Arbor press stand - general recommendations?

[mmcmdl]

This worked out great!

It usually does wachuko . I hate seeing anything go to scrap but I can only store so much . The son is getting the scrap money and I'm paying him $30 an hour on top of that . He's making out fine . Me ? I'll be lucky to break even , but I'm having fun and have a brand new winch on the trailer .

 

[wachuko]

It usually does wachuko . I hate seeing anything go to scrap but I can only store so much . The son is getting the scrap money and I'm paying him $30 an hour on top of that . He's making out fine . Me ? I'll be lucky to break even , but I'm having fun and have a brand new winch on the trailer .

Heck, from reading your posts, sometimes I just want to get on the road, with a trailer, and go digging in your backyard...

 

[mmcmdl]

Heck, from reading your posts, sometimes I just want to get on the road, with a trailer, and go digging in your backyard...

LOL , I know where a ton of 1/2-13 bolts and mill clamps are buried .

 

[WobblyHand]

View attachment 411089

The trick is to remove the collar on the gear so you can slip it out of the rack and slide it back in the right position so you are always pulling down instead of pushing against the table. I cut a slot so I can press keyway broaches and longer stuff.

I tension the rack so it moves easily but doesn't fall on its own.

I have a 3 ton ratcheting type press. Ratchets downward, uses a 8" hand wheel to raise the ram. Needs a gib since it didn't come with one. (Cost cutting exercise by the manufacturer.) Ram doesn't fall down, even if the bolts are loosened. Good idea about adding a slot.

Would be very nice to get this set up properly. Sitting on the floor is not properly set up!

 

[woodchucker]

my view on the stand is the lever arm should be slightly above your shoulder or higher . Lower means you have to crouch to pull on it.
The height of the platten is inconsequential, it's all where you pull from. You want to be able to pull the bar to horizontal, and then use your weight to keep pulling. If it's too low, you are losing the ability to make it work, and you will probably pull your back out.

that's my 2 cents.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Anchor the stand, whether to the wall or the floor. Sooner or later you'll be hanging off the arm and it will want to tip over.

 

[WobblyHand]

Anchor the stand, whether to the wall or the floor.

Point well taken. Old house makes this an interesting challenge. Lime cement floors, I think, over something. Really not sure what. In any case, lime cement is nowhere near as strong as Portland cement. I've had anchor holes disintegrate on me. Not confidence inspiring with respect to the remaining ones. Basement walls are mostly granite blocks, with lime mortar which are another challenge. I'll have to come up with something. There's a solution hiding somewhere, just have to find it.

Off topic, making your own lime based mortar is pretty easy. I patched up some mortar mixing up my own. Roughly 1 part lime to 3 parts sand, mixed very well then slowly add water to desired consistency. Dries pretty hard and not powdery. Did some about two years ago and still looks great. What is good about lime based mortar is it is not too hard, as compared to stone or brick. That means it wears, rather than the stone. I'd rather have mortar fail than the stones themselves. This is commonly seen in poorly fixed older homes where Portland cement mortar was used where it was originally lime mortar.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Point well taken. Old house makes this an interesting challenge. Lime cement floors, I think, over something. Really not sure what. In any case, lime cement is nowhere near as strong as Portland cement. I've had anchor holes disintegrate on me. Not confidence inspiring with respect to the remaining ones. Basement walls are mostly granite blocks, with lime mortar which are another challenge. I'll have to come up with something. There's a solution hiding somewhere, just have to find it.

Off topic, making your own lime based mortar is pretty easy. I patched up some mortar mixing up my own. Roughly 1 part lime to 3 parts sand, mixed very well then slowly add water to desired consistency. Dries pretty hard and not powdery. Did some about two years ago and still looks great. What is good about lime based mortar is it is not too hard, as compared to stone or brick. That means it wears, rather than the stone. I'd rather have mortar fail than the stones themselves. This is commonly seen in poorly fixed older homes where Portland cement mortar was used where it was originally lime mortar.

I anchored mine to the wall because the concrete in my shop is dubious.

 

[whitmore]

I anchored mine to the wall because the concrete in my shop is dubious.

That's an appealing plan; I've fantasized finding a good spot on the wall to affix a
few feet of unistrut, so that any work surface that I want to stabilize can
be shoved over to that spot, and rapidly bolted onto that wall.

At the present time, my vise is on a scrap of 6x10 timber, and when in use, I'm always
expecting the timber to lift off the (flimsy) work table. Arbor press, vise, drill press, bench grinder,
miter box, small anvil, inspection microscope... there's a lot of items I'd like to hold still
for a few minutes, that can go back into storage after the project is done.

 

[mmcmdl]

The 80/20 stuff is great for this kind of set-up . I have a ton of it and the boy will be posting it on here very soon or will be scrapping it out . He's axnious (sp) to unload scrap metal .