A guy in my area is moving away. He welded up a stout little H-frame press, did
a nice job. He doesn't want to haul it across country, so he sold it to me for
cheap. He balked at letting go of the (import) bottle jack, having vastly
overpaid when he bought it, so I bought it without one. He had an interesting
use model: it has no feet! He had one side of the top fairly tightly chained to
the wall of his shop. When he wanted to use it, he swung it out 90° from the
wall -- the rest of the time, it was right against the wall. Space efficient.

Anyway, now I have to decide whether to keep it or sell it. My local HF store
wants $249 for an equivalent model, not made nearly as stoutly. I'm sure they go
on sale cheaper than that, but whatever, it looks like I could make a few bucks.
I have a Dake No. 3 ratcheting arbor press which will go up to about 5 tons, and
I have a 30 ton ironworker with a 6" press brake attachment which can bend a 90°
into ¼x6" flat bar and of course, punch holes, etc. I do sometimes need to
straighten bent things, and sometimes I consider making something to a press
fit. What do you guys think? How useful is a 20 ton shop press?

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington