good stuff

[woodspinner]

I was reading the last Harbor Freight ad paper and found a couple of items that may be of interest to you.
I have not seen any of these except the crane so buyer beware but they look good.
For those of you that missed the Grizzly press.

1/2 ton arbor press $ 19.99 lot 3551

2 1/2 " drill press vise 4.99 lot 5927 removable jaw plates that could be ground for vertical holding of blanks for drilling

1/2 ton pick up crane $ 59.99 lot 1647 If you buy one of these you need to beef up the floor of the truck bed. When I mounted mine I followed the instructions and when I used it it bent the floor and saged to the side. I replated under the floor deck and added a support attached to the frame. Works great!

Good turning and be safe
Bill In Casa Grande, AZ.

 

[JimGo]

Woodspinner, thanks for the info! One question...for what purpose would one use a 1/2 ton arbor press? Oh, and do I need the 1/2 ton winch to lift the arbor press? (okay, the second one was a joke)

 

[J. Fred Muggs]

The 1/2 ton arbor press works great as a pen press. Also gives you the bearing press options should you ever need them. The more expensive pen presses that everybody's selling are good for only the one purpose. Just remember with the rack and pinion gear arrangement, you can absolutely crush a pen if you pull the handle too hard.[)]

 

[woodscavenger]

Oh I love HF. Too many tools, not enough shop space.

 

[J. Fred Muggs]

I stumbled across my HF sale flyer over the weekend. According to the printed specs, the above 1/2 ton arbor press has a maximum vertical capacity of 4 1/2". This could be a bit too short for some pen pressing applications. HF also has a 1 ton press that says it has a 5 1/2" vertical capacity. I don't own either. Just a warning to check before you buy.

 

[Guest]

J Fred.
I remember looking at those a while back before I got the Grizz press.
That measurement is to the turret.
There is a slot that allows a longer distance though I don't remember what is was.

 

[J. Fred Muggs]

Eagle:
Looking at the picture on HF's website, yes it does have the slot. The slot is open to whatever you've got it sitting on. If bolted down it might work okay.

I'm not saying yea nor nay. I use the horizontal press I bought from PSI 3 years ago. I'm just saying be aware of the this before you buy. I've seen several other pen turners using arbor presses to press pens, but I don't know the brand or the size.

Since I had mouthed off earlier in this thread about what the arbor press was good for, I felt I owed it to the readers to mention the dimension limitations. []

 

[goldentouch]

I have been using the 1/2 ton press for about a month and love it. It seems I have a lot more control while I am putting the pens in place.

 

[woodscavenger]

I was there today and almost bought the press but held off. I like my drill press. I did pick up a cool long punch set for about $5 which should work nicely to destroy (I mean disassemble) a pen.

 

[JimGo]

Golden, what kinds of pens are you making? Have you had any problems with the blanks not fitting?

 

[goldentouch]

JimGo I havn't run across anything yet that gave me trouble. I make slimlines, Americana, Euro, and Cigar mostly. I have it bolted to the bench and with the cut insert in the press this gives me about another 1 1/2. I got a small piece of leather I glued to the ram to protect the pens. I also put another piece of leather on the bench under the cut and have a small piece of plate about 1/8 inch think with a piece of leather I can slide on the table if I am putting together smaller parts. I can't think of anything I couldn't do with it. I also seem to have a lot more control than the pen press I got from pen state for about 40 dollars.

 

[JimGo]

Thanks for the feedback Golden. Looks like another trip to HF is in my near future!

 

[rtgleck]

Thanks for the update. I'll have to swing by my local HF this weekend.