Selecting a Hydraulic Press - Jewelry Discussion

Hello Don,

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I initially started with a 20-ton Harbor Freight (H.F.) shop press, standing at 5 feet tall. It took up a lot of space but got the job done. I had to create a platen by drilling holes through four or five 3/4" plywood rectangles and sliding them up the plunger, leveling them at the bottom. I also drilled and threaded a hole in the plunger to accommodate some Bonny Doon (B.D.) tooling. However, some B.D. tools could not be used with this setup due to the attachment method required.

If you have a compressor, H.F. offers a decent pneumatic/hydraulic 20-ton jack at a reasonable price, significantly cheaper than the Bonny Doon electric version! Using pneumatic tools is beneficial if you perform frequent tasks, as manually pumping a lever can quickly become tiresome and strain your shoulder.

I eventually gave the H.F. press to a friend and purchased a Bonny Doon 20-ton deep draw press. I installed a pneumatic jack in place of the original B.D. jack. Although I wanted to utilize their deep draw tooling, the cost-to-likely-sales ratio deterred me. Despite having a large pedestal, the deep draw press requires a lot of jacking, either manually or with a compressor. While I am satisfied with the press, if I could choose again, I would prefer the regular version.

I utilize B.D. bracelet forming sets and a discontinued (or out-of-stock) B.D. set that includes approximately 18 profiled rounds of 1-2" diameter for forming hoop earrings. B.D. presses, and likely Potter presses, can accept all B.D. tooling that my rigged H.F. setup could not, thanks to holes in the top crossbar.

Since switching jacks, I no longer have access to the B.D. pressure gauge. Initially, I thought this would be a disadvantage, but it hasn’t been crucial. I generally judge by the results I observe and, when using urethane, by how deeply the die presses into it when working on multiple pieces.

For more details, please visit tpypress.

I possess large disc cutters (up to 2" circles) and use the press to cut large discs rather than using a mallet or my 2-ton arbor press. This process is much smoother and easier with the B.D. press.

I pushed the original H.F. press to the limit of its hydraulic jack. After a certain point, additional pumping made no impact; I assume some valve bleeds off the extra pressure. I no longer push the pneumatic jack in the B.D. press to such extremes, and I believe it also has a pressure-limiting function.

At a local community college, I noticed a homemade press built by students in a welding class. It seemed efficient and was smaller than the Bonny Doon presses.

I hope some of this information proves helpful.

Regards,
Neil A

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