What kind of press is this, and could it have a knife shop use?

C_Claycomb

C_Claycomb

Joined
Dec 11, 2000
Messages
1,132
Does anyone have a suggestion for what kind of press this is and more importantly, can anyone think of any knife making jobs that it might be useful for?

I salvaged this thing from where I used to work and it has sat in my shop gathering dust for four years without me ever doing anything with it. This weekend I was having a bit of a clear/re-organize and decided that I should either figure out a use for it, or get rid of it. The latter option had me looking around the internet to find something similar so that I would at least know what it is called! The easy answer would be an arbour press, and maybe a "pilot wheel" type, but I haven't seen a single picture of anything that looks quite like this, so am far from convinced that is its proper description.

The only job that I have thought that it could be used for is flaring eyelets in sheath making, but it is much bigger than the arbour presses I have seen sold for that.

It weights 40kg and I have no idea what load rating it is, just that there is no where for a lever type handle, so all force is generated by turning, or spinning, the heavy iron wheel.

DSC04477_zpsjon0gsz4.jpg


DSC04480_zpsjrtudht1.jpg


DSC04482_zps0lojv01a.jpg


Thanks :)

Chris
 
It is called an arbor press. Possibly useful for some pressing tasks, and maybe for stamping, but not much more than that.
 
Hi Chris - time we had another meet?

It looks to me like a standard arbour press that has been shortened for a specific purpose. The welded on end stop is the giveaway.
I don't think you will get an answer on this one.
 
C, that is an arbor press--they have been used a lot in Firearm cartridge reloading. It looks like that one was tweaked to only press a certain amount--I've seen that done by folks who wanted to set a definite max that the press would carry, thereby holding very specific tolerances on the creation of a specific (typically Rifle) cartridge. Stacy called it for the knifemaking uses.
 
Thanks fellas. I knew it was an arbor press, but wasn't sure if it was a special kind or had any additional names.

Bummer it doesn't have many uses! I don't do a lot of rivet setting for sheaths, but have been managing just fine using my vise and some wood blocks to hold the dies, so no real need to spend time on getting the press set up just for that. With the number of thread views I reckon that it it had any use than Stacy suggests, someone would have spoken up.

You a probably right that it was adjusted for a specific job. That would explain why it was being dumped, chances are that the specific job was no longer required.

Thanks!

Chris
 
Yes I've seen them used for setting rivets for sheaths like you said. I'd probably just stash it somewhere and down the road you may find a use for it. If in 10 years you don't use it hen scrap it I guess.

Jay
 
Arbor presses can have lots of uses in a knife shop, from setting rivets and eyelets (with dies of course) to flaring lanyard tubes, pressing pins, straightening stock, etc....

That one will be much more limited, unless you can find a longer ram or make a tall anvil to stick underneath the existing ram. You normally don't need much stroke for setting pins, eyelets, or rivets anyway.

Now, you may also find that you'd prefer a lever handle style press for most work too, though wheel handles do have their place.

If you need a press and don't wan't to put any work into that one, keep an eye out for enco free shipping and/or discount deals, and you can get a 1/2 or a 1 ton press for relatively little money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top