My 1968 Ford 5500 has about fifty hydraulic hoses, many original. I knew I could not afford to have that many hoses made. I found that Weatherhead makes a kit to crimp hoses on a hydraulic press and Couplamatic makes a hand operated press using a hydraulic jack. I liked the slanted back design, it gives good visibility of the hose and fitting. I combined both ideas into my version of a heavy duty home made hydraulic hose crimper. It's a little rough and has had 3 revisions but it can make any hose I need, when I need it and economically too! I found that a 20 ton jack is the minimum jack to use. Smaller ones did work but were scary, I blew apart the pump linkage on a 5 ton jack. A Few Notes: I used scrap and salvaged parts to put the press together. The return springs are from a trampoline. The base, which holds the die bowl needs to be solid. My square tube design is too lightweight ( thinwall ) and tends to flex. I plan to revise that design. Any irregularities in the fit of the press "ram" to the top of the die ring were corrected by tweaking the contact surfaces of the "ram" I bought used Weatherhead dies, die bowl and rings on eBay. I use only Weatherhead or Weatherhead Compatible Hoses and Fittings. I use the Weatherhead crimp specs. for the fitting/hose combination. I faithfully measure every crimp and re-crimp if necessary to meet the spec. I have not had any problems with my home made hoses by following the rules. I faithfully gear up with goggles, face shield, hard hat (seriously) and leather apron should and of my design fail and fire off a piece of metal in my direction.
Good thinking there biged. Love home brewed ingenuity.
That's awsome work. It always feels good to build tools to solve problems. Now if you found an air operated bottle jack and some yellow paint the press would be just like the hydraulic shops. Good work.
I did pretty much the same thing, bought used and new Weatherhead components and use them in my hydraulic press. Saves a bundle of $. I get my fittings from www.discounthydraulichose.com . Their prices are pretty fair if you don't mind China made fittings. Only problem I had was coupling two 90 degree fittings together gives an odd ball angle.
What kind of money are we talking for the set up if you already have a hydraulic press ?? I need a few hoses but not that many. I'm not sure I want to make them but what the hey.
Very resourceful biged! Reusable hose fittings are very popular over here, espeacially for people in remote areas. Personally, I don't like using them, but, if you want to do your own repairs & you don't have the a hose making service nearby, or the ability to make your own press! - these are a good option http://www.discounthydraulichose.com/SAE_100R2AT_Reusable_Hose_Fittings_s/63.htm
I am in the process of replacing all of my TLB hoses...it's a job...but I have a friend who loaned me his crimper so I bought the hose from discount hydraulic that Alrman linked to above and have been crimping for some time... it's easy, just his pump is tired. So I just hooked up a hydraulic hand pump and it works great. Here is a link to weatherhead crimper on youtube. This is a great way to save some money, as the crimpers are expensive... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gqZJe47SUc
Nice job, I like doing things myself also.
Where do you buy the die set and ring?
I found good used dies, rings and die bowl on eBay. They were much less than new. Study up on the parts to make sure they are all compatible and will crimp the right hose series for your application.
Old thread I know but this thing is awesome! Just what I want to build... Even though you bought them do you have any measurements for the die bowl and rings? I've been hunting ebay for these parts to no avail and don't want to buy new ones! I can find all the dies fine just not the bowl and ring... Be great if anyone knew of a kit or plans for one of these......
I don't have the measurements, but, for the T-400 "u" series collets you need the T-400-8 Die Ring (BOWL) Unless you are a skilled machinist I do not think it is practical to make one. Both the collets and the bowl are hardened and quite precision pieces. You may have to go new for a few of your pieces and still be ahead of the game. http://www.jhf.com/TSItemDetail2.asp?CoNum=001&ItemNum=T-400-8 I found this for example for $116.00 by searching " Weatherhead Die Ring " The spacer rings that you would need are T-400-10 Black and T-400-11 Silver. Again these are hardened parts blah blah. The spacers do show up on eBay but not always when you need them. Call my friends at Universal Hose and Fittings http://www.universalhoseandfittings.com/ They have helped me with some used dies. Also download the Weatherhead Hose Assembly Master Catalog and the Crimp Specifications Manual. Of course I'll help where I can as well. Good Luck!
Awesome! thanks for the quick reply! It looks like it might be easier for me to buy these parts new! I look around for some other prices then order the parts I need. Thanks so much for the help! I am a machinist... but I often can't justify making things and at those prices it might be cheaper for me to buy... Thanks again!
I know old thread. I have a T-400 and a T-450-1. I would like to trade my smaller 450 for some tooling or supples. I need all most everything.