Have bought a relatively cheap Chinese 12 ton press for some of my projects unfortunately a 31mm shaft would only go in so far.

I decided to press it out and remove a bit more off the shaft the so called 12ton press would not push it out.

I decided to beef the press up and went to a local engineering firm for some steel as the chap I was dealing with knew me he removed the shaft on a professional hydraulic press the gauge showed 5 tons to push the shaft out.

My query are these Chinese hydraulic presses optimistic on their tonnage a bit like some of their sizes of clothes eg. XL is more nearer large or medium at times.

Hi Jim,

The shaft was pressed into a very solid piece of metal so there was no dishing affect my conclusion is these cheaper presses have too much give in the framework hence I'm beefing the frame also I have a higher tonnage jack.available for free if required.

The basic frame design is reasonable but for a retail price of £12 for extra steel and a bit of welding it can be made more rigid to buy a press of that size it will be converted to would cost between £120 to £250 or more than I paid for the 12 ton type.