$4 Pen Press Rebuild

[THarvey]

After five years and hundreds of pens, my pen press broke. So, I salvaged a few parts from old press. Added $4 slide clamp from Harbor Freight. Cheater bar is 1/2 copper pipe left over from old project. Turned handle out of mystery wood from a pallet that came from South America. Plywood base out of my scrap bin.

Beats spending $50 for new pen press.

Thanks for looking.

 

[cwolfs69]

nice, custom look. I like it.

Sent from my Galaxi via forerunner

 

[hehndc]

Tim:

My homemade press, made from some re-purposed harbor freight thing (grease gun?) gave up the ghost. Now, I have a better idea.

Thanks for the pic and idea.

Steve

 

[THarvey]

Tim:

My homemade press, made from some re-purposed harbor freight thing (grease gun?) gave up the ghost. Now, I have a better idea.

Thanks for the pic and idea.

Steve

If you will watch the Harbor Freight ads, they put these slide clamps and toggle clamps on 50% sales about two times per year. I usually buy a bunch and store them away for projects like this.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Tim, do you know the part number for that slide clamp? I looked at Harbor Freight but could not find it by that name, although I did find a bunch of neat stuff!

 

[THarvey]

Tim, do you know the part number for that slide clamp? I looked at Harbor Freight but could not find it by that name, although I did find a bunch of neat stuff!

Sorry, I don't. I don't find them on line, either. My Harbor Freight store has these in bins next to the toggle clamps. They usually run the same price as the toggle clamps for similar pressure.

This is the 500lb clamp. The bolt pattern matching the slide on my previous pen press. The 200lb version might work, but it is a lot smaller and lower to the surface.

If I find a reference I will post it.

 

[THarvey]

The references I find refer to this as a "push/pull toggle clamp". Here is a reference to the clamp, I used. This is not where I purchased the clamp, but the first online source I found. You should be able to find better prices.

Amazon.com: MSI-PRO MSI-302F (52120) Push/Pull Quick-Release Toggle Clamps: Home Improvement