Gallery, Projects and General > The Design Shop
Small Press to fit in a Tiny shop?
vtsteam:
After a whole lot of fruitless searching I finally found a reference to my press, and it's a catalog description and picture! :thumbup:
So that really is a thrust ball bearing on the arbor. Maybe I can free it.
tom osselton:
I didn’t know Atlas made a press I have a 3 ton arbor press I found on Kijiji.
vtsteam:
I guess they did Tom, and it only cost $16.50 new! I actually haven't seen it in their general catalog that included the shaper, horizontal mill, lathes etc. No idea when it was made.
I was able to free the thrust bearing quite easily with just a squirt of WD-40 and turning with pliers. Since there's no apparent way of opening it or getting grease in, I decided to just flush it out with spray brake cleaner by filling it, spinning it, and wiping off the dirty fluid. Repeated about a half dozen times. Then I flooded it with motor oil.
It spins easily, though no telling how long it will last in use. Not sure how I could ever replace it. I did find a thrust bearing online that was the same outer diameter (1-57/64") as the one on the press ( the found bearing is an RBC Nice 608-V) -- but no telling what dimensions the press' screw shaft is turned to inside the bearing, so no idea what the bearing IDs are. And no idea how that bearing is fixed to the arbor either. The arbor seems to flare out wider than the bearing case past the bearing -- I don't know if that is a separate part, or part of a special purpose bearing.
Also the RBC bearing is rated at about 1500 lbs at 10 RPM, while the press is called "a 10 Ton Press". I'd be frankly surprised if it could hold 10 tons judging by the pins that hold the table part in place -- and the slight upward bend in the top of the frame.
vtsteam:
I'm going to just fix up the Atlas press and keep it as-is. We'll make covered space for it, one way or another.
It's missing a handle, and one of those thick bottom support plates. Wish I knew what the original looked like, as long as we're restoring this thing.
I could cast it in iron or maybe weld two steel thicknesses together. Any preferred patterns for these out there, guys? Some have different sized open slots. Pics of your own setup?
I do wonder whether slotted iron is a good idea, I guess if it's thick enough.......
vtsteam:
Enlargement of the ad......ad says two 7" x 1-3/4" x 3/4" blocks are supplied......wonder why the blocks appear to be serrated?
Also, the ad shows the end of the bearing with a tapered end. Mine is shorter, no taper. I wonder if someone cut the taper off because they were regularly pressing something wider.:
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