I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today.

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. It's
twisted. When I hold one end down, there's a 5/32" gap at the
opposite end. Do they all rock this much? Does it make any
difference or make it more difficult to line things up to press them
out?

I tried taking the twist out by clamping one end and pumping the
hydraulic until the table was flat against the pins, but it just
returned after pressure was released.

BTW, the 20T press is on sale for $200 currently, and if you look
around on the net, there's a $20% discount coupon good till next
December that the store honored. It brings the price down to $160.
Now is the time to buy if you've needed one.

RWL

On 2010-04-09, GeoLane at PTD dot NET GeoLane wrote:
I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today.

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. It's
twisted. When I hold one end down, there's a 5/32" gap at the
opposite end. Do they all rock this much? Does it make any
difference or make it more difficult to line things up to press them
out?

Maybe the holes are drilled in wrong locations?

I tried taking the twist out by clamping one end and pumping the
hydraulic until the table was flat against the pins, but it just
returned after pressure was released.

BTW, the 20T press is on sale for $200 currently, and if you look
around on the net, there's a $20% discount coupon good till next
December that the store honored. It brings the price down to $160.
Now is the time to buy if you've needed one.

Wow, that's cool. I cannot really justify the space requirement,
compared to my Famco 5R. But it looks like a great deal.

i

On Apr 8, 11:28*pm, GeoLane at PTD dot NET GeoLane at PTD dot NET
wrote:
I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today. *

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. *It's
twisted. *When I hold one end down, there's a 5/32" gap at the
opposite end. *Do they all rock this much? *Does it make any
difference or make it more difficult to line things up to press them
out?

I tried taking the twist out by clamping one end and pumping the
hydraulic until the table was flat against the pins, but it just
returned after pressure was released.
....

RWL

I think you could put the pin in one end and a single bolt in the low
side of the other and then press it far enough that it springs back
straight. When I do this sort of job I measure how far I pushed the
metal and how far out it still is afterwards. Then next time I can
push it further by the amount of the error.

Say I pressed it 1/2" past alignment and after releasing the pressure
it was still 1/8" short. Next time I'd press it 5/8".

jsw

On Apr 8, 11:28*pm, GeoLane at PTD dot NET GeoLane at PTD dot NET
wrote:
I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today. *

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. *It's
twisted. *When I hold one end down, there's a 5/32" gap at the
opposite end. *Do they all rock this much? *Does it make any
difference or make it more difficult to line things up to press them
out?

I tried taking the twist out by clamping one end and pumping the
hydraulic until the table was flat against the pins, but it just
returned after pressure was released.

BTW, the 20T press is on sale for $200 currently, and if you look
around on the net, there's a $20% discount coupon good till next
December that the store honored. *It brings the price down to $160.
Now is the time to buy if you've needed one.

RWL

I have the 20T A-frame press and discovered that there was some effort
required to make sure the legs were all at the same level (pin holes).
Perhaps it's the frame that's a bit off?


Dave

My 20 ton HF hydraulic press does not have that problem. I suggest that
you take it back if you bought it at a store, or contact HF tech
support, tell them what's up and request a new table, if you feel that
the problen is the table and not the frame.
I have had very good luck with them on things of this sort.

Pete Stanaitis
--------------------

GeoLane at PTD dot NET wrote:
I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today.

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. It's
twisted. When I hold one end down, there's a 5/32" gap at the
opposite end. Do they all rock this much? Does it make any
difference or make it more difficult to line things up to press them
out?

I tried taking the twist out by clamping one end and pumping the
hydraulic until the table was flat against the pins, but it just
returned after pressure was released.

BTW, the 20T press is on sale for $200 currently, and if you look
around on the net, there's a $20% discount coupon good till next
December that the store honored. It brings the price down to $160.
Now is the time to buy if you've needed one.

RWL

GeoLane at PTD dot NET wrote:
I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today.

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. It's
twisted. When I hold one end down, there's a 5/32" gap at the
opposite end. Do they all rock this much? Does it make any
difference or make it more difficult to line things up to press them
out?

I tried taking the twist out by clamping one end and pumping the
hydraulic until the table was flat against the pins, but it just
returned after pressure was released.

try this:

Loosen the bolts holding the frame together
Load up the press a bit to take out all the slack.
Tighten the bolts while under load.
Release pressure, check results.


BTW, the 20T press is on sale for $200 currently, and if you look
around on the net, there's a $20% discount coupon good till next
December that the store honored. It brings the price down to $160.
Now is the time to buy if you've needed one.

I bought mine 10 years ago at the exact same deal.
Still works like new, jack holds pressure with no leaks.
Great value.

On Apr 8, 9:28*pm, GeoLane at PTD dot NET GeoLane at PTD dot NET
wrote:
I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today. *

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. *It's
twisted. *When I hold one end down, there's a 5/32" gap at the
opposite end. *Do they all rock this much? *Does it make any
difference or make it more difficult to line things up to press them
out?

I tried taking the twist out by clamping one end and pumping the
hydraulic until the table was flat against the pins, but it just
returned after pressure was released.

BTW, the 20T press is on sale for $200 currently, and if you look
around on the net, there's a $20% discount coupon good till next
December that the store honored. *It brings the price down to $160.
Now is the time to buy if you've needed one.

RWL

Welded frame or bolted frame? Mine has a welded frame, the only
troubles I've had with it were because the floor was uneven
underneath. I checked all the holes with the table/apron at assembly
and they're good. Store sale price here was $179 last month and I
used a 20% coupon when I got mine. Sale price back then was around
$160. Actually came out to about $20 more than the 12 tonner price
that day by using the coupon.

If you can't get it straightened up, take it back for a swap, one
reason I deal with the stores and not mail-order on the big stuff. If
it's not straight now, don't keep hoping it'll straighten up by
itself, it won't. Chink QC is a crapshoot.

Stan

I bought the Harbor Freight 20 Ton hydraulic press today.

The table [they refer to it as the apron] rocks on the pins. It's
twisted.

Thanks for all of the advice. I contacted Harbor Freight. The clerk
who answered the phone said the table /apron on the display model
didn't rock like I was describing and the store manager said to bring
the table (or press) back. I took the whole thing back today and we
swapped out the table. It still rocked in the press, but less than
the original table. I checked their display model and it rocked a
little too. The clerks said they can't remember assembling one where
the table didn't rock a little. When I got home, I put a thick "shim"
under one of the high ends and pressed the table. That seemed to
stretch the welds a little and get it lying a little flatter still.
It's improved over what it had been. One of the readers emailed me
and said he had a similar problem and just epoxied a shim under the
side that was low.

RWL