DIY: How to make your own mini hydraulic press. Let the destruction begin.
Most DIYers are interested in making, repairing, re-imaging and reinventing. But some of us are interested in crushing, breaking, exploding and destroying. But what if you could create a tool to aid you in your destructive endeavors? This DIY mini hydraulic press is the perfect combination: a useful tool with a dark side.
According to Timothy Dahl for Popular Mechanics: "An industrial sized hydraulic press is extremely heavy and expensive, but a smaller version can be made using a standard 4-ton bottle jack—the same type used to change a car tire. Two heavy duty metal braces, threaded rod, and a few nuts are all it takes to assemble your own hydraulic press.
A blast shield and safety glasses should always be used when crushing anything, especially if it's hard. You can modify this press and set it inside a larger frame behind a blast shield, and use an extension on the jack to raise it from in front of the shield."
And once you've assembled your press, the real fun begins. CRUSHING THINGS!
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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