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A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 26 Nov 2016, 19:41
by kirkpoore1
I just picked this up. I'm sure many, particularly Wallace, will appreciate it:
Image

3 ton arbor press, 12" under the ram, 6" throat, 140 lbs in weight. And it's not Chinese crap. Excellent condition, but the paint is flaking so I will probably strip & repaint while building a stand. $320. More pics to follow.

Kirk

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 27 Nov 2016, 00:18
by Rod
Quite a beast - have you any immediate use for it in mind?

Rod

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 27 Nov 2016, 10:58
by Robert
I've got a No4 deep throat fly press in my shed. A souvenir of my past business. thought I might use it but never have done.

We had a few arbor presses like yours in the assembly shop. don't think I paid more than £15 for any of the arbor presses though as no one seemed to want them. They were no good for anything accurate as the ram was not held by adjustable guides like a fly press. Fine for pressing parts together though and fast too while being safer for staff as it only moved when you turned the handle.

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 27 Nov 2016, 17:27
by kirkpoore1
Robert:

I'll primarily use it for dealing with bearings, though I'm sure other uses will pop up along the way. I've ruined a handful of bearings during assembly attempts and almost trashed the motor on a radial arm saw by mistake once. This should help in those situations. I have a hydraulic press but I don't like it because it's slow and you have no feel of the pressure--it's on or it's off.

Another use is setting grommets. I've done that with hand tools and though it works it's sometimes not trustworthy.

Besides, it's cool and smashes stuff flat. :)

Kirk

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 29 Dec 2016, 14:30
by furnman
Nice buy Kirk, cannot beat the old stuff.

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 30 Dec 2016, 21:08
by Mike G
I resorted to using my pillar drill as a manual press yesterday when fitting the new bearing onto my hand planer's main shaft. Squeezed on a treat! Simply Bearings had a new bearing to me 2 days after the old one seized, which I reckon is pretty damn good in the week between christmas and New Year.

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 30 Dec 2016, 22:26
by kirkpoore1
Good work. Those aren't made to do heavy stuff, but for smaller motors and tools they work well. And you usually have a lot more room under the quill than you do under the shaft on small arbor presses.

Kirk

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 31 Dec 2016, 13:31
by Doug
Seeing this thread reminded me to post this photo I took a few weeks ago after seeing your press Kirk.

I was at a mates & saw this poor old neglected piece of cast iron slowly rusting outside & at first thought it was a press like the one you'd posted so took this snap but after an enquiry I discovered it was in fact a fly press, still I thought I'd share as you seem to like all things cast iron.


Image

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 31 Dec 2016, 14:42
by 9fingers
Having access to a fly press is one thing I miss since retiring. They take up a lot of space and only tend to be needed once in a blue moon.
It was so handy to pop into the workshop at work for a quick job of a lunchtime.
I just don't have the room for one at home.

Bob

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 31 Dec 2016, 18:07
by Tusses
I'd love a flypress ! .. just a little one though.
My dad has a massive one, he has offered me, but it's 6' tall and weighs many tonnes !

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 01 Jan 2017, 17:46
by kirkpoore1
That fly press is cool looking. I wonder how much pressure it can exert? The "6" may indicate 6 tons. It does look pretty beefy.

Bob, what were you using the fly press for?

Kirk

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 01 Jan 2017, 18:24
by 9fingers
We had one set up as a sheet metal folder with a home made jig and the other I used for pressing bearings and a corner notcher.
Bob

Re: A Pressing Matter

PostPosted: 30 Jan 2017, 12:23
by wallace
Just noticed this, nice lump. I could do with some kind of press. I've had some scary moments when installing new expensive bearings.