Red Cent Report post Posted March 19, 2016 I posted this here to get good coverage. Has to do with leather and steel. I purchased a 20 ton press a few months back. I have obtained, thanks to some great friends, two thick metal square. Here are my thoughts. I don't want to cut off the ram. How about if I drill a hole, probably left/right, through the ram. Then tack a flat bottom "U" to the top of a metal plate. Slot the ears of the "U" vertically for a through bolt. This would allow the ram to contact the plate without any pressure on the ears. Plausible? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted March 19, 2016 This was hard to follow. It sounds like you're talking about basically bolting a top plate in place. But I sidetrack at teh word "ram", which with those little presses I think of as being the movable part of the PUMP. But maybe you're talking about the "nub" under the horizontal bar? In that case, it might depend on how thick the plate you have. To be effective, the plate would need to extend at LEAST as far down as this "nub", and be matched side to side. You could do that by boring a hole to clear the nub (maybe 1/16" bigger diameter and 1/16" deeper), and drill and tap on each end and insert a piece of threaded rod (no need to weld or use "U"s). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted March 20, 2016 I see what you're getting at, Red Cent. I don't see why it shouldn't work. The bolt and U piece will hold the plate in place and the slots will allow the ram to push directly onto the plate. Instead of a U piece you could just use two "side" plates, saves having to bend it (unless you have a suitable bender) as there shouldn't be much stress on the plates. I started thinking of other ways, to save drilling the ram, but it all starts getting more complicated, your way keeps it simple. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AEMcClain Report post Posted March 25, 2016 Why do you want to keep the ram? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Cent Report post Posted March 28, 2016 I see your point JL. I am referring to the nubbin'. Thanks Dikman. AEMcClain, I can't answer that question convincingly. I am planning to put air over hydraulic on the press. And I do use the nubbin/ram quite often. I have a 2" oblong hole for pancake holsters and belt loop holes and my little one ton hand press ain't strong enough. Or maybe its me:). I use the press for cutting the tips of 1/4" gun belts and other stuff. I also plan to develop a couple or four concealed carry designs, some SASS designs, and some range/field carry designs. Then get clicker plates to cut the leather. Ha, wish I was as busy as I sound. Just thinkin'. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites