Arbor Press
 

Our team is looking for an arbor press to key steel and to pressfit bearings. What ton press would work well for these applications. :D

Re: Arbor Press
 

Whatever you do, don't get a hydraulic one. They are way too sloppy.

Lever operated 1-2 ton will do from what I have heard.

Re: Arbor Press
 

See this thread (you could have found it easily yourself by searching the forums before posting).

Re: Arbor Press
 

Arbor Press?? We always used the chuck on our drill press :p

Good luck finding what you need!

Jacob

Re: Arbor Press
 

I actually sugested that to my team :D

Re: Arbor Press
 

I've been told that is very bad for the bearings in the drill press.

Re: Arbor Press
 

I think that depends on what your broaching... After all, the drill has to push a bit through metal.

I do this all the time with small broaches (like 1/16" and 1/8" keyways).

I also have a 20 ton hydralic press which (like others have said) is really sloppy and a pain in the a** to use. But if you ever need to bend/press really big things, it comes in handy :yikes:

I hear Harbor Freight is a great place to find these kinds of tools. cough...other threads... cough

Re: Arbor Press
 

Can bend your chuck, trust me all of our holes since 2006 have been slightly crooked.

Re: Arbor Press
 

Broaching with a drill press, milll, etc, is a very bad idea.

While it may be acceptable for small keways, you can brinnell the spindle bearings, which basically means you indented the race of the bearing with one or more of the balls. This will ruin your tool.

Arbor presses are so cheap ($100-200) that it's not worth destroying a machine using it for something it wasn't intended for. Especially given how often an arbor press is used.

Re: Arbor Press
 

We made a few broaches this year with a standard 4" vise, however it was not easy since the part was only supported on one side. We were able to broach Delrin and 1/4" aluminum, but we couldn't keep everything aligned due to the greater forces when we tried to broach a steel sprocket.

We tried using our drill press to get the pinion off the fisher price motor, which did nothing but wear out our drill press. I'm really hoping we can get an arbor press for next year.

Re: Arbor Press
 

I think this might be your best bet if you can't get something surplus or local http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_20674_20674

Re: Arbor Press
 

When selecting an arbor press keep in mind what your likely uses for it will be. Broaching small keyways and pressing bearings is one thing, broaching 3/8” or ½” hex bores is another. Pressing bearings or cutting 1/16” or 1/8” keyways can probably be done with a 2 ton or even 1 ton arbor press but if you think you might ever want to cut those 3/8” or ½” hex bores in a hub or gear or something consider that a standard 3/8” hex broach is about 8.5” long and a standard ½” hex broach is about 12” long. In my opinion, a 3 ton arbor press is a better option because they usually can handle a 12” long ½” hex broach.

First the good news, as luck would have it Enco has single lever 3 ton arbor press on sale for $69.95 (item 805-1030, regular price $81.10). It has an over the table capacity of 12.5 inches which is probably just enough to squeeze that 12” long ½” hex broach in there while it is inserted in that ½” thick spur gear. Now the bad news, it weighs 160 lbs so shipping is going to be via truck freight and you will need a fork lift to move it around when you get it! Shipping isn’t going to be cheap either!

If you can spare a little extra funds I would highly recommend going with a 3 ton ratcheting arbor press instead of just a manual single lever type. Enco has one for $143.95 (item 805-1035)with a 12 5/8” max work height but again it weighs 148 lbs so shipping is probably going to be as much as the press.