A pressing matter

[Prokraft]

I Know you guys and gals out there with far more pen knowledge & experience than me will undoubtedly be able to help with this:

Pen presses - I have seen these and they sell for about £40-60, they appear to be a few nuts and bolts and a lever on some kind of small plinth or plate.

Is there actually any point to these or are they yet another pointless bit of kit doing what a vice already does?

I have a huge old Record vice that weighs about the same as a baby elephant with wooden jaws fitted and I use this on the rare occasion I make a pen - despite it's size I can do some quite fine adjustments with it with very little effort.

The reason I ask is that I am thinking about making my own if there is a reason for having such a thing.

I have some levers on order and boxes of threads, inserts, bits of rubber and plastic etc that I collect in the course of developing stuff and call me mean but I won't be spending £50 on something I think I don't need.

So if there are any benefits to these what are they?

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

At the moment I'm using a sash clamp and two lumps of hdpe I "made" by melting milk bottles in the oven (please no one mention that to the wife). held in a bench vise it works pretty well!

 

[Morse]

Hi Jon.
Most wood clubs have a pen press for their members to use.
I bought a pen assembly/disassembly (penpressxl) direct from PSI. It wasn't cheap after import duties and tax, but I had a need to have everything in one box.
It has certainly helped a few club members to fix their pen problems. Although saying that it did mark the nib assembly on a pen, overcome by using a cloth. I think the kit was a "soft" Chinese import, as I certainly havn't had a problem with Beaufort and PSI kits.
Some club members do use a vice and also punches to assemble and disassemble their pens.

Hope that helped

Dave

 

[Cumbrian Craig]

I just use my drill press. I have made a bit to go in the chuck and have a plastic chopping board on the bed. Not the easiest thing to use but it works OK. I have heard that people make a press using a silicone/caulking gun, but I haven'y actually seen one.

Regards

Craig

 

[21William]

I use my Record Vice but I know some folks do it on the Lathe using the tail stock barrel.

It’s nice having dedicated stuff especially if you’ve made it yourself for only a few quid but actually needed? No, not really.

 

[Penpal]

I use a 1 Ton Bearing Press ,have done forever it seems so the cost has been immersed in the hobby for an incredible number of years. I mounted it adjacent to the lathe and for me eye height. As I sit high over the lathe I swivel my chair after finishing the pen and press right away.Anything longer I a light weight Swiss Vice system I picked up for 20.00 dollars brand new at a garage sale, called a Zylis. I will take a couple of pics.

Peter.

 

[Dalboy]

I use a club hammer now you know why I don't post many pens.

I keep promising myself to make some bits to fit on the lathe so that I can use that to assemble my pens but at the moment I use one of the ratchet type clamps held in a vice so that I only need one hand to operate it and the other to hold the pen parts.

 

[Bigblackdog]

I use the head and tail stock and 2 of these MT2 and MT3 Blank End Arbors - Arc Euro Trade

I did start making a press actually, must dig out the bits

 

[Penpal]

Found a couple of pics of my pressing tools. The Zylis I hang up and clamp to the VL100 bench when needed. The Bearing press is mounted on a pipe stem with a small table top next to the VL150 Lathe.

Peter.

 

[Bigblackdog]

I like that little bearing press. may have to have a look for one of those

 

[silver]

This is what I use, have done many a year as well..



TBH I have tried and tested the so called pen presses out and never really got on with them and thought they were just taking up unnecessary space.. So sold them..

To me its a "gimmick" but then who am I to say..

 

[Penpal]

A benefit of a bearing press is pressure is easily controlled much like another familiar action used on a drill press. Cheapest way to press IMHO is a Drill Press with a suitable item in the chuck. In my case the drill press is now twelve meters away at the other end of my workshop,the bearing press full time where I can use it.Having a press system in the lathe would be a pain in the bum for me as I turn this way which would be tedious removing the mandrel etc.

Peter.

 

[Prokraft]

That link to Arceurotrade has just cost me money - new revolving tailstock on the way - cheers!

 

[Phil Dart]

I wouldn't say a pen press is pointless, no, but their advantage is convenience more than necessity. The convenience, for me at least is both speed of operation, and repeatability. I realise repeatability sounds daft on the face of it, but if for instance you are pressing several mechanisms that are length dependent, such as in a slimline for instance, you can set it to a distance and press several in one batch.

Having said that, I have yet to come across one that isn't fundamentally flawed, which is usually because the gauge of metal used to construct the piston carriage is not thick enough and is not held to the base by enough bolts. With one or two simple modifications though, they can be pressed into good service (pun intended - sorry).

However, there is more than one way to skin a cat, several of which have been shown in posts above, so if you only make the occasional pen and/or if you don't need to keep one eye on the clock, you are possibly better off just sticking to your chunky bench vice. If occasional turns into more frequent, there are better solutions than a bench vice, a modified pen press being one of them or a self designed pen press, probably better still.

 

[Bammer]

For years I used the bench vice, clamps, drill press etc

Then I was given a Milescraft Pen Press for fathers day ..... why I never bought one years ago i don't know. Turners Retreat has them.

Mine is permanently screwed to the bench, I would want to go back now ...

But, at £50 it might not be worth it for 1 or 2 pens a day / week ..... for me it is essential for speed and accuracy.

Brad (1001 )

 

[Bucks]

I also have a Milescraft Pen Press & think it’s great.

 

[Penpal]

For me the bearing press was not square etc so I inverted the press post ,it was square then I glued a 3/16 square of Corian to the pressing face. It was sloppy in the way up and down so I double drilled the front and drilled and tapped two screws to take up the slack, then made a block of aluminium fit level and square to the anvil drilled and bolted to the base with another square of 3/16 Corian. Anyway referring to the Peoples Republic of China I always modify things I buy from them. Countless pressings later,the benefit of eye height it is easy to see when pressing whether it is going in square or not. Being right there is magic IMHO.

Why I bought lathes from Vicmarc they use taper bearings to accept thrust with strength,always buying a bare lathe ie a basic lathe then fitting my choice of motor (three phase here 415v) the conversion from 240 v gives infinite speed control. Quality lathe from Timberbits,the first one is around 30 yrs old VL100 then in the last while a VL150 which is taller for my purposes.This enables me to have two lathes back to my back where I sit at my bench with a beaut motor on the bench behind each lathe. The 3/4 hp motor on the VL100 I caught on the first bounce from the University 4 floor building when they upgraded the fume cupboards, it had worked almost non stop for over 30 yrs when I got it. Couple of pics ,although I have been a sparky since the 1950,s the speed contral was spooky for me but I bought a top unit in bits and fitted it up in an old box,I programmed it by phone to the remote dealer. The VL150 installed in where the )) was this time with the variable speed control modern version,same deal phone call for the programming. Since then safety guards etc fitted over the belt drive etc.

Peter.

 

[yorkshireman]

I always use a pen press. Nice and easy to use and sits on the shelf out of the way when not in use.

 

[Bill Mooney]

Like Brad I use a Milescraft press & love it. As a disabled person I can take my press in the house, sit at the table in warmth & comfort & assemble my pens easily. You can’t do that with a vice or drill pres so mine was well worth the money.
I also agree with Phil about the speed & convenience.

 

[wm460]

I use oneof my lathes made up a couple adaptors on Blank End Arbors, will go and take a pic for you.