A lot depends on how much you want to say that you did your self.
I've got two, a twenty ton 6' high press I made with 4"x 7lb. channel iron that I can and have done axles in, pressed centers out of wheel rims, straightened tie rods, used it to form parts into a die, pressed apart the main shaft of my SM420 last month, in fact I use it a lot because I like to have as much control over my restoration as I can, (I'm a control freak you know!).
My dad made a small bench top press from 3"x 5# channel and he used a 2ton jack mounted inverted with a hole drilled in the base so he could mount a reservoir on top. I've been using it once or twice a month for 25years and he used it a couple few decades before me. I've used it to press wheel hubs, I do a lot of cutting of leather, cork, rubber and gasket materials with it. I just finished making some special 3/16" 'D' shaped washers for radio knobs using a punch and die I made up. using leather punches I've made cork washers for the spring shackles, leather washers for the AD window regulators and lot's of those felt seals for the floorboard feed-thru.
So you see, it all depends on how much you are planning on doing your self or jobbing out.
DG
