Arbor press insert help

That's a very common thing to do. You might also consider milling off (or grinding off) the very end tooth. That way, you can lift the ram all the way up and then position the handle wherever you want and then reengage it. It's a poor-man's ratcheting arbor press setup.

If you have welding skills you can also weld up fittings with square sockets which fit over the end of the ram and clamp on -- that allows you to avoid machining your ram itself.

Grant

Gene T wrote:

--Getcher self a hunk of steel bigger than the end of the ram and mill a pocket in it. Drill and tap the center for a long setscrew and use this to attach tooling. Tap two sides of the box for thumbscrews to hold it on the end of the ram. I tried selling a product that did this and the response was underwhelming to say the least. But it works... ;-)

Drill or bore a round hole slightly larger than the across-the-flats distance. Then broach. I've done this for both square and hex. I made the square broaches from OCS and used pieces of old Allen wrenches for the hexes. Machined (carbide) a short length at the end round and of a good sliding fit to the round hole. This acts as a pilot to get the broach correctly lined up.

Ted

A few years ago I did just what Grant suggested.

I bought a 1 ton and a 1/2 ton press for the plant. Then found a length of scrap square steel tube that would fit over the end of the ram. The wall as fairly thick. I drilled and tapped one wall for a thumb screw. Then cut out a bottom plate to fit inside the tube and welded in place. I made up several of these at one time.

When I needed to press PEM nuts into a circuit board, I drilled and tapped the bottom plate of one adapter and screwed in the PEM nut tool I made to actually contact the nut.

In other cases, I have machined a driver for various electronic cable connectors and welded them to an adapter. This way, any of the employees can easily put the correct tool on the press.

You will soon realize you also need to make fixturing for the other side of the operation. That is when things begin to get interesting.

We never have used the 1/2 ton press.

Paul

Yes. That's how you *broach* a square hole. He said he *milled* it. That's what piqued my curiosity. Also, if I made one as you suggest, I'd fill the bottom with JB Weld the first time I put it on. The ram has to bear down there, after all. It isn't like a socket wrench where it's the sides that count.

Grant

Ted Edwards wrote:

OCS =?

Old Carbide Stock Oil Hardening Cold Steel Old Crap & #$#%

Old Chevy Spring Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I would have wings off each corner that were cut with a small endmill. The wing slots would take metal shaving and dirt so a good press fit won't turn into a jam fit and a mad fit to get it off.

This is often the case in various V blocks, angle blocks and the like. If CNC - it would be easy to go across on side and overshoot loop and come back in doing the side that is 90 degrees off. The slot would turn into a lobe effect with a closeness not to tight to allow dirt.

Mart> Yes. That's how you *broach* a square hole. He said he *milled* it.

Old Chevy Springs

A common but not particularly well know source of excellent tool steel

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

I have done that at home and I have a variety of tools I use in it. I have a 3/4" hole in my ram, and have welded several different diameters of round stock (1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4)across the end of a piece of 3/4" bar like a "T", and use a 2" thick urethane pad below. I then use this to form perfect aluminum "U" shaped gussets out of sheet stock to join tubing for airplane projects. Another neat use is to make a 6" long or so knife die to make sharp bends in small pieces. Tom

--Yes and no; no broaching required. I used a 2-flute center cutting endmill to "punch" out the 4 corners, IIRC. It's been a while. Maybe I'll take a photo or two.

You drill a hole at each corner and mill the sides of the pocket with a mill of smaller diameter than the drill you used.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Our much lamented friend, teenut, introduced the term: Old Chevy Spring. Although any car/truck springs are called such. One can usually scrounge old coil and leaf springs of various sizes. They are excellent steel and can be anealled and hardened/tempered in the home shop.

Ted

-jiw