What's new
What's new

Greenerd Arbor Press Coaster Brake

tailstock4

Cast Iron
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Location
Oklahoma, USA
I have been working on my arbor presses - a Greenerd 3 1/2 and a Greenerd 5S. The 3 1/2 is a ratcheting type lever but has no brake. For years I had a counterweight and cable rigged up off the ceiling. I never really liked that because when you moved the lever, it would move the handle and wouldn’t ratchet back which required one hand to hold the hand wheel which left no free hands.

My solution was to fabricate a brake out of what I had laying around. The brake when it is all the way off provides only a slight resistance, just enough to hold the ram. With the brake all the way on, it is pretty much locked. And it will hold any variable force in between.

I used a leather coaster (which was smooth on one side and rough on the other) for the brake material. I debated whether the friction plates should be smooth or have ground in serrations. I left them smooth because I was worried that the serrations would cut the leather. What do you think about smooth or serrated?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0361.jpg
    IMG_0361.jpg
    88.8 KB · Views: 123
  • IMG_0379.jpg
    IMG_0379.jpg
    94.8 KB · Views: 129
And here are a few pictures of the Greenerd 5S restoration.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0368.jpg
    IMG_0368.jpg
    95.6 KB · Views: 124
  • IMG_0367.jpg
    IMG_0367.jpg
    95.8 KB · Views: 119
  • IMG_0365.jpg
    IMG_0365.jpg
    93.6 KB · Views: 124
  • IMG_0366.jpg
    IMG_0366.jpg
    96.8 KB · Views: 123
I like your snail shell press plate. I'm doing the same thing on my Dake #2. Mine is done except for the holes, how did you decide what sizes to use?

The holes are of no particular size just in a logical progression. The plate on the Greenerd 3 1/2 is 10” and the hole sizes are 1/4” to 1 7/8”. The plate on the 5S is 12” and the holes are 3/8” to 2 1/2” with 2 1/2” being the biggest bit I have for my Cincinnati Bickford drill.

The plates have a 5/8” pin on the bottom and a hole drilled in the top of the daisy wheel which allows them to rotate.
 
I had the same question about the snail plate. I was trying to decide whether to drill them in even 1/8 sizes so I'd have 1/16 inch clearance around even sized shafts or to go in even 1/8 + 1/16 sizes for closer clearance. I was also trying to decide how much room to leave between the edges of the adjacent holes. Thanks for posting the pictures.


Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk
 
I had the same question about the snail plate. I was trying to decide whether to drill them in even 1/8 sizes so I'd have 1/16 inch clearance around even sized shafts or to go in even 1/8 + 1/16 sizes for closer clearance. I was also trying to decide how much room to leave between the edges of the adjacent holes. Thanks for posting the pictures.


Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk

Adding a little extra to the hole size, like 1/32”, is a good idea. I did that, too. Make sure you have common sizes for shafts and check your broach bushing sizes as these need to be a little larger to keep from cutting your hole. However, it’s no big deal to weld them up and reface them.

I seem to use the ones under 1/2” much less often.
 
Idea and execution both nice. About that coaster- does its outer face engage with the surface of a second coaster, or with a machined metal surface? Leather has been used for this for a long time, but I think that the choice of leather (type & surface) is important. Some leathers seem to compress over time with wear, and acquire a smooth non-sticky finish.

-Marty-
 
Idea and execution both nice. About that coaster- does its outer face engage with the surface of a second coaster, or with a machined metal surface? Leather has been used for this for a long time, but I think that the choice of leather (type & surface) is important. Some leathers seem to compress over time with wear, and acquire a smooth non-sticky finish.

-Marty-

There is only the one coaster. The plates on either side of it are machined and surface ground smooth. I scratched them up some using some sandpaper on the surface plate. The coaster was just something I had. The whole thing is made from some drop stock that had a large keyway in it that I welded up and machined down.

Whether the leather will compress or not is a good question. There are three large set screws that can take up additional adjustment. One thing I did notice was that the smooth side of the coaster which also has a little harder finish seems to hold better than the rough, unfinished side. Might work better if I found some 1/8” leather with the same finish on both sides. Maybe this is the same principle as a smooth metal surface versus a scraped one. Scraped surfaces seem to have less stick slip. But in this case you want the stick.

The picture posted are like the serrations I thought about making on the metal surfaces of the plates. These serrations were ones I made on shaper vice jaws. They were done using a surface grinder with a cut-off wheel, so they are flat and the edges are sharp.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0386.jpg
    IMG_0386.jpg
    92.8 KB · Views: 49
Those two presses are beautiful and your workmanship is top notch...the only worrisome thing for me is how clean your shop is, because my shop looks like a complete pigsty..and that worry's the hell out of me.:eek:

Stuart
 
Those two presses are beautiful and your workmanship is top notch...the only worrisome thing for me is how clean your shop is, because my shop looks like a complete pigsty..and that worry's the hell out of me.:eek:

Stuart

My shop is clean because it has to be. I can’t find things otherwise. And when a taper pin goes shooting across the floor, it gives me at least some chance of finding it. I once read on this forum (I don’t remember who) to put as many things as you can on wheels and get as many things as you can off the floor and organized. I've found this to be good advice.
 
that is really slick and beautifully done too. I bet it beats the pants of holding the handle up with your head or shoulder while positioning stuff under the ram!
 
that is really slick and beautifully done too. I bet it beats the pants of holding the handle up with your head or shoulder while positioning stuff under the ram!

Thanks. And it does work well. I have had this arbor press for over 30 years and finally got around to actually solving this small irritation.
 








 
Back
Top