dikman Report post Posted March 26, 2019 Having recently acquired 3 Carr presses (for snaps, rivets etc) I thought they must be useful for something else. I made an adapter for alphabet stamps. The shaft that fits into the socket on the stamps has a supermagnet glued to the end and a small washer was glued into the bottom of the shaft on each stamp (because they're non-magnet). The magnet is just strong enough to stop the stamp from falling off. A short piece of bar fits over the base to press against. My sewing machines are limited to 3/8" thick leather (although one can just get through 1/2") and the last time I tried sewing a welt on a holster I had all sorts of trouble getting an awl through. In amongst all the gear I recently got was an awl needle, obviously meant to be pushed into a handle. I made an adapter to hold the needle and glued it in with JBWeld, then made an adapter plate for the bottom of the press. I had to modify the cam action of the handle a little to get the maximum travel I could, which is 3/4". It goes through that thickness with no effort at all. If I can figure out how to make a new handle with a better designed camming action, I will then be able to get 1". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrisash Report post Posted March 26, 2019 A cheap Arbor press would give you far more air gap, and can have a hole drilled through the center to take shafts and held in place by a grub screw, About £40 in Uk for the 1/2 ton model Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted March 26, 2019 Already thought of that but there's no such thing as a "cheap arbor press" here in Oz! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RockyAussie Report post Posted March 27, 2019 (edited) Nice job. I reckon you could take 1/4" off the top of the base with an angle grinder pretty quick. I have shaved the sides of mine at times in order to get jobs in closer and the cast is pretty easy grinding. That would give you a little more clearance under on boxed or tubular jobs as well. You would need some right size packing washers to get back the 1/4" for some dies though. Edited March 27, 2019 by RockyAussie forgot something Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted March 27, 2019 The limiting factor is the travel of the piston. It's going to require a re-design to get more travel. I'm working on it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
