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Homemade arbor press

My OCD's, being only partially suppressed by medication, still allow me to obsess about certain wild ideas until I a) give up, b) figure out how to make it work, or c) forget what it was all about to start with. That said, I've been thinking about the body of an arbor press and the resemblance to a certain number of other tools out there, with the main difference being the operating device planted onto the top. Got me thinking about a press body (made from reinforced large I-beams) with interchangeable tooling, which would be nice in my increasingly crowded garage and my inability to find a place for everything yet. Possible applications include bolting a hydraulic jack to it and making a C press, using the rack and pinion and attach my very old Thor 1/2" drill motor for a slow and strong drill press, bender, punch press, tapping machine. So on and so forth. So, the primary tool, the arbor press uses a simple rack and pinion to provide the force needed. Went looking for rack and pinion items the other day and didn't find too much that was both inexpensive and capable of doing what I needed it to do. Of course, what came up a lot in my searches was an automotive steering rack and pinion. Hmmmm... Just like what I needed, but I wasn't sure about what kind of pressure I could actually create with an automotive style rack and pinion, and what larger vehicles use one for steering (not likely, but I had to ask.) I figure it's got to be a decent figure, considering the overload factors built into every automobile, but wanted to see if anyone had any useful thinking they could throw out.

Reply to
carl mciver
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Arbor presses are cheap. It isn't cost-effective to make one. I suggest you simply buy one. Where you buy one will depend on where you live.

I further suggest you buy/make tooling for a real world application. Then what you come up with will at least meet one of your needs.

If you want to punch holes, for example, I suggest you go find a punch or an ironworker, although you can certainly modify the ram of an arbor press and get an inexpensive low-power punch. The instant you do that, though, you will want more power. I have a 35 ton punch on my ironworker and I wish it had more power.

There are a couple of cool designs out there. One is from an old Popular Mechanics article. I scanned that article and have posted it:

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It's a big file, but if I didn't scan it hi-res you wouldn't be able to really read it (sorry!)

This design was scaled up in a Home Shop Machinist article, starting on page 28, of the May-June 1986 issue. In that article, the author claims to get 40 tons of force. I don't have that one scanned, sorry -- it's a much bigger article. It's in "Projects Three", a Village Press reprint book.

Grant Erw> My OCD's, being only partially suppressed by medication, still allow me

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Could you go hydraulic instead of straight mechanical? I've known several people who took small bottle hydraulic jacks and mounted them in angle iron frames to make a cheap press.

Reply to
Don Stauffer

These things are cheap, disassemble for storage, and are more powerful than rack-and-pinion presses:

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jw

Reply to
jim.wilkins

interchangeable

Most manual auto racks can handle 4-5K pounds with no problem, the mounts fail before the guts. The power racks can handle even more.

Reply to
Steve W.

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com... | Arbor presses are cheap. It isn't cost-effective to make one. I suggest you | simply buy one. Where you buy one will depend on where you live. | | I further suggest you buy/make tooling for a real world application. Then what | you come up with will at least meet one of your needs. | | If you want to punch holes, for example, I suggest you go find a punch or an | ironworker, although you can certainly modify the ram of an arbor press and get | an inexpensive low-power punch. The instant you do that, though, you will want | more power. I have a 35 ton punch on my ironworker and I wish it had more power. | | There are a couple of cool designs out there. One is from an old Popular | Mechanics article. I scanned that article and have posted it: |

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This is a really nifty design. It can be hydraulic or manual. I like the feedback from a manual, but the hydraulic ones obviously have more pressure. If I can get it to download right (doesn't come in all the way before something goes wrong or it says its done). I'm still trying. I wonder what the rating on that design is, because while my idea doesn't have the versatility of that one, it is stronger (time to hit the sketchpad again!) When I start dreaming up these things, the cost doesn't really figure into it at first, because often times I come up with something that I think is better, then put it on my list of stuff to do later, given the resources and time. Years ago when I lived in a tiny two bedroom house with no garage, I made two funny looking sawhorses whose original purpose was to hold an engine at the right level to get it on and off the stand, as I rebuilt the engine in the other bedroom. They cost me a bit more, but the versatility and space provided was just what I needed for awhile after.

Reply to
carl mciver

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