Using an arbor press for modified Tandy spacer tool and embossing wheels

[Lil Doodler]

Hi,
Thought I'd share another use for the arbor press.

I had bought a set of Tandy embossing wheels to use with the Tandy Spacer tool (SKU 8091-00 ), but I found it very difficult to emboss as deep as I had hoped for.

I wanted to use the very small embossing wheel as part of a border around the edges of a project. Even if I pushed on the spacer tool hard, I wasn't able to make a deep enough impression and it was hard to keep the embossing line straight.

So I modified the Tandy spacer tool. I cut most of the handle off, drilled a 1" deep 1/4" hole and inserted a 1/4" brass rod. From there, I was able to put it into the smaller hole in the ram on the arbor press

I dampened the leather and was able to pull the leather under the embossing wheel. However, it was difficult because I had to put a little pressure on the press lever and pull the leather through at the same time. It took very very little pressure on the lever.

Next I took a 1 1/4 lb weight and put it on the end of the lever for the pressure on the embossing wheel. That way I would have both hands free to pull the leather. But even that was too much pressure. The embossing looked a little too heavy, and it was difficult to pull the leather through with that amount of weight on the end of the lever.

So I put a rubber band around the lever, closer to the fulcrum so there would be less weight on the lever. The closer the weight is to the rotating shaft, the easier it gets to pull the leather through, but also a lighter impression is made. After a couple of adjustments, I was able to find a position for the weight were it made a decent impression and the leather wasn't too hard to pull under the wheel

 

I've just starting fine tuning. I think once I get a fence/guide set up, it'll be easy to use these as a border. I found it is possible to make 90 degree turns, but not sharp turns.

I think it's better to have the shaft for the spacer tool locked in place rather than able to spin freely.

What do you think?

Edited September 20, 2020 by Lil Doodler

[fredk]

a most excellent idea.

I have that set you speak of and have the same problem as you, getting enough pressure for it to make a decent impression

I'll have to think a thunk to see if this idea can be adapted to my press

Just a thought; if you bend the mounting bar at a slight angle it will make the roller fitting at an angle and I think the leather will feed easier under it

[Lil Doodler]

Thanks fredk.

That's a good idea, to move the embossing wheel so that it's not directly under the ram

 

Ooops - the reason for the rubber band on the lever is to hold the weight in place and so that it won't slide down the lever

Edited September 21, 2020 by Lil Doodler

[chrisash]

Good lateral thinking

[dikman]

Why not just loosen the lever locking screw and adjust the length of the lever until the balance is right? Or just put the weight on top of the ram?

Edited September 21, 2020 by dikman

[Lil Doodler]

Thanks chrisash

dikman - Thanks! I didn't happen to think of those ideas

The weight I'm using (1 1/4 lbs) is from a set of dumbells and has a 1" hole in the center. Putting the weight on the very end of the lever, where there's a plastic cap on my 1/2 ton arbor press is not very stable, in fact it's a precarious position and can/did fall off. Luckily not on my toes hehehe. Resting this weight against the rubber band wrapped around the lever does make it a bit safer for me. I did think if I didn't have this weight, that I could use a string tied to a can of soup or veggies on one end and a loop on the other end of the string to go around the lever. Using the lever locking screw to adjust the length and downward pressure at the ram is a great idea!

Using a weight on top of the ram would work, but you would lose 2 things I think.

a) the mechanical advantage of the gearing and the lever is something like 18:1 (or is it 1:18? or maybe 1:12? Does that depend on the length of the lever? Some arbor presses have different gearing ratios). For each pound of pressure on the lever, there's somewhere between 12 to 18 lbs downward pressure on the ram I think. I'm pretty ignorant about the mechanical engineering of arbor presses.

b) Because you aren't using the lever, it would be harder to make easy adjustments to the downward pressure. You would have to experiment with how much weight would be needed. You'd keep adding weights on top of the ram until you get the best results. Depending on your arbor press, if there is room under the ram, maybe you could use a scale under the ram, measure the pressure needed using the lever, then use that amount of weight on top of the ram.  The ram on my 1/2 ton arbor press is pretty small - 3/4". So putting weights on top of the ram would be impractical for me.