Hi all,
I purchased a small cheap arbor press to use around the house for odd jobs.
I would like to make different inserts that would attach to the end of the
ram. What would be the best way to do this. I thought of boring a hole in
the end to accept the shank of the insert and tapping a small hole on the
side to insert a thumb screw to hold the insert in. Does that sound like a
decent idea or is there a better way?
Thanks,
Gene

--





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That's a very common thing to do. You might also consider milling off
(or grinding off) the very end tooth. That way, you can lift the ram
all the way up and then position the handle wherever you want and
then reengage it. It's a poor-man's ratcheting arbor press setup.

If you have welding skills you can also weld up fittings with square
sockets which fit over the end of the ram and clamp on -- that allows
you to avoid machining your ram itself.

Grant

Gene T wrote:
Hi all,
I purchased a small cheap arbor press to use around the house for odd jobs.
I would like to make different inserts that would attach to the end of the
ram. What would be the best way to do this. I thought of boring a hole in
the end to accept the shank of the insert and tapping a small hole on the
side to insert a thumb screw to hold the insert in. Does that sound like a
decent idea or is there a better way?

How'd you mill a pocket with square corners? - GWE

steamer wrote:

--Getcher self a hunk of steel bigger than the end of the ram and
mill a pocket in it. Drill and tap the center for a long setscrew and use
this to attach tooling. Tap two sides of the box for thumbscrews to hold
it on the end of the ram. I tried selling a product that did this and the
response was underwhelming to say the least. But it works... ;-)

Grant Erwin wrote:

How'd you mill a pocket with square corners? - GWE

Drill or bore a round hole slightly larger than the across-the-flats
distance. Then broach. I've done this for both square and hex. I made
the square broaches from OCS and used pieces of old Allen wrenches for
the hexes. Machined (carbide) a short length at the end round and of a
good sliding fit to the round hole. This acts as a pilot to get the
broach correctly lined up.

Ted

A few years ago I did just what Grant suggested.

I bought a 1 ton and a 1/2 ton press for the plant. Then found a
length of scrap square steel tube that would fit over the end of the
ram. The wall as fairly thick. I drilled and tapped one wall for a
thumb screw. Then cut out a bottom plate to fit inside the tube and
welded in place. I made up several of these at one time.

When I needed to press PEM nuts into a circuit board, I drilled and
tapped the bottom plate of one adapter and screwed in the PEM nut tool
I made to actually contact the nut.

In other cases, I have machined a driver for various electronic cable
connectors and welded them to an adapter. This way, any of the
employees can easily put the correct tool on the press.

You will soon realize you also need to make fixturing for the other
side of the operation. That is when things begin to get interesting.

We never have used the 1/2 ton press.


Paul

Grant Erwin wrote in message ...
That's a very common thing to do. You might also consider milling off
(or grinding off) the very end tooth. That way, you can lift the ram
all the way up and then position the handle wherever you want and
then reengage it. It's a poor-man's ratcheting arbor press setup.

If you have welding skills you can also weld up fittings with square
sockets which fit over the end of the ram and clamp on -- that allows
you to avoid machining your ram itself.

Grant

Gene T wrote:
Hi all,
I purchased a small cheap arbor press to use around the house for odd jobs.
I would like to make different inserts that would attach to the end of the
ram. What would be the best way to do this. I thought of boring a hole in
the end to accept the shank of the insert and tapping a small hole on the
side to insert a thumb screw to hold the insert in. Does that sound like a
decent idea or is there a better way?

Yes. That's how you *broach* a square hole. He said he *milled* it.
That's what piqued my curiosity. Also, if I made one as you suggest,
I'd fill the bottom with JB Weld the first time I put it on. The
ram has to bear down there, after all. It isn't like a socket wrench
where it's the sides that count.

Grant

Ted Edwards wrote:

Grant Erwin wrote:


How'd you mill a pocket with square corners? - GWE


Drill or bore a round hole slightly larger than the across-the-flats
distance. Then broach. I've done this for both square and hex. I made
the square broaches from OCS and used pieces of old Allen wrenches for
the hexes. Machined (carbide) a short length at the end round and of a
good sliding fit to the round hole. This acts as a pilot to get the
broach correctly lined up.

Ted

Grant Erwin wrote:

How'd you mill a pocket with square corners? - GWE

steamer wrote:

--Getcher self a hunk of steel bigger than the end of the ram and
mill a pocket in it. Drill and tap the center for a long setscrew and use
this to attach tooling. Tap two sides of the box for thumbscrews to hold
it on the end of the ram. I tried selling a product that did this and the
response was underwhelming to say the least. But it works... ;-)


You drill a hole at each corner and mill the sides of the pocket with a
mill of smaller diameter than the drill you used.

Cheers
Trevor Jones

Tony wrote:

OCS =?

Our much lamented friend, teenut, introduced the term: Old Chevy
Spring. Although any car/truck springs are called such. One can
usually scrounge old coil and leaf springs of various sizes. They are
excellent steel and can be anealled and hardened/tempered in the home
shop.

Ted

Tom Robeson wrote:
"Gene T" ... wrote ...
I purchased a small cheap arbor press to use around the house for odd jobs.
I would like to make different inserts that would attach to the end of the
ram. What would be the best way to do this. I thought of boring a hole in
the end to accept the shank of the insert and tapping a small hole on the
side to insert a thumb screw to hold the insert in. Does that sound like a
decent idea or is there a better way?

I have done that at home and I have a variety of tools I use
in it. I have a 3/4" hole in my ram, and have welded several
different diameters of round stock (1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4)across
the end of a piece of 3/4" bar like a "T", and use a 2" thick
urethane pad below. I then use this to form perfect aluminum
"U" shaped gussets out of sheet stock to join tubing for
airplane projects. Another neat use is to make a 6" long
or so knife die to make sharp bends in small pieces.

http://anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor/pr...tail_hinge.htm
is another neat use too - using a press to roll the tube of a hinge
-jiw