Arbor Press

    So just what is an arbor press and what is it good for?  A year ago I had never even heard of this device, but I am glad that I now own one.   I picked this up in a trade with a friend who is a sheet metal worker. I wouldn't have realized its value, but for the advice of my friend and former employee, Quentin. We have used it at the Beez Neez Apiary Supply primarily for modifying and repairing honey extractors. We use it to press gears on to or off of the crank shaft.

Arbor Press

     The arbor press has a steering wheel handle no the left side. This provides smaller increases in pressure. It has a second handle on the right side which provides a great deal of leverage. There is a bar which inserts into the lever handle. Both handles cause the heavy metal bar to move, putting an incredible amount of pressure on whatever item you chose to put the squeeze on. I used this device the other day to remove a serious dimple from my favorite aluminum baking sheet.  I use this baking sheet for so many different tasks. I use it for everything from roasting hazel nuts to baking biscuits. It had been in the back of our car and someone had accidentally closed the back hatch onto the baking sheet. It left a very large unsightly dimple. It was still useable, but the dimple really bugged me.

Before photo of my favorite aluminum baking sheet

    I could have simply taken a hammer to the dimple, but I'm not sure it would have been much of an improvement. I've not had good luck making things truly flat by beating on them with a hammer. They usually end up a bit lumpy and uneven. Then it occurred to me that I had the perfect tool to repair my baking sheet. I took it down the the bee store and put it into the arbor press.  An incredible amount of pressure, evenly applied, resulted in a nice flat surface where the dimple used to be. The spot is still visible as a discolored area. However, its now very flat and even such that I don't have to work around it any more. There is nothing quite like having the perfect tool for a particular job.

After photo of the same baking sheet