New Arbor Press Pull Handle - What Steel?

Shopsweeper

Shopsweeper

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I picked up a used arbor press last week. It says "Famco 4R" on the side.

It is a Famco, it is not a 4R. Its more like a 4R body with the pinion from a regular 4 in it. But the price was right and the seller loaded it for me so I am not about to complain. The press is tight and and bolster plate was whole. (I need to hex-broach some round stock for toolholders)

However, the handle is bent and that annoys me. I don't have any 1" steel bar in my stock or scrap that is long enough. I have considered trying to straighten the existing bar a bit but I am not optimistic about that.

With Enco having free shipping and %15 off today I was going to order up a bar to use. But the question begs; what alloy should I use?

I think I'm after rigidity but not too much (tool steel would be a disaster if/when it broke).

Open to any suggestions about what steel to use. I was simply going to press on some caps, nothing fancy.

Thanks for your time!
 
I think a piece of car axle would work nicely. Or Enco’s 4140 pre-hardened should work…Good Luck, Dave.
 
I see the 4140 bar at Enco is cheaper than 4140 at Online metals anyway. The %15 and free shipping are icing. I will probably do that.
 
Probably a piece of 01 or W1 drill rod would be stiff enough. I recently bought a small Asian press with the handle bent like a noodle. I plan to make a better handle for it.
 
I can't imagine anyone being able to bend a 1"D rod of any kind of steel without heating it cherry red.
What kind of gorilla owned that thing before you got it? :)

I'd probably go with cold roll steel, mainly because it is straighter and has a more consistent diameter than hot-roll. It seems to me that hardened steel would be more a pain in the butt than it's worth.

But first, I'd give straightening the one that came with it a try by clamping it a vise, heating it cherry red and using a short cheater pipe. The worst that can happen is you won't be satisfied with the result and you'll have wasted a little acetylene and oxygen, assuming you have some to waste.
 
If these machines could talk....

This press has a 2" ram with some mushrooming on the top too. So whoever bent that rod may have also pounded on the ram with a hammer.

Thanks for the ideas
 
Drill rod doesn't come hardened. You can saw it and thread it. It is a good deal stiffer than ordinary cold rolled steel,though,and has a nicer finish.
 
I agree with Franko---just heat and straighten it--but stay with unhardened steel--better for it to bend than break---the reason it is bent ---someone that used the hammer on the top of ram also used a cheater pipe and misused the press like one of mine was--I have a Famco 3R and a Famco 3 press---Dave
 
Dave Smith said:
I agree with Franko---just heat and straighten it--but stay with unhardened steel--better for it to bend than break---the reason it is bent ---someone that used the hammer on the top of ram also used a cheater pipe and misused the press like one of mine was--I have a Famco 3R and a Famco 3 press---Dave
Click to expand...

I saw your post about cleaning-up those two 3s. Very nice work. Mine came with a 3/4" top steel table with no hole for press-through work. I spent a lot of time yesterday plasma cutting a 4" hole in that table so broaches can pass.

My plan is a 42" handle fixed in the middle with a wing-nut to capture it that can loosed for longer pulls. I'm fabing up a 3/8-16 wing nut (pinion already tapped that size) with a brass tip and some kind of fancy wings (yet to be invented).
 
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