I found this old Dake Model X arbor press online.
I hoped to use it as a pistol sight pusher in addition to the press/stamp/rivet operations it was actually designed for.
Some quick research revealed that these Dake presses last forever and are easy to refurbish, so I took the plunge.
A confession before we go any further: there are already so many excellent press restoration projects by so many talented people online that I almost didn’t write this one up.
However, since I’m NOT a skilled artisan with a machine shop full of tools at my disposal, I figured if I could complete this project using only hand tools and my own ten thumbs, that might be interesting in its own way.
Onward and upward.
The press arrived promptly and was in good mechanical condition, so for the most part disassembly was easy.
The only problem I had was getting the punch out of the bottom of the ram: the hole in the latter was 3/8″ (.375″) but the punch had been machined to .377″ and then press fit in.
I soaked it overnight in WD-40 and tapped it with a hammer to break it loose, but no dice.
I eventually put the ram in a vise, grabbed the punch in a large pair of Vise Grips, and hammered on the Vise Grips until the ram came out. Zero points for subtlety, but it worked.
(note: some of these are Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you click the link and buy the associated product, Amazon may pay me a fee. Your cost is unaffected)
The cap on the front that holds the ram into the press frame is shimmed. The idea is that as the press wears and loosens with use, you can remove some of the shims to preserve a tight fit.
The original shims–one .015″ and one .008″ per side–broke apart when I removed the ram cap.
I cut four replacements per side out of .002″ stainless shim stock: I guessed that would account for any slack caused by wear, and if they didn’t leave enough space I could add more shims as needed (or just cheat and back the the ram cap bolts out a little).
Having now taken the press completely apart, I tossed everything to soak in a plastic bin full of Evapo-Rust for a few hours, followed by a pass through my sonic cleaner for all the parts that would fit into the basket.
After sonic cleaning I put the steel nuts and bolts aside to soak in WD-40, but the aluminum ones definitely looked their age. I could’ve replaced them with new hardware but decided to break out the Dremel and the brass brushes instead.
The aluminum polished up quickly. I noticed that the bolts took on a brass tint from the brushes at first, but that wiped off easily.
Not to insult anyone’s intelligence, but eye protection is non-negotiable here: wire brushes kick up shards of wire and debris–especially when they’re spinning at a gozillion RPM.
I then attacked the frame and main press parts with wire brushes and sandpaper, trying to get clean, paintable surfaces–bare metal where appropriate.
Perversely enough, having just polished a bunch of aluminum bolts to a high sheen, I decided to avoid the “chrome look” for the working steel parts of the press.
One of the tool restoration projects I looked at online mentioned using cold gun blue for a darker finish. Genius–and that would require MUCH less polishing!
I had a bottle of this on the shelf so, after much sanding and wirebrushing, I applied several coats.
Then I wiped down the main press and masked it prior to painting. My concern here was to protect the blued steel surfaces from overspray.
I applied three coats of self-etching primer, then wet-sanded the flaws thus revealed. I didn’t worry about casting marks, pits, etc., but did clean off adhesive residue from old stickers and other stuff I’d missed. One last coat of primer and I was ready to paint.
I’d hoped for a gray, hammered metal finish but the paint I bought turned out to be more of a uniform silver than the color indicated on the cap–user error, no doubt.
I was going to try again with another brand, but after a while this started to grow on me so I left it alone.
I then reassembled the press.
I had a hard time getting the press handle retaining ring back on. Lacking the proper tools, I’d removed it by prying it off with a screwdriver.
However, no combination of screwdriver, pliers, or harsh language worked to get that steel ring back into place.
At some point I had an epiphany and found a deep socket that barely fit over the handle. I then centered the recalcitrant ring over the end of the handle and placed the socket over both.
I hit the socket with a hammer, driving the retaining ring down into place.
I had to sand and polish the resulting scratches out of the handle and apply another coat or two of cold gun blue, but was happy to have solved the problem.
After I finished putting the press together I noticed some play in the rotor assembly. The following day I stopped by Harbor Freight and bought an assortment of snap rings AND the pliers to install them without all the hellfire drama this time.
I finished by picking out the cast letters on the press with a paint pen. My original plan was to use white paint but decided that wouldn’t look right with the silver finish and gun blue parts.
I decided the original placard was too scratched up to use.
I sent an email to Jaime at Dake Corporation Customer Service, who promptly had a replacement label (part #607) shipped out to me. I affixed it to the ram cap with due ceremony (using the original self-tapping screws) and declared the project complete.
