Pen press upgrade (push clamp design)

[Firefyter-emt]

I had posted my jumbo pen press a while back and it has worked perfect except for one area where I was worried about, the anvil. I ran out of useable oak when I made it and grabbed a piece of poplar instead of using something stronger. Well it failed where the pin goes thru. I was putting togather a Euro without a "height block" and the tap, tap, tap on the anvil was just too much. So, I made a new one today in mahogany. I decided to upgrade it a little too, What I did was to drill a 1/2" hole and CA glue in a piece of oak dowel so that the pin was going into endgrain and it would not put directional stress on the anvil itself. Then I had a great thought! I drilled a 1/4" hole about 4cm deep and filled it with CA and sawdust. I took that down with a block plane. This gives me a visual of where that dang hole is when you can't see it! (as you can see on the old one, I tended to "search" for it)

In case you missed the old post, Here is what it looks like.

 

[Scottydont]

That looks sweet! Great idea.

 

[tnilmerl]

I got to admit, that's a pretty nifty little design....

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Thanks guys. I aam kinda kicking myself for using plywood for the base. Problem is the side rails are glued on so it can't easily replace it. It's just a "tool", but it sure does work nice! []

 

[OSCAR15]

Lee...Thats NOT just a functioal tool...It is a work of art...Me, I am lazy. Bought me an arbor press...Wish I had the time (and motivation). That press is awesome!

 

[Dario]

That is super cool.

I can see you have the propensity to organize [] watching the VERY NEAT background. You are are worse than my wife!!! (that's a BIG compliment) LOL

BTW, I hope you have some soft material under that...I had a few instances where the pen I am assemling slipped and falling that high might damage your new pen.

 

[johncrane]

great stuff Lee good thinking mate I agree Dario every think looks very neat and tidy

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Thanks guys. I don't have anything but my lathe under it, but with the wall mount I am able to hold the pen while it is being pressed. Even when the first one broke, I was able to keep if from falling to the floor.

 

[penbros]

Hey, where did you get the lever? What kind of material is the white pad thingys? You have made a great pen press! []

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Dario... I do have a little problem in that field, so my wife says. []

The clamp was a "luck out" on e-bay, I got it cheap and almost fell out of my chair when I opened the box. It was twice as big as I planned. I had to design it to suit the clamp and I had looked at a few designs and used parts of them all. The nice thing is that I do not need the long homemade handle. The white material on the anvil is strips of a cutting board I use as miter track for jigs, the upper one is a PITA. The clamp has a 3/8" thread, (I think) I have a 3/8 to 10-32 thread adaptor, the push block is 2 nylon spacers. The inner one is CA glued in far enough to allow the head of a 10-32 pan head screw to stick up. I then trimmed off the "screw hole" flat and screwed the whole thing togather. I must of spent half an hour at the hardware store getting that put togather. I was not able to find a nylon bolt in that thread, but I am sure they are out there. This works for me and is (now) eaisly replaceable. The clamp is made by Car-Lane part # CL 250-SPC (edit: this clamp is rated for 800lbs!) []

Here is a link to their web site..
http://carrlane.com/Catalog/index.cfm/26805071F0B021118070C1C510D020609090C0015480013180B041D1E173C1B08535241

HMMMMMM... Howabout an air powered press!