Arbor presses are cheap. It isn't cost-effective to make one. I suggest you
simply buy one. Where you buy one will depend on where you live.

I further suggest you buy/make tooling for a real world application. Then what
you come up with will at least meet one of your needs.

If you want to punch holes, for example, I suggest you go find a punch or an
ironworker, although you can certainly modify the ram of an arbor press and get
an inexpensive low-power punch. The instant you do that, though, you will want
more power. I have a 35 ton punch on my ironworker and I wish it had more power.

There are a couple of cool designs out there. One is from an old Popular
Mechanics article. I scanned that article and have posted it:
http://www.tinyisland.com/PMarborPress.pdf

It's a big file, but if I didn't scan it hi-res you wouldn't be able to really
read it (sorry!)

This design was scaled up in a Home Shop Machinist article, starting on page 28,
of the May-June 1986 issue. In that article, the author claims to get 40 tons of
force. I don't have that one scanned, sorry -- it's a much bigger article. It's
in "Projects Three", a Village Press reprint book.

Grant Erwin

carl mciver wrote:

My OCD's, being only partially suppressed by medication, still allow me
to obsess about certain wild ideas until I a) give up, b) figure out how to
make it work, or c) forget what it was all about to start with.
That said, I've been thinking about the body of an arbor press and the
resemblance to a certain number of other tools out there, with the main
difference being the operating device planted onto the top. Got me thinking
about a press body (made from reinforced large I-beams) with interchangeable
tooling, which would be nice in my increasingly crowded garage and my
inability to find a place for everything yet. Possible applications include
bolting a hydraulic jack to it and making a C press, using the rack and
pinion and attach my very old Thor 1/2" drill motor for a slow and strong
drill press, bender, punch press, tapping machine. So on and so forth.
So, the primary tool, the arbor press uses a simple rack and pinion to
provide the force needed. Went looking for rack and pinion items the other
day and didn't find too much that was both inexpensive and capable of doing
what I needed it to do. Of course, what came up a lot in my searches was an
automotive steering rack and pinion. Hmmmm... Just like what I needed, but
I wasn't sure about what kind of pressure I could actually create with an
automotive style rack and pinion, and what larger vehicles use one for
steering (not likely, but I had to ask.) I figure it's got to be a decent
figure, considering the overload factors built into every automobile, but
wanted to see if anyone had any useful thinking they could throw out.