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Homemade arbor press plans

jrolands

Aluminum
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Location
Norway
Hey guys.
Has anyone got plans for an homemade manual arbor press?

I need a small one for press fitting bearings and oil seals, so I thought I'd make it my self.. :P
 
You should design your own based on the machines you've got to use and your skill set. If it's just a light duty press, it's not like you need a bunch of engineering.
 
Point taken. But it makes more sense to me building something from plans with solutions I wouldent have thought of my self so I can reuse them later on other projects. And further more to improve my skills as a machinist.
 
If you mean the bottle-jack type, I suggest you check your local
Craigslist, see what somebody has tired of tripping over.

Chinese steel is cheaper than U.S. Steel.

Though you are in Norway, so perhaps Craigslist isn't the bottom-feeder paradise it is here, in the States.

However, for the typical U.S. reader, my advice is sound, if the project isn't urgent.
 
hydraulic hand pump units are handy. not the bottle jack crap, but a real pump and cylinder. the standard power pack 1.125" cylinder directly reads PSI = LBF. and go to 10,000 psi. (-less efficiency). Sorry I know pound units suck.

this is mine. I wish it were heavier, but you get the idea.
http://sergisonmachine.net/images/press.jpg

notice how it has an overhung side... stuff you can not put through the h-frame can be worked on the overhung side. you can simply loosen the cylinder mount (nut on top) and reposition it anywhere. this is the most awsome feature.

If I ever make another it will simply be 4x as stiff but the same principle.

I know you said arbor press.. which usualy means rack and pinion. good luck finding those parts. this is why i suggested hydraulic. and the open side makes it similar to a C frame arbor press.
 
Use stock rack or buy used

Buy a length of square rack from Boston gear or McMaster-Carr, and copy the design of a Famco arbor press (Famco Machine Division)

Or, better yet, buy a used one. The Famco S model will do most bench-size seal and bushing installations provided you don't have long work that must hang thru the press base. We have several. The square ram has adjustable wear plates so you can tighten it up nicely. HINT: If the ram doesn't already have a hole, put one in the bottom end so you can use a replaceable hardened pad, held in by a set screw (like a counterbore pilot). Also, to save the platen, fly-cut a steel block for under the ram.

Note I refer to Famco. There are others, but use generic at your own risk. I once wasted money on a cheap clone. Such a piece of junk, hours of remedial machine work couldn't render it useful.
 
Rack stock build or purchase used

I agree with UsedMachine "Copy a Famco type" or "find a used one" if possible.

I found a old used Famco #3 that was missing the arbor plate and was able to purchase it for $25 US since it was not complete. It has been used without that part using flat bars as needed. The largest job it has done so far was to replace bearings in a pickup truck differential. That task really pushed the limits of its ability. Before getting the Famco I had considered building one using a rack and H-beam weldment frame. I even thought about getting one of the imports but waited, glad I did.

Benny
 
Engineering Drawing and Design, 3rd Ed, Madsen, et. al. (not to be confused with another book of the same title). pg 614-616. Designed to be made from bar stock (1020 and 4320) rather than castings. May be more useful as a drafting excise than a press, though, without some mods, but it is a very small light duty press. Where the upright joins the base looks weak and the pinion mounting leaves something to be desired.
Engineering drawing and design - Google Books
 
For years I had a simple press I built myself from the scrap box and short end rack, a length of 6"x 3" I beam, some off cuts of plate and the screw and nut out of a big woodwookers vise.

Say 4 hrs start to finish,......... and of course it wasn't as fast as a rack and pinion, but it earn't me a lot of money;)
 
Point taken. But it makes more sense to me building something from plans with solutions I wouldent have thought of my self so I can reuse them later on other projects. And further more to improve my skills as a machinist.
I actually was thinking the same thing. Sorry if I'm so late to the topic, I just recently started working on a press, and to enhance my skill set (as well as have a decent tool), I wanted to try making a rack and pinion press for the benchtop. Started in a machining program a few months ago, and they let me play in a huge shop all I want, as long as I finish assigned prints. Anyone have prints for this? They're very hard to find.
 








 
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