I bought an arbor press - at last.

[dikman]

Thanks Brian. I'm working on a "negative" image of yours, for want of a better term. I've got a short cylinder to weld to the bottom of the ram, a short piece of thick-walled pipe fits over it and is held on by a couple of locking screws. I will the fit different inserts into the cylinder. The inserts will have different size holes in them to take different diameter fittings and a single screw through the pipe and insert will lock the tool in place. I then just have to make an insert and drill it to whatever size I need to fit something new.

I've got 3 other presses with fittings for rivets, snaps etc but this one I want to be able to fit hole punches, cutters etc.as well. I'll post some photos when it's finished.

What sort of pressure has that thing got? It looks big!

[RockyAussie]

48 minutes ago, dikman said:

What sort of pressure has that thing got? It looks big!

It has a pneumatic cylinder with a fair bit off mechanical advantage as well built in, so therefore the pressure is variable and not generally something you want to get your ...............finger stuck between  I can bring it down slow or like a hammer if I want and I haven't found any rivet/stud it cant do yet.

[Constabulary]

20 hours ago, dikman said:

Now that looks nice!! Any idea what sort of pressure it can exert? Might be a bit much for leatherwork.

it came with a instruction sheet and technical drawing looks like it has 8 KN at 5 Bar ex factory - but I´m sure you can run it with more than 5 bar. I don´t think will blow off at 6 or 8 bar. So the idea more or less is a pneumatic clicker and maybe a riveter for larger copper rivets.

The arbor press idea from the video is least and interesting idea if you have space issues or are on a budget but having multiple tools makes life easier IMO. You do not need an accu drill when you have an electric drill but life is easier if you have both. Most people just want ONE sewing machine but life is easier if you have several (depends on your work of course). And as a wise men said "It's Better To Have It And Not Need It, Than To Need It And Not Have It! 

Edited February 26, 2020 by Constabulary

[jimi]

12 hours ago, dikman said:

It does, mike, but I would have to fabricate a jig to hold it vertical and square - too much trouble. I'm going to explore the idea of a round piece welded to the end, it has possibilities.

I don´t know if this is any help to you as Brian has covered it basically with his crafty jig Lol... you might get some ideas??? 

It is basically and adapter and a quick change method instead of unscrewing each time?? Normally the top shaft is a bit lower but i have moved them a little further up.

 

 

[dikman]

Jimi, that's the concept I'm working on.

Constabulary, you can never have too many tools! When I bought the press he also had one of those smallish table saws, so I jokingly offered $20, he said $30 so I took it! It won't handle big panels, of course, but will come in handy for smaller bits of wood.

[dikman]

This is what I ended up with. The "inserts" are pretty easy to make from cylindrical scrap bits and I'll make a few with different size holes which should take most punches, rivet setters etc. As you can see similar to jimi's and Rocky's.

 

[Bert51]

Looks like your life is going to get a little easy when doing studs and a like.

I like.

Bert.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Bert51

[dikman]

Found a video on youtube where a chap fitted a drill chuck to the bottom of the ram to hold tools, looks like a good use for an old chuck. Got me thinking, as I have an old chuck that is a bit too worn for the drill press but would be fine for this. Looks like I'm back to drilling a hole in the end of the ram!!

[NCFD]

For Magnets and all manner of things ---- www.McMastercarr.com they have just about anything industrial related or material related

[dikman]

I've finally finished messing around with this (I think). I replaced the round anvil thingy with a thick steel plate and cut an old chopping board to fit. A piece of angle iron will serve as a fence, with a couple of quick and nasty screw clamps welded from scrap offcuts, and I made five inserts to handle different thickness tools. The biggest problem I could see was the handle needing re-positioning with different length tools. One common solution is to grind off the lower two teeth on the ram, and when it is raised the handle can keep turning when it hits where the teeth were. Nice, but I didn't want to remove the teeth. After coming up with all sorts of ideas for a removable (tool-less) locking design for the shaft the obvious finally dawned on me - I replaced the collar locking screw with a bolt, ground down the head and loc-tited a wingnut to it. Now I can remove the collar, slide out the handle and rotate it to a new position then re-tighten the collar, without tools. Simples.

Oh, and I finally drilled a hole in the other end of the ram (only 'cos I could) with a locking screw. At the right of the photo is a block of steel with a pin, if I need to use the ram for anything heavy I'll invert the ram and this block will fit on to save the end of the ram from any wear.