Robert McGowen
04-18-2007, 8:14 PM
I incorporated several ideas into a press that I built this afternoon that I intend on using for making segmented turnings.
The press had to be:
1. easily adjustable from a couple of inches to over 2 feet.
2. easy to use as far as tightening and releasing the pieces.
3. able to be moved so that I could see all sides of the piece that I was making.
4. cheap!
I used some 11-layer plywood that was in the cutoff bin at the borg. The rods are 5/8" by 3' and were $2 each. The nuts and washers were $8 total. (I have a wholesale account at a metal place) The jack was $19.90 at the borg, but heh, I can always change my tire with it also. So I have about $40 in it total, including the jack.
I drilled 5/8" holes in the top and bottom. I drilled 7/8" holes in the middle so that it would slide easily. The top of the jack meets with the bottom of the bolt and the middle kinds of floats since the holes are larger than the rod. This should take out any errors between the alignment of the top and middle that are doing the actual pressing as they will be able to make themselves parallel to each other.
The bolt though the moveable middle can be unscrewed by hand. I can just unscrew it if I need a flat surface. It is a 1"x 8 TPI bolt and my faceplate screws directly to it. That way I can use a glue block and turn or sand the piece on the lathe and then just screw it back onto the press for the next ring to be mounted. The top is adjustable to that you can lower it down for small pieces or go all the way to 2' tall. The jack also has a lot of travel to it, so you don't have to adjust much at all.
I hope it works as well as I want it to. Thanks for looking and any way you see to improve it is welcomed!
The press had to be:
1. easily adjustable from a couple of inches to over 2 feet.
2. easy to use as far as tightening and releasing the pieces.
3. able to be moved so that I could see all sides of the piece that I was making.
4. cheap!
I used some 11-layer plywood that was in the cutoff bin at the borg. The rods are 5/8" by 3' and were $2 each. The nuts and washers were $8 total. (I have a wholesale account at a metal place) The jack was $19.90 at the borg, but heh, I can always change my tire with it also. So I have about $40 in it total, including the jack.
I drilled 5/8" holes in the top and bottom. I drilled 7/8" holes in the middle so that it would slide easily. The top of the jack meets with the bottom of the bolt and the middle kinds of floats since the holes are larger than the rod. This should take out any errors between the alignment of the top and middle that are doing the actual pressing as they will be able to make themselves parallel to each other.
The bolt though the moveable middle can be unscrewed by hand. I can just unscrew it if I need a flat surface. It is a 1"x 8 TPI bolt and my faceplate screws directly to it. That way I can use a glue block and turn or sand the piece on the lathe and then just screw it back onto the press for the next ring to be mounted. The top is adjustable to that you can lower it down for small pieces or go all the way to 2' tall. The jack also has a lot of travel to it, so you don't have to adjust much at all.
I hope it works as well as I want it to. Thanks for looking and any way you see to improve it is welcomed!