gizmothegecko Posted December 29, 2024 Posted December 29, 2024 Hi everyone, hope you all had a great holiday season. I recently purchased the "VEVOR Arbor Press, 3 Ton Manual Arbor Press, 12.2-inch Maximum Height." It seems to work well overall, but I'm having an issue with the amount of force I can output. At the lever’s maximum efficiency, I’m only able to generate about 1,500 lbs of force—far short of the 6,000 lbs it’s rated for. I’m not particularly strong or heavy (around 130 lbs), so that might be a factor, but I feel like I should still be able to get closer to 3,000 lbs. Does anyone know how I can increase the force output, or would it be better to return it and invest in something else? I was thinking about keeping it for 4 oz rockets and switching to a bottle jack setup for heavier tasks, but I’d love to hear your guys thoughts. Side note: What’s the optimal increment size for pressing a 4 oz rocket? I’m currently using 1/8 tbsp increments, but it takes me quite a few—dozens, in fact—to finish one. Any advice would be appreciated!
FrankRizzo Posted December 29, 2024 Posted December 29, 2024 (edited) Arbor presses are typically around 10:1 with mechanical advantage using the included lever, so your 1500lb of force from applying around your body-weight worth of input is pretty close. What you need is a longer ("cheater") bar. Applying that same force over a larger lever will give you more output. Snag a piece of black steel pipe from the hardware store that fits nicely over your existing handle. Regarding increments, somewhere around 1/2tsp should be good for a 1/2" bore motor. Edited December 29, 2024 by FrankRizzo
cmjlab Posted December 30, 2024 Posted December 30, 2024 I have the same blue vevor 3t Arbor press. I did exactly as described above (with pipe I had on hand). I added a 3.5 foot pipe over the existing handle with a drilled and tapped set screw to keep it in place and can achieve the 3t (+ some) easily while sitting down. I use it for everything 1# rockets and under, and small (3x3 star plates). I've routinely checked the teeth on the ram to ensure there's no signs of wear or damage from using additional leverage, and so far so good. Its been about a year now.
gizmothegecko Posted January 1 Author Posted January 1 Thank you for the help. So any 42 inch steel pipe will do the job? I'm afraid of it bending you know.
DavidF Posted January 1 Posted January 1 It seems odd to me that a piece of equipment is incapable of even coming close to its stated performance. I wonder how heavy a man hanging on the arm would have to be to get a P to F gauge to say 5000 lbs. Any guesses? I can get 2000 pounds of force on my 1 ton arbor press (with a torque wrench). I was looking at the Vevor.
cmjlab Posted January 1 Posted January 1 (edited) On 12/31/2024 at 9:51 PM, gizmothegecko said: Thank you for the help. So any 42 inch steel pipe will do the job? I'm afraid of it bending you know. (*edit*) You have to use a piece of thicker steel pipe. Something like galvanized conduit pipe won't be strong enough. However, here in the U.S. you can buy steel gas pipe at most building supply stores - that will work great and won't bend unless you press way too hard.....but then you'd also be way past the rated 6k lbs (3 tons), and likely damage the teeth on the ram. (*end edit*) Honestly I didn't use any math, or calculated approach. The piece of pipe I had was already ~42 in. so I tried it. Since it worked, I didn't try any different lengths. Really, the longer the handle is, the easier you will be able to press to a higher force. You could use a 6ft. bar and prob only need 50lbs of weight to get your 6000 lbs of force (as long as the extension is durable enough not to bend. I'm sure there is some math that could tell you the most efficient length to use, I just don't know it. Oh it's also important to bolt it down securely. The more instability while pressing, the less energy being put into actually pressing. In addition to bolting it down, I lag screwed a piece of 2x6 lumber to wall studs, at a height that also clamps the back of the press down, and ensures it doesnt lift at all when pressing. Just using bolts just wasn't solid enough for my liking. Edited January 2 by cmjlab
cmjlab Posted January 1 Posted January 1 17 hours ago, DavidF said: It seems odd to me that a piece of equipment is incapable of even coming close to its stated performance. I wonder how heavy a man hanging on the arm would have to be to get a P to F gauge to say 5000 lbs. Any guesses? I can get 2000 pounds of force on my 1 ton arbor press (with a torque wrench). I was looking at the Vevor. For me, the extension is so I can achieve the required force much easier, and so I can be lazy and sit on my ass. 🙂 Using the short handle that comes with the press, I can get 5300-5400 lbs on a PtoF guage by sitting on the included arm - I weigh 220. If I bounce up and down a bit on the stock arm, I can get up to ~6100 lbs. It also seems to have surprisingly durable teeth on the ram, since with an extension I can achieve more than 3 tons without any visible stress or damage (maybe there is stress i cant see that will lead to shortened lifespan). I've never tried to find the max I could achieve. IMO, I think the short handle is probably a way to cut down on cost by the Chinese manafacturer (the handle, ram, and couple of internals are the only steel components, the rest is cheaper cast iron). The press is clearly not top of the line, but can press most of my needs. If I could afford a better American made press, I would probably go for a decent manual hydraulic ram press, or Caleb's hydraulic press.
robbo Posted January 1 Posted January 1 When I bought my arbor press, I looked for one that had easily available replacement pinion and rack gears. Somebody told me that the pinion gear was most likely to fail on cheap imported presses. Then I bought a cheater bar (black gas pipe) and determined that I could get over 6000 lbs on a 1 ton press - but the original pinion gear stripped after a few cycles. So now I routinely press 4500 lbs on a 1 ton arbor press with the replacement pinion. I like the small footprint and the press is easy to move.
cmjlab Posted January 2 Posted January 2 3 hours ago, robbo said: When I bought my arbor press, I looked for one that had easily available replacement pinion and rack gears. Somebody told me that the pinion gear was most likely to fail on cheap imported presses. Then I bought a cheater bar (black gas pipe) and determined that I could get over 6000 lbs on a 1 ton press - but the original pinion gear stripped after a few cycles. So now I routinely press 4500 lbs on a 1 ton arbor press with the replacement pinion. I like the small footprint and the press is easy to move. That's good to know. I don't have to worry too much if I go over by an extra 1k or so.
DavidF Posted January 2 Posted January 2 I appreciate all the great info too. Still, I just wonder how a 3 ton press can only generate less than 1 ton of force. How was the 1500 pounds figure arrived at, just curious? A 1 ton arbor press (modified) will easily press 4 oz. rocket motors. Did you get the 3 ton just to get 'out of the box' results?
FrankRizzo Posted January 2 Posted January 2 18 hours ago, robbo said: When I bought my arbor press, I looked for one that had easily available replacement pinion and rack gears. Somebody told me that the pinion gear was most likely to fail on cheap imported presses. Then I bought a cheater bar (black gas pipe) and determined that I could get over 6000 lbs on a 1 ton press - but the original pinion gear stripped after a few cycles. So now I routinely press 4500 lbs on a 1 ton arbor press with the replacement pinion. I like the small footprint and the press is easy to move. Robbo - Would you mind sharing where you sourced the replacement pinion? That would seem like a great upgrade.
robbo Posted January 3 Posted January 3 I looked through all the big tool suppliers, starting with cheap importers. None of the bargain-basement presses had spare parts. I worked my way up the tool chain and eventually settled on a one ton press from Dayton, on sale at maybe around $100, that was Chinese in origin but had spare parts listed. Extra pinion was maybe $30. Spare parts availability made it worth the price. And it came with a wheel, which is handy. Machining the end of the pinion to fit a 1.25" socket so I could use a Harbor Freight 1/2" ratchet wrench on the new pinion was the hardest part. Why a 1.25" socket? Because that involved the least amount of work removing metal on the pinion end. Once I tested the first gear to destruction, I realized I really wanted a ratcheting lever/handle. Previously, I had been given three free 1 ton arbor presses, all of Chinese origin. None of the pinions were interchangeable.
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