thoughts on using harbor freight arbor press

[rmatchell]

I got a gift card for Christmas and was thinking about getting a 1 ton arbor press from harbor frieght for making some lead wire and possibly drawing some 9mm cases down for jackets. Just wondering what experience you guys have had with the press and if I should just go up to a 6 ton aframe press. This is mainly just going be something to play with.

[Dan Cash]

I have a 1 T Harbor Freight press and it is a good piece of equipment, but for what you are suggesting, I would get a bigger arbor press. Am not acquainted with an "A" frame press but bigger is almost always better.

[bangerjim]

Those Cheap HF presses are great for what they are designed for.....pressing arbors on/off wheels and gears. Beyond that, who knows? I have seen several of the in the scrap yards that were broken off at the neck from some kind of abuse at some time!

I have a 1/2T, 1T arbor press and a 10 ton hydraulic frame press I built from STEEL frame material for heavy duty stuff.

I press in/out a lot of mechanical stuff. I do not swage anything gun related. If I wanted to, I would build a dedicated swaging press as well detailed in several threads on here in the past.

banger

[HollowPoint]

I'm using a 1/2 ton arbor press I got from local Harbor Freight store to swage 30 caliber lead bullets for powder coating and in a few weeks I'll be using it to swage my own air rifle pellets. I just have to finish up my pellet Swaging Dies.

It's true that these arbor presses aren't really made for Swaging but, I can't afford a dedicated Swaging press and $40-$60 dollars for an Arbor Press is a whole lot less than the $400-$700 for a real Swaging press. I just had to make my Dies so that they fit concentrically on my Arbor Press that's all.

It's always nice when you can buy the right tools for the job but not everyone is blessed with those resources.

HollowPoint

[rmatchell]

I agree i tried doing some swaging on my rockchucker but kinda nervous about putting to much stress on it. Ill have to think about which one I want to use.

[mdi]

I have a 1 ton arbor press I got from Enco (I believe its a 1 ton). I have used it to put together about 1,000 .38 Specials with a Lee Loader. I do have other presses, but a change up is good once in a while. My arbor press has been used for other tasks one where I put my full weight on the handle (215 lbs), with a small cheater, and bounce on the handle. I would not be afraid to try swaging if I could afford good dies...

[rmatchell]

I will most likely make a simple set of dies norhing fancy im still learning. I guess the best qustion would be what kind of force do I need? I know when I make lead wire on my rockchucker it seems like it doesnt take a ton of force. More of a steady force that at least seems might be better suited for an arbor press, but I could be way off.

[bangerjim]

Both have mechanical advantages........RC is a compound lever.....AP is a rack & pinion gear.

You will just have to try the AP to see if you need a cheater bar! Just not too long or you could damage the AP.

banger

[rmatchell]

They also have the 6 ton bench top model that is hydraulic press. So ill have to look into it.

[firefly1957]

I form lead wire with a setup that has a bore of .82 inches a 10 ton press is not enough force unless i heat the unit to about 350 degrees.

[Sitzme]

I use a 20 ton HF hydraulic press to make lead wire and I doubt that anything lighter would work well. My ingots are .75" dia and about 5" long and the die is the part that moves during the process. At times it would probably be better if things were preheated but after it is flowing some heat is generated and it extrudes OK.

To be a bit more precise, the die is pushed through the ingot instead of the ingot being pushed through the die.

[rolltide]

Sitzme, could you post a picture of your setup? I have been thinking of making one, and your process seems totally different than anything I have imagined. I would be very interested to see it. I don't mean to hijack the thread on arbor presses.

Roll Tide

[Cane_man]

I have a 2 ton Enco, I really like it, I use it to draw 9mm cases down to 7mm jackets... sometimes I have to slip on a 30" section of water pipe to the handle to give me a little extra leverage, but other than that it works great

[singleshot]

Sounds like a 50 ton HF hyd press would be about right?

[singleshot]

How much force/pressure does a swage press generate? I never would have thought a 10 ton press was too small...

[RugerFanOH]

Can you use the 1 ton arbor press with a punch to work with firearm pins? (to reduce the risk of scratching if the punch slips)

How much force can one generate with a hammer?

Thanks

[Forrest r]

I have a 2 ton Enco, I really like it, I use it to draw 9mm cases down to 7mm jackets... sometimes I have to slip on a 30" section of water pipe to the handle to give me a little extra leverage, but other than that it works great

+1

I have a hf 1 ton and it takes a pipe to swage 9mm/380acp jackets down to turn them into bullet jackets. But I'm only doing 1 draw .380 to .354. I wouldn't even attempt to make lead wire with a hf 1 ton press. I bought it to make gas checks and swage 9mm/380acp cases down and that's about all it's good for.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

did you anneal them first?? lube them?

[john.k]

Theres tons of hydraulic bits and pieces going for scrap every day.Guys are always talking of building presses,when all thats needed is a bit of hydraulic stuff powered by an old car steering pump driven by a 1 or 2 hp electric motor.Ever seen the hydraulic cylinders used to extrude aluminium shapes.Hoses can be expensive,but for small applications ,use airless paintspray hoses,they can be used up to 6000psi.And you never need go over 1500-2000psi for what you want.

[tenx]

got the 20 ton hf press, lots of pumping involved so ended up getting an air/hydraulic jack, one piece of advice, my compressor went to 140 psig before it shut off, that's enough to make the 20 ton press wreck it's self. put a regulator on it or you will eventually bend everything.