how to widen my press opening

[sir.orange]

hey there!
i ve working with my press now since 3 years, and i always had a struggle to feed the press with the cassttes. the horizontal opening is only 195cm, when i welded it i was hoping its enough, but my cassettes are 200cm. the vertical opening is 40cm. the horizontal C-beams are welded properly, the horizontal I-beams are screwed to them.
so, my idea to widen the press opening is to move the two racks to the left and right. i could do this 5cm each side and won t loose the support of the outer C-beams. to gain more space (would be more comfortable) i d like to move them 15cm each. but i m not sure if one C-beams each side is enough support, it s not that i m doubting the stability of my welding ... but could it effect the deflection? its now 1mm per bar...

i also would like to make the vertical gap adjustable, maybe with car-jacks(but where to place them), or even pneumatic zylidners..but this would be a very expensive solution.




the frame with the threaded rod is placed in the middle of the press to avoid deflection. it s always enoying demountin it to load or deload the press with cassettes...

[MadRussian]

how about add C- channels long enough to move legs far out you need. basically put 2 c-channels on each side of I-beams if you have 6 inch I-beams use 5 inch C-channels if you have two I-beams on the top 4 c-channels. You might need to do 2 supports in the middle instead of one. Maybe additional reinforcement in extension area.
also option take a press apart and weld additional section of the I-beams with reinforcement of the web. I would put half inch plate on each side.

[NinetyFour]

i also would like to make the vertical gap adjustable, maybe with car-jacks(but where to place them), or even pneumatic zylidners..but this would be a very expensive solution.

Check out my press!

http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ght=#35997

http://www.newschoolers.com/ns/forums/r ... id/651776/

All of the pictures in that thread are old iPod pictures, super fuzzy and tough to see. Here is one that is a little more recent.

http://media.newschoolers.com/uploads/i ... 72691.jpeg

The bottom I-Beams in my press are welded together, and then they just float there. Then I have a bottle jack on each end to raise and lower the beam set for cassette loading and unloading. To lock it in place for pressing, there are four sections of channel that bolts to the inside of the legs and carries the pressure down to the bottom sections of channel. The bolts also take up some of that stress.