So I’m trying to get into leather working but stuck in an apartment where I can’t get away with hammering all day. Did a bit of research and came across people converting an arbor press from harbor freight into a leather press for chisels. If anybody has any experience doing this I’m very curious how it went. Also how you converted it and/or what chisels worked well.
Thanks in advance !
Arbor presses are expensive, so I did all the legwork and figured out an inexpensive alternative, clamps.
You can just use any clamp though C clamps and bar clamps with swivel heads cause the rivet so move arround all funny and not set.
Squeeze clamps don’t provide enough pressure
Pipe clamps ,bar clamps with fixed jaws, and bench vices all work to set rivets.
Now you might say “OP, why not just use a hammer” and to that I would reply the clamp sets the rivet more consistently.
The clamp is literally a screw press, a machine much like an arbor press that can produce very similar results at a 1/10 the cost
Can anyone tell me what is special about a leather press versus an arbor press?
From what I can see, it looks like the leather presses have either a cam or recoil spring to return the press to the "up" position and hold it there. Is that the only difference between the two?
Also, are there any leather presses with the handle facing forward? Most of them seem to have the handle off the back which looks uncomfortable to use.
I'm thinking of a press for better alignment of holes in belts and for cutting dies for keychains and the like. Presently I am doing everything by hand, and production is very slow.
I currently use a single 1.5mm hole punch, and it works great for me. The family however, is not terribly impressed with the noise :) I would love to hear some experiences, or alternatives. Thanks
I'm in the early stages of designing a cutting machine where a sharp grid will be pressed down on a tray of cake. Similar to what can be seen here, but attached to some sort of arm : https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VBL2QYV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_A44PXGAJW3YV1WGWWPMQ
The cakes can be pretty dense especially when they're cold, and will need to cut small pieces so it will require 750+N to cut through.
The original plan was to use a simple arm on a hinge attached to a plate with the grid to cut through. But someone suggested I use a mechanism similar to an arbor press. That it would be more compact, safer and more effective.
I hope that this is the right place to ask and get some advise/ideas. Thanks in advance.
I have bought many tools from Harbor Freight over the years. Most times they're "good enough". Sometimes they're actually outstanding. And sometimes... not so much.
I wanted a cheap arbor press in my workshop, and the reviews of Harbor Freight's arbor press on their website made it seem "good enough", so I got one. It only took an hour of use before the shine came off.
- Sand cast failure in the feet have left one of the feet with a large crack. So instead of sitting level, the press wobbles around
- There are sharp cast marks all over, including one on the bottom that's over an inch tall and several inches long.
- The pin that holds the plate in place fell out and wouldn't stay in so the plate keeps wandering off center and falling off. I replaced it with a longer, tighter pin from Tractor Supply + Loctite Red.
- The arm of the press is only held on by plastic end caps instead of metal, which constantly fall out, which means the arm falls out too.
This is one instance where "cheap" wasn't worth the money. I suspect the HF arbor press was being used to sell out-of-spec presses manufactured for some other brand.
If you're looking for a cheap one-ton arbor press, the Klutch at Northern Tool is going to be better (albeit higher cost).
I have a very good, very sturdy bench-mounted drill press. I do not have an arbor press.
Is there any reason I couldn't knock the chuck out of the drill press (Its just a morse taper, meant to be removeable) and put in a different taper with nothing on the end of it, and use it as an arbor press? I could see having to reinforce the drill press table, but apart from that I'm not seeing any reason not to.
Apart from going up and down to push on things, what is special about the arbor press that the drill press wouldn't be capable of?
