The $5.00 Fret Press

[Lost_N_Austin]

I bought the Stewmac Fret installer tool and the brass cauls off of Craigslist along with a bunch of other cool Stewmac tools.

but I didn't have an Arbor press

So I improvised with a $5.00 used Black and Decker drill stand I found at a flea market. It started out like this.


(not the one I bought but close)

and came out like this after refurbishing






Pretty cool for $5.00 and a little fabrication to hold the Caul fixture.
Lost_N_Austin

[Jack Wells]

Good job !!

[telemaster1953]

great score

[Bolide]

This thread put a smile on my face.

[adirondak5]

Cool

[Shepherd]

When your finished with the necks you can use it to install the tops on your homemade brew

[flatfive]

Very neat! And I like the way you refurbished the tool.

But from the title I thought you were going to tell me how *I*
could make a fret press for $5.

Super that you found that StewMac installer and cauls on
Craig's List.

[Sharp5]

Nice Work!

[fezz parka]

I feel like a caveman. I just use a hammer.

[acalan]

well done

[R. Stratenstein]

Outstanding.

Have been thinking about this for a while, even mentally designing some plywood-lever mechanisms to make one--this is much better.

Your post reminded me I have a similar--not nearly as heavy duty as yours, but a cheapo portable hand drill drill stand I might be able to modify similarly.

On a similar note, is it just me, or didn't small arbor presses used to cost only about $15 or $20 new until recently? I was kinda shocked last time I looked at one at Harbor Freight--the things have gotten much pricier than I remember.

[celeste]

Originally Posted by R. Stratenstein

Outstanding.


On a similar note, is it just me, or didn't small arbor presses used to cost only about $15 or $20 new until recently? I was kinda shocked last time I looked at one at Harbor Freight--the things have gotten much pricier than I remember.

I can tell you that the cost of iron has sky rocketed. The scrap men that come by the shop are paying $1.50 each for old brake rotors, so they must be getting at least $2.00 from the scrap yard. Glad I bought my press years ago

[mb571]

Good job on the press. I just kicked myself again. At my wife's nagging about me being a packrat, I cleared out the garage. I left one of those drill press stands at the end of the driveway with a free sign on it and a bunch of other stuff. It is not the only thing I've wanted back. The moral of this story - go with your first instincts - I may have a use for this someday!