Arbor Press

[Luke Hatley]

I am not pleased with the Harbor Tools Press..If i could trade it in for a RATCHING PRESS i would...I M H O ...

I beleive i could get more pressure from the ratching one.

Edited April 14, 2012 by Luke Hatley

[Cliff J]

There are more expensive hydraulic presses on the market - one in particular is sold by Northern Tools. It has a pressure gauge on top so that once you find the "best" pressure on a run you can duplicate it time and again with no problem. It runs about $280.

Cliff.

I've seen people use these shop presses before for die cutting of leather but for stamping purposes, how would you know when you have enough pressure on the leather?

Damon

[LNLeather]

I am not pleased with the Harbor Tools Press..If i could trade it in for a RATCHING PRESS i would...I M H O ...

I beleive i could get more pressure from the ratching one.

I totally agree with Luke. "If i could trade it in for a RATCHETING PRESS I would"

I bought the 1/2 ton Harbor Freight Press for use in the house, thinking I could work on small projects with it.

But it is way too much frustration to get it to do what I want. I haven't used it for at least 10 months.

I just use my Clicker for all jobs now, large and small.

It sounds like the ratcheting press would be much better. Or who knows, I might just try using a C-clamp like Gawdzilla - really!

BTW Harbor Freight is having a sale and the 12 Ton Shop Press is only $129.99 and the

20 ton is only $199.99. There is also a 6 Ton A-Frame Bench Shop Press for $79.99 that looks interesting.

Amazon also has the Northern Industrial Arbor Shop Press With Ratchet Handle for $179.99 remember that is Plus shipping

Watch out - Buyer Beware - over on EBAY - it looks like someone is trying to sell a plain Arbor Press as one that has a ratchet handle for only $39.95

[Luke Hatley]

I'm going to the Northern Tool store next week, Hopefully they have one in stock. I'm not going to pay $60.00+for shipping.

thanks for your input.

[UKRay]

I have a 2 ton arbor press similar to the Harbor Freight one you are discussing and find it very adequate for my needs providing I use an extension bar and crank it down nice and hard. The down side is that the press needs to be VERY firmly anchored to the bench... yup, I turned mine over lol!

Ray

[Northmount]

I have a 2 ton arbor press similar to the Harbor Freight one you are discussing and find it very adequate for my needs providing I use an extension bar and crank it down nice and hard. The down side is that the press needs to be VERY firmly anchored to the bench... yup, I turned mine over lol!

Ray

What is the largest size plate you use for embossing? I have a customer that has a specific logo they will be using on all their products. So I've been waffling between a 2 and 3 ton arbor press.

Thanks

CTG

[UKRay]

I have used a three inch disk but got best results with smaller. I mainly use it for 1.5" x 1" oval stamps for logos

Ray

[DFWLeather]

Seems like an awful lot of machine for a small stamp. I suppose if you have the room and want to save some money...

[lwleathers]

I have used a three inch disk but got best results with smaller. I mainly use it for 1.5" x 1" oval stamps for logos

Ray

Indeed, larger stamps of regular thickness (around 8mm) tend to crook after prolong pressing by small arbor press. Smaller stamps under 1.5x1.5 inches will be perfect.

We now provide thicker material (20-25mm) for larger stamps to avoid the problem. But still, it's better to have a larger arbor press (with a larger pressing head) for more even emboss.

[EmbossingDieCompany]

I don't know if I'm old school or just cheap, but I just use a table top vice that I bought at Harbor Freight for $20 (see picture attached).

It takes 10 seconds to emboss a piece of leather and I get a deep, crisp, perfectly placed impression every time.

The vice takes up less than 1 sq ft of shelf space.......much less than the 20 ton A-frame......and no compressor is needed!! And trust me, I'm not the Hulk, so you don't need to be super strong to crank this up.

I'm attaching a few pictures of bigger embossing dies that I have made......so anything under 2" should be no problem whatsoever.