high up on the inside of my leg. It could have been particularly nasty or at least given me a squeaky voice, but fortunately I was hit by the blunt end. I was staggered to find that they were cast plates. Who in their right mind would supply cast iron and how do they get into the country like this?
Great story and even better point. I think the manufacturers have finally listened and quit using the cast iron plates. Mine certainly did not cut like cast iron. I got long curly chips and the edges look to be plasma cut. I'm glad you got lucky. Your story is one of more than a dozen I have heard. That is why I did the test. I was getting paranoid and rightly so. The forces involved in a 20 tone press are pretty significant. Thanks for the comment. Cheers.
I have the old plates, and mine are cast. Thinking about cutting a new set for myself on my CNC
Yikes, if you look back in the comments, some people have really had some terrible experiences with the case plates. CNC, nice.
What is the LARGEST O.D. material you can chuck up in your lathe?
It is a 14" lathe so if the part is over the bed I can turn 14". It has a gap, so if the part is short, I could presumable turn a part around 17" or so, and if I had to run a part over the cross slide (long part), I think the clearance is something like 9-10" These values are approximations.
I am quite impressed! Another entertaining and useful video.
Very kind, thanks.
At the 13:57 point, it looks like the top right chuck foot is cracked on the second land inward? You should take a look. Or is it a piece of shaving?
Amazing eye. I double checked and it appears to be swarf, but it definitely looks like a crack in the video. What amazes me is that you saw it to begin with.
Thank you for sharing the nylon caped 1/4 - 20 set screws for mounting your arbor extension so you leave no marks when tightening it onto the joining shaft, more people should really use them or the brass ones both will help a lot. We also think eBay is great for buying material especially drops that is plenty of material for us anyways. Lance and Patrick. Math class oh no I got nervous right here in the video. Nice video thank you for the share and interesting to watch.
Thanks for watching. I try to include as much information into my videos as I can without being boring. I tend to win some and lose some. Cheers.
Great video . Some ppl on here REALLY don’t have a clue as to how to make a good one. I like what you’ve done . There are obviously tons ( pun intended ) of these presses out there. I’ve picked up an idea here and there to make mine what I want. One nice improvement was to instal nylon screws to get rid of all the slop on the top ram unit. Simple to do. Drill a clearance hole for a 3/8-16 , then weld a nut ( 6 on each side ) then use nylon hex head screws with a locking nut. I also used a foot pedal for the air over hydraulic cylinder. This allows me to use both hands while using my homemade finger brake. And wow, you used algebra! Never figured I’d need that after high school. And you did it without a calculator KUDOS . Looks like you’re a very good machinists with nice machines. I do have one question though. You as well as almost everyone one on here don’t use a 6 jaw chuck in the lathe. I use one and simply LOVE it over the 3 jaw. The only time I use a 3 jaw is when I reverse the jaws to hold larger dia. Then of course I use the 4 jaw independent when req. DRO on the tail stock …..brilliant. Might just do it to mine. Good job young man!
Thanks for the comments. I didn't use a 6-jaw chuck, because a simply didn't have one. Later I bought an inexpensive one and didn't like it, because of poor repeatability. Now, I have a Bison 6-jaw and it is my go to chuck. I really appreciate the improved gripping power over a 3-jaw and the lower likelihood of marking the work due to distributed gripping force.
Have a go at making a press yourself. I made mine from old shipping container box steels and a used 20 Tonne bottle Jack. Hooked on a couple of return Springs and off you go. Total cost $5
Amazingly creative, thanks for sharing.
Just a couple of points: on the second plate it’s pretty easy to see the cutting marks, probably a plasma cutter so not cast. If you touch it with an angle grinder then cast iron shows it’s self very easily by its weak looking sparks. I don’t know why press plates would be hardened in the first place and I really can’t see HF spending an extra 3 cents on hardening them. That said however there is only one way to be sure and that’s to test them the way you did. Thanks for your effort and being willing to sacrifice your plates for science you’re a braver man than me. Cheers Stuart 🇦🇺
I like the spark test. I always forget about that. I also saw the plasma cut marks and thought that perhaps if they didn't use cast iron, they might have used some hardenable steel. However I think you are right, Harbor Freight would probably not spend the 3 cents, as you say to harden anything. I only pursued this testing because so many people warned me about failures they had, had. Cheers mate and thanks for the comment.
Did the cross arm permanently deform much or did it hold up well too?
It seemed to be OK, but another person commented that after years his press made the cross arm support holes elongated, so he made additional hols to allow for four supports. I haven't used my press enough yet to tell.
@@DudleyToolwright Due to a lack of space I purchased the 12 ton so that I could press bearings and a gear onto a shaft. I have been wondering if the steel in the cross member was strong enough to hold up to repeatedly maxing out the capacity. I guess they are getting better if you didn't notice any appreciable warping after you were through.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us
If you use your press often, I would love to hear about how well it survives daily use. Time will tell.
13:46 For O-ring keepers a partial groove in the removable dies helps and when dies get heavy a Spirolox style spring clip ring thing snagged from an 85 Honda Prelude Si CV shaft left behind by a nice lady with an odd grinding Prelude base model in need of help to remove the slightly undersized Si model CV shaft she had purchased in a hurry thinking Honda must have one size fits all of the transaxle splines even fuel injection.. what's that?... Nope, the undersized spline goes in easily but skips and the spring lock seating area must not have access to the taper so it becomes truly FN stuck. All it needed was a skookum 6 foot wrecking bar's heavy end snapping against a chain to a couple of wheel studs to convince the ring to compress and let the CV shaft out.
Another happy camper.
Thanks for the tip and story. Filed.
Man, that’s some scary sh*t there! 😂 I was flinching and realized I was holding my breath at one point. I’d probably have set up some mirrors so the camera was out of range. That plexiglass was strictly for psychological reasons, right? 😉👍
I’d like to see a video that addresses how to check press plates to determine what material they’re made of since this is such a potentially dangerous tool if the plates are the wrong material. I doubt Harbor Freight would ever issue a recall, but that’s really what should happen. Send or bring in your press plates for free exchange. I guess they haven’t had a class action lawsuit yet…
It is. You can use a drill to get a good idea of what your plates are made from. If the drill makes chips or turnings then they are probably not cast iron. If the drill makes powder than you are probably looking at cast iron. This is not definitive, but a decent test.
The early press plates may have been cast iron or cast steel. I can see the cut marks in these from flame or plasma cutting so they must be steel.
A lot of commentors said that the early plates were cast iron, with many describing injuries that occurred when they broke catastrophically.
I had a 12 ton model from HF, and after I bought better plates, I cut a piece off one, and they were cast. But that’s over ten years ago.
I more recently bought the 60603 20 ton, and while those plates appear to be plasma cut, they have the surface texture of cast iron. Yes, you can easily plasma cast iron. I bought 1.5” thick 10” steel plates made from A500 steel. I haven’t cut the HF plates yet, so I don’t know what they’re made of. I’m interested in seeing the end of this video to see what you find. But remember that Hf multiple sources items such as the plates, so some could be cast, and some steel.
I just bought a HF press this past weekend. How can I tell whether my plate is cast or not?
One way is to drill a hole into one and see if the metal that comes out is powder or turnings. If it's powder then its' cast iron and probably should be replaced. Make sure the hole is not in a place where it will effect the structural integrity. If you have a mill, instead of drilling, machine the plates flat and the turnings will tell the story.
@@DudleyToolwright Thank you for the reply! Great video but now I'm scared to use my new press. Lol. I will go drill it.
Sorry that was not my intention. It is my impression, based on comments that I have received on these videos, that Harbor Freight doesn't sell presses with cast plates anymore, but better to be safe than sorry. 20Tons ofr 40,000 pounds of force is not insignificant.
I actually have a set of the old style plates. They look like black painted hamburger. Lots of pits from garbage material pressed together, heated to bond, then painted black. I’ve loaded them fully, to the 20 ton jacks stall point. Always real aware of the possibility of failure. Not yet
Yikes. If you happen to run across some steel plate you might want to replace those. At least anecdotally, they are quite dangerous. Multiple commentors described injuries from failed plates.
robert - new to your channel. one of the things i don't have (yet) is a mill. I also can't find a good replacement ram for the H.F. press that so many people have. What i want is exactly what you made. Do you have interest in building/selling another. Thanks for a great channerl.
Thanks. If I ever get access to a CNC machine I will make some of them. Doing it manually would make the parts cost prohibitive.
I got a 12 ton press. The plates were obviously cast iron. One did fail while I was using it. The ram bent where it was welded to the cross bar. Chucked it and got one with a solid welded frame, and a genuine hydraulic ram instead of a jury rigged bottle jack.
Those are some nice upgrades. I appreciate you taking the time to share them. I also hate the bottle jack approach, but it is soo affordable.
You mentioned it would be good to have a way to measure the force - measure the ram bore to get its area, put a tapping to the cylinder and high-pressure hose, add a high-pressure gauge and either calculate (gauge pressure x ram area) or print up a new scale for the gauge? This is part of the plan for my soon-to-be shop press...
I love that approach. It never occurred to me. I was thinking about a load cell, but I love your solution.
Well, I got a nice 3" oil-filled 10,000 psi gauge and a two-foot steel-reinforced high-pressure hose with fittings for a fiver at the car boot sale... be a shame not to!
Oh, and a 3/4 hp 10,000 psi hydraulic pump off EvilBay for a tenner...
I'm on the look out. You have some great ideas that I will humbly steal.
@@DudleyToolwright- I´ve got a 10T metric press different from the HF model you guys use.
Comes already with a gauge, quite practical while it lasted.
Meaning on the third time I used it, the needle got stuck and never recovered since. Well it´s a cheap Chinese press, so I take that into consideration.
Replacing it would go for about a 1/6 of the entire press cost. So I guess it will stay like that. ;-)
FYI this is the the model I have:
www.jula.no/catalog/bil-og-garasje/garasje/garasje-og-verksted/verkstedpresser/verkstedspresse-619550/
Its a pleasure to watch you do your craft
Very kind, thanks. I love the trade.
@@DudleyToolwright whats a good lathe to buy im not rich
I would look for used and made in Taiwan if possible, but I am hardly an expert. You should buy a mag base and an indicator first and look for runout and alignment.
@@DudleyToolwright ok
the second set castiron hf are ground flat but are bent these days.
interesting.
got my 20 ton about 15 years ago one of the cast plates exploded breaking 3 ribs lesson learned.
Yikes. It was because of these stories (you are by no means the first) that I did this test. I think Harbor Freight eventually learned their lesson. I have been told by others that older press plates were cast iron, but mine seem to be cold/hot rolled. Thanks for the feedback...I can feel those ribs.
If you turn a pirimid upside down. How much pressure on the pointy bit? M
The same.
@@DudleyToolwright hmmmm that's what I thought. M
In case we are not on the same page: the force is the same, but the force per unit area (pressure) is different.
@@DudleyToolwright ok I see. Could you send me one of those piys you were talking about? M
Sorry, I am not sure what you are asking for. What is a piys?
Very informative vidios . Very professional . I bought a HB press 2 months ago and love it ...I also put caster wheels on mine and a solid shelf at the bottom to hold all of my press extra tools . Thank you so much !
I thought about wheels. So they are good then? I really could use a mobile unit.
When using carbide most efficiently, the chips should be blue to purple. It can be hard to achieve that easily in a home shop because of power and lack of rigidity.
My limitations mostly have to do with inexperience. My lathe is easily capable of 0.100 depth of cut 0.020"/rev cuts in steel, without any problems, but I am deathly afraid of using coolant and the corrosion that is likely to come along with it.
Any interest in sell those? I certainly could use it for my jewelry making.
Selling what to be exact?
that was cool dude i was clinching my but waiting for something to blow haha
Me too. I had to say it was a bit anti climactic.Thanks for the comment.
I feel better using my HF press now 😁
Me too, but keep a look out for other kinds of fatigue failures. I still do not completely trust economy tools, especially where large forces are involved.
i have a 30 ton press need plates do you think 3/4 would be thick enough or should i go 1 tnch great video i just subscribed
I haven't done the math, but the 3rd party guys that sell after market arbor plates for this press (Swag Offroad) use 1.5".
Sir jee ye kitane ka hai
My original plates were cast, they broke really easy. All new plates are cold rolled I think.
Great to know. I was warned by a ton of people and wanted to test this potential issue for myself. I really appreciate their letting me know and now I can let others know that at least my specific model seems OK.
Same here
Man I would love to have you make me one of these for my 12 ton
Thanks. I have had lots of requests to make these parts, but I don't have a CNC machine, so the costs to the end user would be ridiculously high.
I purchased a HF 20Ton Floor Model many years ago,from one of their mail catalogs.Cant remember what year,but I'm thinking around 1989 or 1990.I Broke one of the press plates During the Process of Rebuilding a Motorcycle crankshaft,scared the u know what out of me and those older press plates were Def cast iron of some sorts.Very grainey and seemed to have porosity throughout.i still have the other one,but I never use it as one of my buddies got me set -up with some better plates and V-blocks it's been a decent press considering the amount of use but I miss my 80 ton Dake that I had when we sold our Buisness.
I bet. I would love an 80 tone Dake. Those presses just work and work well. The cost, yikes.
You need to add a gauge to tell you how much force it is applying...
Ask and Ye shall receive: th-cam.com/video/JU5Gea_94wk/w-d-xo.html.
@@DudleyToolwright I just saw the video link, it's cool but not what I meant, I;m talking about something permanently mounted like a gauge or digital readout, but I guess that"s good enough ...
Got it. I have wanted something like that as well. Higher end units have pressure gages that are calibrated to multiply the surface area of the piston multiplied by the pressure to give the actual pressing force. I need something like that, but would need to replace the jack with a piston and separate pump. Great idea though.
My plates were definately cast. One of them broke and I wasnt even trying to break it!
This is why I did this test. I hear so many comments like yours. Is yours a recent press? I know that Harbor Freight always sells multiple sku's for many of its items, presumably from different vendors, so anything is possible. Thanks for the heads up.
60603 (bolted top) are not cast
Now I have to make some more tools with my lathe seeing this. I have used a proper press that holds punches and loved it. Felt safe. Now I have a lathe l, mill and 20 ton BS press. Does a lot more than I can
I'm right there with you.
Nice work
Thanks
Like your changing up of colored band aids LOL & at the end none , Magnafluxing the plates after the fact would be interesting to see if there was any weaknesses created in the plates that can't be seen by the naked eye.
I have the dexterity of a new born pup and am always cutting myself. I really don't mind except when blood gets all over the place. As for the Magnafluxing, I would be interested as well. Thanks for the great idea.
You may call the part an "interchangable nose, point or anvil". Just some suggestions.
Thanks. The vocabulary often eludes me when I need it most.
I don't know if I'm capable of applying 40,000 psi with a 2 lb sledge hammer but I thought you should know that I was once hit in the leg by a piece of trackhoe tooth that broke off as I was loosening the massively compressed dirt around the pins to replace them. It went through my pant leg and into my leg. I had to have the thing surgically removed & the doctor said that it had spiraled in, about 5 inches from the entrance wound.
Just remember that the next time you are thinking about what kind of safety equipment to place around when trying something like this.
Thanks for the cautionary tale. It is easy to forget about the extreme forces involved in these situations. I hope you are ok today.
@@DudleyToolwright
Oh ya, I'm fine.
Before that I had often wondered what it feels like to be shot and according to the doctor, now I know what it feels like to be shot by small caliber fire or a ricochet so there's that gained. ;-)
It's always better if one can learn from other people's mistakes.
I intend to. Thanks for watching out.
Well at liest you didn't PRESS your luck doing that and you didn't CRACK under pressure. Lol
Nice. Punny.
That's cool... I feel even safer with my plates... thanks
I'm glad I could help in some small way.
Be Careful, we don't want to see you hurt !
Thanks. For me it is inevitable. I have the dexterity of a new born pup...
God I wish I was that smart. Lol. But I would be interested in a few of these items you made for yours. If you wanna make a few modes I would be willing to pay
I have had so many requests. If only I had a CNC machine, I could then make the parts for a reasonable cost.
Aluminum (depending on type) can have a PSI strength on par with some steels. That is why your first experiment was not deforming.
Thanks for the info. 7000 series aluminum can be extremely strong.
I have 2 sets of broken ones then I cut some 1" steel ones that are bulletproof, I wouldn't let anyone use those cast iron ones, they ought to recall them! KER-Blamm!!!! They just snapped like porcelain dinnerware!
Excellent warning. You are in good company with the cast iron plates. Harbor Freight seems to have learned their lesson and doesn't seem to be using cast iron any more. At least mine aren't.
So you said that if you wanted the pressure to be greater you would decrease the area I think that’s incorrect you only have 40,000 pounds of pressure By decreasing the area you are only concentrating the 40,000 pounds to a smaller area
It is pounds per square inch. He decreased the area of the ram to less then a square inch. So he would now have 40,000 pounds on say .5 of a square inch. The pressure does not change, the surface area does.
This is true the total force never changes, but the force per area does. In the English system, tensile strength and shear strength are measured in psi and I was seeing if I could exceed the press plates specs. Thanks for the comments. Hopefully others will get the same question answered. Much appreciated.
Joe Falmo yep
@@DudleyToolwright It doesn't really work like that unfortunately. It just matters how far the force is applied from the support. Thus a larger radius would make the force applied closer to support.
Enjoyed....
Very kind, thanks.
Breaking those plates be hard. If cast I could see it breaking. Cheap chinasium would break.
Others have told me that Harbor Freight used to include cast press plates with their presses and that they were prone to catastrophically failing. More recent versions use plate steel. I was demonstrating for the viewers that, that is the case.
i dont know why you'd be disappointed - you have 2 good usable plates that appear to be safe under massive pressure
I am not disappointed with my press plates. I am disappointed with the inadequate top crossbar strength. The top bar got permanently deformed when applying the rated 20 ton force.
It was 6 months old
That is a bit spooky. I guess you should drill a hole in any new press plates you get to see if they are cast iron or not. You are the first person to have a recent press an still have cast iron plates. Excellent cautionary tale.
I've broken a set of harbor freight 20 ton press plates.
You are in excellent company. Its why I made this video. I think the ol' Harbor Freight finally learned their lesson. I'm glad you weren't hurt like some others...
Dudley Toolwright I always think safety first. it broke doing an old snowmobile crank. 20 tons load the press then hammer the crossbeam with small sledge Hamer just to get it to move. guess I should have got a 50 ton press. oh ya made my own table wider an thicker hey fuckin duty.been good I've had the press for 17 years in my service truck.
I respect overkill in design it is my tendency as well. I almost never consider making a part weaker to save a few pennys. Tha fact that your changes are still in use speaks volumes.
I was able to snap both of mine with the 12 ton press
Excellent feedback. Lots of viewers have had the same problem with the older models.
Thanks for sharing. Could you tell us the age of your press?
I had one of those plates explode. We were however using the HF plates on a different 40 ton press
Yikes...so many horror stories about catastrophically failing Harbor Freight press plates. That was the motivation to make this video.
@@DudleyToolwright I looked at the plates they definitely were cast iron by the grain structure at the fracture. One piece just hit the floor and caused a 3 inch dent in the concrete. The other halve went airborne through the sheet metal roof of our shop and came back down in the warehouse. So many people could have been killed.
Again We did use 20 ton plates on a 40 ton press so Our shop workers were at fault. "Over stressing ratings" Either way I just seems stupid to use cast iron in that type of application.
Damn. Those are truly scary forces. I agree about the cast iron. Any brittle material is a bad choice for this type of operation if there is any chance that there could be a failure. Even though the materials I used could be hardened and thus increase their tensile strength, I would rather they bend than risk a catastrophic failure. Thanks for the spooky story.
@@DudleyToolwright The one that broke in our shop was around 8 years ago and 100% cast iron. The broken pieces looked like Styrofoam where it broke. No bending at all. I thought that was the stupidest choice of materiel for the application at the time. Glad to hear they changed it to steel. I agree I would rather it bend then just use the other side for a while to straighten it back out.
Looks like a copy of the Roll - In band saw !!
It is. It is made in Canada (Verticut) by one of the originators of Roll-in-Saws (so I had heard) with better features and a lower price point. It is one of my best purchases. It really performs well.
@@DudleyToolwright i have the Roll-In saw.. love it !
That is great to hear. I was all set to buy one when I read about Verticut in the practical machinist forum.
had the same problem but now found a supplyer that will do two cuts for free , shipping is allways the same price too no matter how mush you order
That sounds like a good supplier. Shipping can be a killer though. If only metal was lighter.
@@DudleyToolwright the fact that i live in a country the size of a postage stamp prolly helps too , can cross the country lengthwise in about 3 hours
Its funny, I probably look at too many things though my coke bottle sized American lenses. It takes 3-4 hours to cross my state in the short direction and most of a day to cross it in the other. Cheers.
Had my press 40 years never broke a plate. You don t no how to use them
You misunderstood. I have never broken a plate, but quite a few commentors said they had. I have verified that older harbor freight press plates were cast iron and would fail catastrophically. Server viewers reported getting injured. The current models use mild steel.
My split..
I have hear a lot of feedback about the older models of the press having cast iron press plates. They are supposedly pretty bad. You should find some thick mild steel replacements.
@@DudleyToolwright yes I tossed it and made some out of 1in plate steel. My press is the 12t Princess Auto brand..Canadian harbour freight..
Mine actually blew as I released the pressure. Cast iron isn't /wasnt the best option ...just happy nothing ,no one was hurt.
Me too.
Lol. Your intro makes this experiment sound really scary.
I’m scared watching. It’s like a Freddy Kruger movie to an 8 yr old scary. Nail biting even.
I was not aware that my videos had entered the territory of classic horror. Thanks for the entertaining post.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thx.
Don’t forget to mark the 4140 bar again since you cut off the marking!
Chinese metallurgy Is always a factor! Their quality control isn’t that good!
Great points. I am fairly careful about re-labeling my stock ever since I screwed up when I first started. It's a hard mistake to come back from.
It all comes down to price. QC is fine if you are prepared to pay for it. But unfortunately everyone wants the cheapest
I'm less than 2mins into this video and scratching my head! How do you NOT know the difference between cast iron and steel plates? Even AFTER you already drilled 8holes!? I'm out. And I'm even subbed to you. Don't ever feel the need to justify doing stupid shit to appease your viewers.
The simple explanation is a lack of experience. As of the time of this video, I had almost never worked with cast iron and was getting a ton of feed back from users saying that theirs were definitely cast iron. As a result, I didn't think they were, but was worried about saying so and being wrong, potentially leading to someone getting hurt. I have made some really novice mistakes in my videos and it always bothers me a great deal. Spreading wrong information is a lot worse than spreading nothing at all. I appreciate your perspective. This channel was created to share my journey learning the trade and greedily taking advantage of the generous help so many offer freely. I do appreciate the constructive feedback.
@@DudleyToolwright I get it.. I like your channel. I do think once upon a time they could have been cast iron but I really doubt it. The last 2 hazard fart presses I've had were steel. Cast iron is soft as shit and gritty as hell. It makes a real mess of your lathe when you turn it. Steel makes chips. Keep up the good work, but I couldn't watch you press on a 1inch thick plate. Pointless experiment my friend. ;-)
Fair enough. If you read through the comments you would see that a bunch of people claimed that their press plates failed catastrophically, with at least two needing medical attention. Based on that feed back, I wanted to test and see if that was an issue, at least with mine. In the process, I discovered that I can exceed the 40000 pound capability of the jack, but only for a few seconds before the pressure bled away. Also, it was interesting that with the stock jack handle or especially the air motor assist, it would be really tough to get to the 20T rating.
@@DudleyToolwright The Chinese are experts at exaggerating ratings. It's always buyer beware with these guys.🙄
haha 0:23 sec in you say 20 pound harbor freight press. i had my 1st horrible freight press that did come with cast plates my new one has steel plates. my plate are flame cut or crapy plasma cut and seeing yours close up yours look to be to but they cleaned yours up much better then mine mine you can see 1/16 cut marks in the sides
Freudian slip I guess. I have yet to measure the maximum force this press can deliver. Thanks for sharing your experience with older models. The info is useful.
Mmmmmmm piys..... m
hmm.
Too much time spent videoing making the ram tool.
Sorry about that. I never know who is going to like what. I appreciate the feedback.
At 20 tons I believe those plates would be fine, when it get scary is using a Drake 60 ton press and using plates to press off rear Axel bearings and having the entire 60 tons loaded on those plates with the Ram on the rear axel shaft.
120,000 pounds force is no joke. A failure could be very serious.