In the 1960s, when most engineering firms had apprentices, I always asked my apprentice to make (and design if needed) items which would be of practical use in his later life as he moved from one department to another within the works. This little lever press was such a job. It was made to press small bearings in parts during a research project. We had a mandrel press but this was coarse and insensitive in action. I drew up a simple design for a fabrication from stock steel and which guaranteed that the table was square to the ram. The apprentice's detail parts drawings were fine and soon all the parts were ready for welding, fitting, testing and painting. It was a fine tool and used a lot. When the works closed, the equipment was scrapped, including a new Myford. I salvaged our press as its maker had long since moved on. I lost all the various punches, collars and bending tooling accumulated over the years since we made the press. They were at the bottom of the scrap skip.
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