question about making a headset press

Personally, I don't see any reason to remove the headtube cup/cone until they wear out. But aluminum
should be fine and, as you say, it would be less likely to damage toe race faces.

You might even consider a piece of leather, like a gasket, over the spots that will contact these
surfaces. Just a suggestion.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

[email hidden] (ant) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

<snip>

Here is a pic of my homemade headset press:

web.tampabay.rr.comheadset press.jpgOpen ↗

As you can see... its pretty high-tech 😉 All you need is a 1/2" - 3/4" threaded bar, washers, and
nuts that fit it. You can pick up all of this stuff at the local hardware store for less than $10.

Hope this helps.

- Boyd S.

(ant) said:

as far as i can tell, theirs is made of steel. i was planning on making it out of aluminum, so it
woudl be less damaging on the bearing surfaces. i imagine a shop tool would possibly be better out
of steel because it will be used all the time, but mine will only see use once or twice a year.
anyone see any problem with aluminum?

Aluminum or brass would be fine. An aluminum stepped ring should ideally have a bronze washer or
something like that to serve as a bearing surface for the nut that drives it, although simply
greasing this interface might be enough for the purposes.

Quoted message said:

second, the shop mentioned that often they dont use those stepped bits, but often just press in
with the flat plate at each end. comments?

The important thing is that the shaft remain centered in the head tube, lest the cups press in
askew. The stepped rings are an easy and reliable means to assure that everything stays centered;
they are worth the trouble for a less-experienced mechanic or an unusually tight press fit.

Chalo Colina

Boyd Speerschneider said:

[email hidden] (ant) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

<snip>

Here is a pic of my homemade headset press:

web.tampabay.rr.comheadset press.jpgOpen ↗

As you can see... its pretty high-tech 😉 All you need is a 1/2" - 3/4" threaded bar, washers, and
nuts that fit it. You can pick up all of this stuff at the local hardware store for less than $10.

Visit the local junkyard and pick up a carjack for the square threaded shaft and
thrustbearing /Marten

[email hidden] (Bluto) wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Aluminum or brass would be fine. An aluminum stepped ring should ideally have a bronze washer or
something like that to serve as a bearing surface for the nut that drives it, although simply
greasing this interface might be enough for the purposes.

i had planned to make this washer that you mention out of steel, but brass would save me time and
look prettier. would steel be advantageous? i thoguht that the turning nut would tear the brass up.
coudl be in my head

thanks for the advice, everybody. i appreciate the posts about simple presses, and the off-list
responses, but plan on making the stepped rings as they wont take but a few minutes. no longer than
goign to the hardware store, anyway, and i have the rod and nuts already.

anthony

[email hidden] (ant) wrote in message

Quoted message said:

thanks for the advice, everybody. i appreciate the posts about simple presses, and the off-list
responses, but plan on making the stepped rings as they wont take but a few minutes. no longer
than goign to the hardware store, anyway, and i have the rod and nuts already.

For folks who might have been following this short thread, or pondering making their own headset
press: here is my own version:

pantheon.yale.eduheadsetpress.jpgOpen ↗

the stepped rings are aluminum clones of the park tool, to .001 tolerance. the only changes i made
was to add a smaller step that fits inside my 1" headset cups. (the park tool i measured didnt have
this). i like the aluminum rings because they are softer than the park's steel, and i figure less
likely to mar the cups. i figure park's are made of steel to withstand constant shop use. my own
tool wont be used too frequently.

outside the stepped rings are brass discs to function as either a bearing surface against the nut,
or as plates to press in headset cups which don't work with the stepped rings.

then, there is a steel washer, all on 5/8" threaded rod.

at the bottom, there is a handle on a nut, which is locked in place with another nut with a
smaller handle. so no wrench needed to lock it in place. all handles are covered in plasti-dip
(great stuff!)

the top has a nut with handles to provide the pressure.

im pretty happy with it. if you have metal shop access, the whole project takes an hour and a half,
and 15 dollars of materials. fairly good return, i think.

cheers, anthony

(many thanks to chalo colina for his advice on and off list, both for this thread and many past ones
which dealt with machining processes)

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]

(ant) said:

For folks who might have been following this short thread, or pondering making their own headset
press: here is my own version:

pantheon.yale.eduheadsetpress.jpgOpen ↗

the stepped rings are aluminum clones of the park tool, to .001 tolerance. the only changes i made
was to add a smaller step that fits

gosh, that's pertty. wish i had one of those. and the machinery (and the skills) to make one. or the
money to buy one of park's. parks's. parks'. whatever.

i'll probably go to hell for admitting this, but i've always used two chunks of wood, a bolt and a
couple of nuts to install the cups. and a length of pipe whose end is covered with electrical tape
to install the fixed race. ya, i'm probably risking major damage to those fragile headsets they're
making nowadays. but so far (knock on duraluminum) it seems to be working just fine. thing is, i've
installed maybe 5 headsets total since i was born, so paying the $$$ for a tool?

hg