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| Arbor press accessories? |
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| Tinkering_Guy:
I have a 1/2-ton arbor press from Harbor Freight that I would like to use to punch holes in several layers of leather. The punch and punch plate I can make, no problem -- but what sort of fittings are there (or do I need to make) for the business end of the press ram? I haven't been able to find any discussions/descriptions online for adding chucks or what-all to press rams, so any pointers will be very welcome! Thanks! |
| John Stevenson:
Is there a hole in the base of the ram? often you can locate punches by short dowels with a screw in from the side. John S. |
| Lew_Merrick_PE:
Tinker, I am not familiar with the Harbor Freight press in particular, but I have worked with a number of the Chinese presses in general. They are a far cry from the Wilton presses of my youth! All three of the Chinese presses I have worked with needed be set-up and have the spindle hole rebored to be (A) parallel to the direction of motion and (B) sized to take a close-fit pin. What I am saying here is that, in my experience, the arbor hole is neither straight nor round in Chinese presses. It's no big deal to fix, but until you do, you are fighting a losing battle. Two of the three Chinese presses also needed to have the face of the arbor milled to make them square and flat -- another thing to consider. My preference (not universally shared by any means) is to make an arbor-end anvil/holder for any tooling I intend to mount on the end of the arbor. I go so far as to keep a sacrificial end in my ram so that the arbor itself is not munged when something slips (much easier to replace than the rack-geared arbor). Toolsets (such as, say, a crimping formset) are set up so that I can slip in a (or pair) of dowel pin(s) to line up my tooling on the baseplate. (I also have several "inserts" for my baseplate that allow me to bolt down tooling bases accurately.) These are all things that will be specific to your arbor press, but they are simple to design and build once you have thought them through. |
| Tinkering_Guy:
No, both ends of the ram are unpierced, and in fact rather roughly cut as steel fresh from the bandsaw. I'm not sure what the material is, but I'll probably want to square it and finish it before adding anything. Thanks! |
| Tinkering_Guy:
--- Quote from: Lew_Merrick_PE on September 19, 2010, 01:23:15 PM ---My preference (not universally shared by any means) is to make an arbor-end anvil/holder for any tooling I intend to mount on the end of the arbor. --- End quote --- I don't suppose you have a photograph of this device, do you? Considering that the ram is about 27cm long and 3cm wide and deep, drilling a spindle hole will take some thought; my mill doesn't traverse that high, and my lathe's spindle is too narrow. Maybe a 4-jaw chuck, a thick disc with a 3cm square centre hole, and a steady-rest that can handle the disc.. |
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