Nice job! Clever use of the extra ram. Most times I've seen slip on adaptors for different apps of the standard bar. You still may use them, but having that screw in the old ram is priceless. Again, Nice Job!

Taking the extra time to not just come up with a solution but making it ascetically pleasing. Nice job. I have a lot of tools but no lathe. Now I'm wishing for one.

I like the way you do these videos, for a hobbyist, you do real nice work. Everything you say is to the point and informative. no wasted words, unlike a lot of guys who really must love the sound of their own voice...

This is such great stuff! I've been waiting for this press to go on sale and tomorrow is the day so I'll be using some of your great ideas. I really appreciate all of your videos and can't wait to get to work on this project. Thanks!

Great shop walk through, I also believe in constant shop upgrades. Your ideas work Dudley. The only problem I had was time, now I have to quit my job to catch up.

I've watched every video on bottle jacks, and this is the first that actually shows the details of how they're put together. Thank you for that. It's easy to sit on this side of the video, and comment. But I seriously doubt the lifting shaft could tolerate the forces if it were cast iron. It's great to know how that thing is made. My press consists of a bottle jack and a very big section of I-beam. One of these days I've got to put a press together. These videos have provided some great ideas.

I like your innovation , I have a similar press I've modified as well . Some folk do not understand why go to all this, but something is learned every time you think out of the box , and oft times it's far better than want is currently available . My innovation is providing the capacity to open 2 ways ,rather than having only one .

Man I never comment on any videos. But i read a lot of comments. It's awesome you take the time to reply to comments. And receive constructive criticism openly. Keep being rad!

I love how you use tools, to make things for your tools, so that you don't have to use other tools to adjust your tools. (thinking about the knobs for the springs there :). Really great videos, thanks for posting them.

You had me at "Release the Schmoo!" and subscribed!

Very good improvement, I own the orange version of that jack . So many times I feel I can improve it but fight the little time I have in my shop to do anything about it. Thanks for sharing

Great video, I learned something just by watching your channel. Thanks for the "Tutorial"

Thanks Dudley. I'm going to direct copy you. All good stuff.Don from Oregon

Some people clamp their chuck on a shaft/broomstick to provide a good handle. I have also seen wood blocks with side stops like wheel chocks to prevent rolling. Rolling the chuck off onto your foot is a BIG consideration along with denting the ways. Thanks for sharing!

Nice additions, you gave me some ideas on modifications to mine.

Nice job Robert, the use of the second Ram is simply genius!

Very nice work, and great video!👍🏻

Great Video... I think if I had your Tools and Knowledge I would have just built the press my self... You do Nice work...

The joy of working metal to make it fit just right with what you've got at hand. Very inspiring! Now all I need is to get some more tools...

I had a project i needed to crimp the ends of pipe. I think it was 125 pipes crimped both ends. I turn on the air motor full time and just opened and close valve. It worked well. Thanks for sharing

Love your videos , keep them coming!!

I love overkill stuff... Just wish I had your skill set. Great video!

I basically have the same press it's just older. It has always done what I needed it to do. I always wanted something nicer but with the modifications that you showed this seems like the route that I'll take. That way I could put the money into something that would expand my capabilities. I'm a new subscriber and enjoy your channel.

AVE is cool and very informative and his sign off at the end of his videos drives my wife nuts. lol

I like all of your ideas. I bought 20T HF press a few years ago that came in orange. I like your color much more. The number one thing that bothered me was those two black springs that lift everything back in place when finished. I think the main issue was mine were not tightened enough and stretched with time, so I was always practicing arm curls to get the unit back up. Finally, I replaced them with a cable and weight system. I should make a video of it, but here is what I did: I used 3 OH garage door cable pulleys (3") on each side. That style of pulleys have ball bearings. For each side: I ran thin steel cable from the top horizontals (drilling and inserting a bolt between them to attach the cable end), down to a pulley on the "press bar", then straight back up to a 2nd pulley above the top horizontals. The cable stays between the two top horizontals. There is a 3rd pulley cantilevered to the side of the press. Two wide sheet-metal "angle irons" sit above and are bolted to the top horizontals, sandwiching pulleys 2 & 3 for their support. So the cable path goes down, up, horizontal, then finally hangs down to a suspended weight. My weights are scrap iron, each weighing 20 lbs which is overkill because of the multiplication factor with the press bar pulley. It all works very smooth and always pulls the bottle jack up tight.

Simply amazing watching you mill your own parts!!! I am just facilitated with any videos on lathes!!! I sincerely appreciate both of these improvement videos and wish you all the best!!! Perhaps you should try and design some type of new Gatling gun that can fire billions of rounds out in a minute for our military!!! Lol Thanks again Art PS: I only got nervous twice in this video and that’s when you’re reaching into the lathe to catch your parts!!! Please be careful as the “Big Guy” upstairs only gave us 10 fingers!!!

Good video. I make my knobs with a spindexer & a ball end mill works well

Fabrication and Modifications are "KING" to make the Tool you need!

First time watching your videos, enjoyed the lathe work. I have the parts for an older press, this gets me some things to think about. I've been welding for over 30 years, you are doing fine. The biggest thing is every time you weld you get better. Thank you for the great work. Btw my daughter set me up to subscribe and I will in a second. thanks

Your down right impressive for a hobby guy. I suppose the biggest thing is having the right tools but everything your doing seems really quite well done. Great job!

Good useful mods. My HF 20 ton press came with the round stock welded in crooked and I didn't unbox it till well after the 90 day warranty. So I need to make a straight ram.

Great Video. More great Ideas to upgrade the HF Press. You're well on your way having a good Press for not much money.

great job Brother, I have this same press. You have some great ideas here I may use some of them.

Great work! Great informative video

Nice upgrades; great video quality too Cheers

Every time you makes an improvement, please send me the piece, I should have a full press in about 10 more episodes? Fantastic Loved it...whens Part 3?

Thats a good Project ! Love it!

Dude! The title of this is “Make Improvements to the Harbor Freight 20 Ton Press...”, you should have taken a few more episodes and call it: “How to make your own USA made 20 Ton Press with dual adjustable pistons”!!! Lol. Solid work man, solid!

I bought a really big pipe wrench to rebuild my floor jack. If I had to do it again I might try a strap wrench made to take a tee handle. ABOM repairs hydraulic cylinders it looks like you need an in at a hydraulics store to get the good prices. Ah, you mention Abom. I agree with dismounting lathe chucks onto a board and have seen some nice custom ones that prevent rolling and position the chuck near its final height. I like the idea of clamping a bar in the chuck as a handle to move and position it.

I added a winch with cables crossing over the top of the Press connecting to the handles on each side. I used a bearing w/long bolt across the top of the Press (this is used as cable guides.) The purpose of this set up is to raise/lower the table. This makes it easier when you have a heavy item on the table.

On my press the channels that form the work table were tall enough to cover a set of pin holes in the uprights . I drilled two holes to accommodate an extra set of pins so it is supported at four points rather than just two . An older press I have has deformed holes in the uprights due to repeated heavy use .

I built my press and i added the ability to thread a large thread into the bottom with a design like the one you showed in the beginning to so i did not have to destroy a jack to have this adjustable feature. I can mount different pushing shapes just by screwing the next attachment in.. I also added a means to raise and lower the press support by adding a houst and cable so i don't have to play with the support which weighs then try to load the height pins .

Wow... I just picked up a HF 20T Press for $154 (on sale). Thought I got a pretty good deal. After watching a couple of these "HF Press Mod" videos, I'm excited to know that If I save my pennies (~$200K worth of them) I too could have all of machines necessary to turn my $159 shop press into a $1K shop press all by myself!! Great video BTW.

Got to say that I think this is a masterful effort indeed. Would like to copy this for sure. 👍 It’s a shame they don’t come this way from the manufacturer, because all of the improvements make a lot of sense to me from an operator comfort / satisfaction point of view. Poor design soon leads to dissatisfaction if using it becomes a bug-bear. I’m after a shop press, never owned one - mostly for broaching internal keyways - but also pressing bearings in and out etc. I think this would be a great addition to my shop. Thanks ever so much for showing all your improvements, all well thought out & executed. I’ll have to subscribe now. 👍👍👍🇦🇺

Great machine work! I don't have the tools or skill to do anything like this. I do have 1 little idea for your shop press. On the very top of the press I installed 2 broom spring clips to hold the handle for the jack so it wouldn't stick out, or get misplaced.

awesome upgrade gave me some ideal to fix mine

I have the same press, so I’m really enjoying watching you mod yours. How is the fit of the new bar over the frame sides. The original had a lot of play in it?

Great video, I will do some of the same things or sort of !!!! Thanks

Nice put a triangular gusset on the top piece so as to stabilize it preventing twisting. Above the Jack, Like a 3/16" flat stock on both front and rear, triangular, Like 8"wide on bottom and 12"wide at top or bigger. Nice job . You have machinery I'd love to have... I also have the 20 Ton HF PRESS...

On my application drilling additional 21mm holes on the 2 column uprights inline and halfway between the existing 4.5" center holes would allow adjustment for my 2 sets of dies,,has anyone drilled holes in that manner, any ideas of structural results,,?

Great ideas to upgrade my Chinesium press, I have ordered an air/hydraulic jack. A pressure gauge would be good, but how to do it?

There's plenty of room for improvement on these Chinese, Taiwanese made equipment. They tend to use cheap, re-cycled steel which are softer and full of other elements. We are seeing a trend towards these kinds of re-engineering lately and this clip is one of the best. My 1950's British made press is mechanical and I will be converting to hydraulic soon. Thanks for posting, enjoyed watching.

the newer versions of this have boxed steel on the push bar instead of c-channel, there's a plate under the jack itself, and the top where the ram sits is a ring instead of the two fold channel from front to back. there's some improvements that can be made with the new model, but not as many need to be done.

Really enjoyed the video, one question, bottom plate under jack, 5/8'', you put on screen 0.750, thats 3/4, am i missing something here......

Btw, ATF can also work well as a cold weather hydraulic fluid. Great ideas here, some I will definitely borrow. Thanks!

Like I stated in another video, I made D shaped handles from 1/16" x 1" flat for the cradle shafts to make them easier to work with and installed a cable winch & pulleys to move the cradle up & down much easier, particularly useful when adjusting with a work piece in the press. Otherwise, excellent ideas.

If you ever decide to manufacture any of them knobs, id be happy to buy one from you! I hate using that handle to open the valve on mine.

Good video, when you are drilling and cutting holes with the hole saw what do you use for lubrication and does it cool as well. thanks Mike

Great work.

I enjoyed your video. I'm looking for another lathe, and if you do not mind will you tell your viewers a little about yours? From the blue color, it looks like a Precision Mathews? What brand and country of origin? Have you run any precision tests on it? Appreciate anything that you have to share.

Thanks for the ideas. Also, love the machine room dictionary word "craptastic".

I am curious how you made the hand turn knob on the bottle jack?

Really enjoyed the video, i wanted to ask what type of taps do you use? Ive used a couple and they dont seem as well built as the ones you use

That's the best press I ever seen!!!!

Great contents. You turned $200 press into $2,000 press.

There's a potential consideration I would like to mention, bottle Jack's can be modded to work right side not up. The acme thread clearance adjustment shaft does then appear, as luck would have it on occasion, pointing the way of the udder. Good day and I'll watch for more of your, how it should have been done, videos.

When I assembled one of these today, I noticed the vertical frame doesn't actually touch the base of the feet. It's just resting on the bolts. There are also four struts at the bottom that are suppose to keep it from wobbling, but the two pieces they bolt into aren't on the same plane so the strut has to flex to be tightened. It all seems fixable but haven't noticed anyone mentioning it so wondering if I just got a crappy unit.

Nice vid, thanks! On the piston shaft, I’m not sure why you thought it would be cast iron, as cast iron brittle and could shatter under the imperfectly unbalanced loads in a job which was not set up perfectly (most of them ;-). It needs to be incompressible and resistant to bending, while not fracturing.. so it needs tough and strong. Cast iron is hard (so it make a good end cap) but could shatter when bent. IMHO of course .

I saw what looked like an Eisen lathe manual near something you were filming, do you have an Eisen lathe? I've been thinking of getting an Eisen 1324 and am curious to know how you like it? Thanks

When it comes to using your Lathe, I would recommend running down the external diameter to keep "the wobble" TRUE for your application! Sure wish that I had a Sturdy Lathe for the 3× a year (maximum possibility of use) within my shop/garage...

I'm interested to know what the ID was on the bottle jack ram and if it would have been possible to just slide it over the existing piece that was provided by the manufacturer? Might be an easier way for those of us that don't have machines to make all of the machining changes that you made.

Thank you I injoy youf videos

Put a match to it, see if it burns. LOL - Press out the plug. Yes/No? - Spindexer and ball end mill would have worked for handle scallops. - Did you mill a flat on the shaft where you brass bushing contacts the shaft? - It's different from other adjustment modifications I've seen. Hope to see it in use.....soon. Great work, and video.

Considering the design limits of the 20 ton press I am wondering if limiting the input pressure to the air over jack to 90 psi would de-rate it to around 17 tons?...oh yes I did drill those extra column holes and that came out well

You mention that Harbor freight did not do a careful job machining the jack ram. It looks like you use a 4 jaw independent chuck . Why did you not indicate the ram while installing it in the 4 jaw chuck? Or, is the ram slightly bent from pressing stuff?

On testing the Half-ball-bearing valves on old Rolls-Royce jet engine fuel valves, the test pressure was 2000 bar kerosene. More than enough to cut the end of a finger clean off, which it did to one of my colleagues, much to our delight.

We have a huge drill press looks like it was made in the 1930s has that art deco style to it, we need a motor for it to get it going. We have many industrial tool's heavy duty machine's that we got from old timers that are no longer needing then. They see my brother's and I are always building are working on stuff. I guess they feel like there tool's are going to a good home that will get used. I have many nephew's and there friend's that like building thing's to.

Really nice 2 part video. How does this press now compare to a high dollar one? Seems like it has to be on par or better.

machining brass is like magic alright it gets to places you think are impossible!

Nice mods, maybe you could add a gauge to the ram somehow. At my job we have a 50 ton and a 20 each with a gauge. I like the idea of knowing how much pressure (psi) is applied. FYI for cuts and scrapes super glue is your best friend. Clean said cut dry and apply small amount to cover area. Brake cleaner will find any cut. the glue will protect from dirt grease out. just peel glue off when finished working to clean up.

I too have some press upgrades currently going on. Never gave much thought to that pusher pin ram thing. I may have to address that, since I'm upping mine to a 30 ton air/over hydraulic, with additional gussets, boxed in supports etc.

I think you've inspired me to build my own press. I have a ton of Steel and them a pretty good welder. I do not own any kind of Machine Tools though ie a lathe or Mill. After you going to this process do you think I would have to have a lathe a mill to finish one?

You sir, is awesome!

Nice job.

Pimp my Press , Nice work !

I was surprised that you did not make the side tangs ( the pieces that you welded on ) a little taller to keep the twisting front to back down.

I only wish I had a mill and a lathe so I could do the same thing. I think I can come somewhat close and not as sexy looking. Question for you: Can you show some examples of the tools that you would make to attach to the new ram head? (I think that is what you call the rod that presses in side the press). I may have to see if I can get mine turned down to a perfect circle so I can do the same. Nice job, subscribed.

Pressing shaft is called a ‘ram’. I like the mods. Technical name for male bosses concentric with a part is ‘spigot’,

Can I come and work in your shop !! Great video

I live in Sydney Australia, what oil should be used?

Nice upgrade

I wonder if you have thought to check the fluid in your air/hyd jack for metal particales, if there are any they could cause problems down the line.

Great improvements you made I thought your welds look pretty darn good

Bad ass. You've earned a subscriber. Can you please make me a bleeder screw knob! I love that feature!

the guides at the end of the box steel could have been extended up to lower the speed of drama that might occur in failure ?

Great job is there way to order all this great improvements for me? Thanks

Nice press videos. Swag off road makes press plates to replace the HF ones. Thanks for the videos.

Would it have been cheaper/easier to machine your own presser shaft, cut the acme thread, etc, rather than sacrifice a working jack? For support, would it make sense to cut a small cup in the base plate? So the shaft is supported on the end by the cup and the two wall thicknesses....

Great video. Cool project. Oh yeah, ram [piston] the hydraulic cylinder, to push, is a ram.

Ive rebuilt several 20 and 50T jacks. Getting them apart requires a huge pipe wrench and a hand maul Instead of parting the cylinder, id have used a band saw and then faced it. I think suggest having the screw head hard faced. At 20T you will be close to the yield stress for the soft soft screw head and so subject to brinelling. A good welder can put 50 thousandths of hard steel on this to protect it. Better quality jacks are not painted together as this one was,