Spring Compressor for Metal Munchers

[normal]

I can't top the various clever and nicely done designs in mostly wood that members have posted here.  I used them as inspiration.  This one is mostly different with one feature I think especially useful:  the ball bearing pusher head.  The main structural tube is 3/4" black pipe, the sliders are 1" black pipe bored out to slide on the smaller stuff.  Welding nuts on is a slick way to get threaded things. I faced off the ends of the hardened clamp screws to keep them from messing up the main tube and making the sliders hard to move.  The main screw is 3/4-10 all thread.  The pusher end is turned down to a slip fit inside the ball bearings, 5/8" though other sizes would be fine.  The bearing separator is aluminum tube.  The outer tube on the pusher is 1 1/4" conduit that happens to be a loose slip fit on the OD of the bearings and is a light press fit on the aluminum pusher face piece.  The pusher head is just slipped into place.  The black stuff on the threads is a little of my CRC super grease.  I used soft hemlock 2x4 for the gun clamps to prevent marring bluing.  This arrangement gives extra nice control for aligning pin holes and is very stable.

[kiwi]

Nice unit..well made

[shadow]

That look's like it will work GREAT! and safe too. Not all our spring compressors or pretty like mine hehe but overkill in strength for safety sake comes first. Ed

[Bogey]

Not only does it appear solid....it has a clean design look to it.    Nice going.  Did you cut and weld it up yourself?   How does that bearing pusher work compared to a pusher without a bearing. ?

[normal]

Did you cut and weld it up yourself? How does that bearing pusher work compared to a pusher without a bearing. ?......Bogey asks...

All the metal work is mine.  My shop is pretty complete for that:  lathe, mill, monster radial drill, welding and sheet metal stuff, a sort of tool disneyland as I see it.

The ball bearing pusher was/is the main deal I wanted, far more important than the frame material.  It can't tip sideways like a clamp nose.  It turns super easy around a precise center point so doesn't wiggle as the main screw is turned.  The wide face needn't be all that carefully located relative to the parts I'm pushing on and works easily with adapters for different guns like the simple MDF block with the hole for the RWS style triggers.  It gives super easy control for lining up pin holes.  The two bearing arrangement is critical to its functioning and tolerance of imprecise alignment:  the front bearing carries the load while the back bearing prevents tipping.  The main screw must be well supported so it doesn't wiggle much for the nose to do its thing.

[gamo2hammerli]

Good job.  Well, yours look alot better than mine....and more sturdy too.

[atchman2]

I'd be ashamed to post mine up compared to that fantastic looking one!  

(The problem with all of them is what happens when you've done all of your guns......YOU HAVE TO BUY MORE!)