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My 1893 book press snapped a thread rod mid-press and I almost cried
Was pressing a rebind of a 1893 dictionary last Tuesday and the top thread rod on my old cast iron press just gave out with a loud crack. Turns out the rod had been rusting from the inside for who knows how long and I never checked it. Ordered a replacement from a machinist in Portland for $38 and got it fitted the next morning, and the book survived the whole thing. Has anyone else had a press fail mid-project and did you replace the part or just find a new press?
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spencerm467d ago
Why would you just replace the rod and keep pressing on a 130 year old cast iron frame? That crack means the whole press is telling you something. Rust inside a rod doesn't happen alone, it means water got in and sat there, so what else is soft? The threads in the nuts, the pivot points, the frame itself. I had a vise do the same thing and I slapped a new handle on it, then three weeks later the jaw sheared off and shot across my shop. You got LUCKY with the dictionary. $38 is cheap but that press owes you a full teardown now, not just a new part.
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