Small fly press?

[digr]

What hand tapper do you have? A picture

[midmosandblasting]

Have you thought of a acme screw attached to the ram and a wheel modifying it to a fly press .?

[Scotts]

If you put this on the edge of the table with the press handle hanging beside you and then attach a rod going to the floor where you could use your foot to pull the handle down would that work? Could you rig a return spring to pull the ram up to put your part in and out? Or, put a rocker like a tig pedal for your foot to rest on and have a rod sticking to the side so you could tilt your foot back and pick up the ram? https://www.ebay.com/itm/115166097794 something like this?

What kind of travel do you need to have to get your setup in and out of? 1 inch or less?

This may present other issues I am not thinking of.

throwing out some wild ones here.

Scott

[Gazza]

Another alternative is a kick press, leaves both hands free to hold material.
Using the die I can easily punch a radius corner and a hole on the corner of metal signs, The die is more than 20 years old and still gives perfect results.

[arizonian]

Dubby, you need to build a ratcheting arbor press. Something you can use your foot on similar to what Gazza is thinking about. How to do it? That is up to you.

[dubby]

Gazza's got some better-than-electron reply superpower, because I had a vision similar to that as a solution about midnight. I have mind modeled a couple of ideas already as well that shouldn't be too difficult considering there really isn't that much force required for these things. One large benefit is the ability to have both hands free.

I thought of a couple different ways to modify the existing press, even using an air cylinder to actuate the handle. I looked over the hand tapper again (style below) and it would be possible to use it as the ram part. Benefits of going that way are that it has more of a throat depth and the thing isn't being used otherwise.

[arizonian]

Dubby,

Just gave you a plug on Coues Whitetail.com. Giving you a heads up in case something comes of it.

[dubby]

Nice, thanks! Even if I can't make it happen, I always like seeing people react to the social media stuffs. I'm a long way from being one of the half-nekkid chics on Instagram having 1 million followers, but I understand their addiction.

The more I think about this whole deal, the more I'm leaning towards building something specific to the job. I need to figure out how much actual force it takes to compress the material and flare the eyelets. My brain keeps coming back to an idea similar to a bicycle brake caliper arrangement, using the dies in place of the pads. The lever could be foot actuated easily enough, and the whole thing could be fairly portable/mobile enough that it could be stored away when not needed.

The majority of these eyelets go in as pictured below. I try and put them in before I bend/curve the sides back, but occasionally there is very little room to back up the flare. Often the dies will fit, the press won't. The arbor press I use now has a 1" square shaft. I'm thinking that by changing this up to something smaller it would allow me to get into tighter spaces as well. The dreaming continues...

[mccutter]

Originally Posted by dubby

The dreaming continues...

How about an old drill press with a burned up motor? Probably has a return spring already and you could extend a handle for more leverage easy enough...

[dubby]

Originally Posted by mccutter

How about an old drill press with a burned up motor? Probably has a return spring already and you could extend a handle for more leverage easy enough...

Ya know, I never really thought about it until just now but my drill press has sat unused for a very long time. I have all sorts of gadgets and gizmos to make it be a productive piece of equipment. It just doesn't interest me to use it. It's one of the few machines that I wouldn't have to remove a whole bunch of crap from it's table even.

I wonder if it's because I subconsciously realized the motion was painful at some point and quit considering it? The outstretched arm, pushing down is what I'm fighting on this arbor press. Maybe the same reason I've got 3 ammo presses and haven't used them either. I keep buying the reloading shit but always make excuses as to why I can put it off another day.


The other movements I have always had trouble with are washing dishes and getting clothes back out of the dryer. Holding the dishes below counter level inside the sink, using both hands and not being able to support myself easily has always hurt tremendously. The crouch/twist/reach to retrieve items from the dryer is near impossible. I almost always wash a large towel anytime I wash my laundry so there is a better chance of things getting tangled up. I can drag the towel and usually get most of the clothes to the front edge so I don't have to reach inside. Those were a result of my back surgery/injury from when I was 14 though.