How to make a press for moulding leather pouches and such

[RockyAussie]

Recently I made a lot of personal alarm pouches for the local prison here. They now want a heap of other types of pouches, starting with handcuff pouches. As I have to be able to do 100 or more at a time I will need to make a quick change press able to apply a fair amount of pressure. The moulds I hope to be able to print out on the 3d printer and in such a way that they can clip together once they are pressed down. More on that later. As they will need a fair time to dry out I will need to have quite a few moulds.

First I have to have this prototype ready within a week so this press wont be pretty but must be strong.

The press I am thinking of making up is a bit like a book press in operation perhaps. At this stage I am thinking of a 4' stair tread cut into three and 4 pieces of 3/4" threaded rod to strap them together. To apply pressure I am thinking to cut up an old office chair which has a nice large thread under it that allows for height adjustment. Its nice and heavy and should be strong enough I think. The second thought is to screw in a car scissor jack and fast turn it with a socket and battery drill. For now I have loaded a couple of pictures that I found online that give a rough idea of what I am thinking.

I would like anyone's thoughts and examples if they have any before I go ahead. As I said time is short so I will need input by Thursday if you have any. Thanks ahead for any help offered. Brian

[mikesc]

Number one is , IMO, the more practical of the two..re scissor jacks, you can get more pressure ( and they may be more stable, and faster to use ) with a "bottle jack" and so the movable element goes upwards.Some home made shoe presses work that way.A ready made system that could do multiple units at a time ( with the movement downwards as per your ideas ) could be made from a hydraulic bearing press, the kind that small garages use, here they are around $300.00, or less, ( various widths ) of usable area, and I'm sure that you have compressed air ( only needs around 6 kilos pressure ) around to drive them.

Edited October 10, 2017 by mikesc

[Stetson912]

I'm not sure how large those are. I've seen a few holster makers mould their holsters using a 6 ton hydraulic press and foam rubber. That may work for what you need depending on how much detail you want. It should give the basic shape. Besides, I'm not sure hand cuffs have much detail to mold anyhow right?

[Stetson912]

You could also try vacuum forming if that appeals to you. That may be more expensive to start up though if you don't already have the items for it. I'm thinking, depending on the size bag you get, you could fit 10 cases at a time in it and mold them all at once. 

[Itch]

Here is a bearing press we use for holsters  https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-shop-press-33497.html

[CaptQuirk]

Question about presses and leather forming... What are you putting against the leather to form with? I mean, is it a foam pad, or something else to force the leather into all the nooks and crannies?

[Stetson912]

That's my understanding, with the hydraulic presses it's usually some sort of foam rubber padding that the piece is sandwiched between. I can't comment to the exact material though. 

[RockyAussie]

5 hours ago, Itch said:

Here is a bearing press we use for holsters  https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-shop-press-33497.html

Thanks Itch, I had considered something similar but over here the price is maybe 3 times that delivered. The hydraulic part of it makes me think a little slow for getting it down but maybe not.Another against it a little is floor space. I would like to tuck under a bench when not being used.I might just get 1 anyway. Brian

 

1 hour ago, CaptQuirk said:

Question about presses and leather forming... What are you putting against the leather to form with? I mean, is it a foam pad, or something else to force the leather into all the nooks and crannies?

The mould I am hoping to use is a pla printed shape that I hope will do the job. One for the inside shape and one for the outer to force down over. As long as I can get these 2 to come together enough I hope to have clips in the bottom mould which clip up and hold the top mould in place. Then the plot is take it out of the press to dry and start a new one again. I haven't finished the drawings of yet but I will try and load up something later today. For the trial/prototype version it wont have the holding clips.

I have loaded some pics of a pouch that is a little similar to what I want to make (the leather one) and the fabric one they presently use along with the 2 styles of hand cuffs that the pouch must accommodate. The larger set are 27mm deep (bit over an inch).

[RockyAussie]

12 hours ago, mikesc said:

Number one is , IMO, the more practical of the two..re scissor jacks, you can get more pressure ( and they may be more stable, and faster to use ) with a "bottle jack" and so the movable element goes upwards.Some home made shoe presses work that way.A ready made system that could do multiple units at a time ( with the movement downwards as per your ideas ) could be made from a hydraulic bearing press, the kind that small garages use, here they are around $300.00, or less, ( various widths ) of usable area, and I'm sure that you have compressed air ( only needs around 6 kilos pressure ) around to drive them.

Thanks Mikesc, I am tempted to look at the scissor jack idea. It would probably be quicker to make up and I would not need any great turning handle. Would make packing away later a bit more tidy as well. Will see what other ideas come by the end of the day. Brian

[RockyAussie]

8 hours ago, Stetson912 said:

You could also try vacuum forming if that appeals to you. That may be more expensive to start up though if you don't already have the items for it. I'm thinking, depending on the size bag you get, you could fit 10 cases at a time in it and mold them all at once. 

Thanks Stetson912, I have a vacuum press but 1 its not big enough for more than say 2 at a time and 2 once the membrane is down I cant clip the moulds together to take out and dry. TBH I have only ever used the vacuum for one off type casting with leather forming. With plastics moulding they cool off within seconds and therefor no problem as such. What I have to allow for is although I may only get an order of 100 to start with that can easily go to 200 and so on. That often happens with stuff I make and it is best to think what is the next step. If it takes of I will dig out a large pneumatic press I have in storage and remake with that. At present it is a back part moulder as is used when forming the back part of shoes surrounding the heel counter area. Weighs a ton and chews up a lot of floor area. Thanks again for now. Brian