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Hi Oldrob,
That is exactly what I have been recommending. Or do it yourself if you enjoy doing those things.

Not a gear puller but battery terminal puller.
Misspelled on Autozone site. They call it a pulley

OEM/Battery terminal pulley $6.99
Part Number: 25121

You need to remove the end cup, center punch the shaft and drill the end. Insert a piece of hardened drill rod. I also carefully ground the jaws so the end was flat and a little thinner. At the price they sell them for, you might want to make different ones for wheel specific applications. I have pulled Lionel, All-Nation, K-Line, and Weaver wheel sets from  powered trucks, plain and geared wheels.

Here are a few pictures of my modified arbor press.

Press was bought at Northern Supply.

Drilled out the center of the shaft the size of the tooling set and drilled and tapped the side of it and installed thumb screw to hold the tool.

Then made up a piece of stock and also drilled the hole into it.

I don't have the wheel cups so I can't say anything about pressing wheels but for any rivet jobs this set has served me will for over 8 years now!

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Last edited by Yardmaster
Nice set up. Using the KISS principle.
I can see using wheel cups if working on rare steam engines with fragile spoked wheels.
I have had good results using a drill press to align the axle and get it started.  Then I just use an aluminum standoff with an 1/8" hole under the wheel and finish the task using a flat spot on the ram.
If the axle is straight and the original hole in the wheel was bored correctly it will go in easily. If your axle is bent or the wheel is deformed or defective than not even an original Lionel setup is going to work.

Can anyone tell me the difference between the Hobby Horse HH-1004 Extension pin 2" and the HH-1062 wheel cup post? It looks like both provide more clearance to lift an engine up a bit, off the base to allow pressing wheels on, except the latter has a thumbscrew for quartering cups - is that the only difference?

Also where would the HH-1060 Small Diameter Splaying Clincher most likely be needed?

I guess I could call Hobby Horse in the morning, but I'm curious now

The HH-1004 extension pin attaches to the ram to bring it closer to the base so that wheels can be mounted.
The HH-1062 wheel cup post raises the lower cup for the same purpose.
They both have thumb screws.

The HH-1062 wheel cup post is a newer accessory.
I have both.
The results are much better with the wheel cup post.

The HH-1062 small diameter splaying clincher would be used to clinch the spring clip and bulb socket holder to a 675 boiler front.  It's used to get into tight spaces.

I have most of the customized tools that Hobby Horse made, as well as tools made by Train Tender and TTRP.
Often it's a matter of selecting a tool that fits into the space and does what you want. It doesn't really matter what the tool was originally designed to do.

C W Burfle posted:

The HH-1004 extension pin attaches to the ram to bring it closer to the base so that wheels can be mounted.
The HH-1062 wheel cup post raises the lower cup for the same purpose.
They both have thumb screws.

The HH-1062 wheel cup post is a newer accessory.
I have both.
The results are much better with the wheel cup post.

The HH-1062 small diameter splaying clincher would be used to clinch the spring clip and bulb socket holder to a 675 boiler front.  It's used to get into tight spaces.

I have most of the customized tools that Hobby Horse made, as well as tools made by Train Tender and TTRP.
Often it's a matter of selecting a tool that fits into the space and does what you want. It doesn't really matter what the tool was originally designed to do.

Thank you, CW, I can appreciate your last comment. To that end, I am asking my machinist friend to build a staking anvil that will sit under the 601-101, and 200 series ALCO motors to provide support to allow me to re-splay the top plate of the aluminum frame.

Staking Anvil Motor TruckThere will be a milled out area (bottom of tool in this view) to allow for a couple of small plastic protrusions on the underside of the motor. I have actually had good success using a very small Craftsman cold chisel to splay the remaining "tab" that protrudes thru the top plate. Since I don't grind off the tabs like others do when removing the top plate, I have metal left that I can re-splay, so to speak. And I do it lengthwise across the tab, instead of at right angles - that provides a more solid pinch on the remaining metal, and you don't have to punch down into the metal as far.

So it sounds like the point of having the HH-1004 and the HH-1062 is really to provide better clearance of body parts, .

I really wish the sellers would provide better photographs and/or descriptions of these tools - if you're going to spend some money, it's nice to know what you're getting.

So which of the tools have a 1/2" post?

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So it sounds like the point of having the HH-1004 and the HH-1062 is really to provide better clearance of body parts, .

Not really. They close down the throat. Without them, the cups would be too far apart.

I am asking my machinist friend to build a staking anvil that will sit under the 601-101, and 200 series ALCO motors to provide support to allow me to re-splay the top plate of the aluminum frame.

I use a rectangular block of steel that fits between the wheels. Works fine on postwar motors.




 

C W Burfle posted:

So it sounds like the point of having the HH-1004 and the HH-1062 is really to provide better clearance of body parts, .

Not really. They close down the throat. Without them, the cups would be too far apart.

My arbor press' ram goes all the way down flush with the base, so closing down the throat would never be an issue. But pressing a steamer wheel back on while the engine is still mounted in the body might require some extra clearance that the extensions would provide. Haven't done that yet, just surmising......

I am asking my machinist friend to build a staking anvil that will sit under the 601-101, and 200 series ALCO motors to provide support to allow me to re-splay the top plate of the aluminum frame.

I use a rectangular block of steel that fits between the wheels. Works fine on postwar motors.

Agreed on postwar - on my MPC truck, the little plastic protrusions I am dodging by milling out the block are pockets for the hinging of the collector arms.

Thanks! Good to hear from someone who has actually used his press - I'm getting there!!!

 

 

C W Burfle posted:

You may find it helpful to look over the sites of the guys that make presses that are set up for toy train repair.

Here is the Hobby Horse site

Here is the first TTRP page from the Henning's site.

And Here is Train tender's page on tools.

 

In order to find the old threads, I did a search on "arbor press" (without the quotes)

CW, I tried the link above for Hennings, doesn't work any more. I went to www.henningstrains.com and searched their site and can't find any reference to an arbor press or the tools. Do you know if they still carry any tools?

My arbor press' ram goes all the way down flush with the base, so closing down the throat would never be an issue. But pressing a steamer wheel back on while the engine is still mounted in the body might require some extra clearance that the extensions would provide. Haven't done that yet, just surmising......

The parts you asked about were specifically designed and made for the Hobby Horse press. How you might adapt them to another press is up to you.

It is true that you will have clearance problems with some items if you try to use a standard wheel cup sitting directly on a flat plate. Some items are Turbines, Berkshires, and Gang cars. There are probably others.

By the way, I don't think I followed your comments on disassembling the motor trucks.
I reduce the size of the tabs in order to get them out of the slots by cutting back the edges that protrude past due to the staking. That leaves plenty of material to re-stake them on re-assembly.
Even though I own a press and lots of press tools, I use a 1/4 inch chisel and a hammer to restake the tabs.

I cannot imagine being able to split the tabs lengthwise with the chisel.

C W Burfle posted:

My arbor press' ram goes all the way down flush with the base, so closing down the throat would never be an issue. But pressing a steamer wheel back on while the engine is still mounted in the body might require some extra clearance that the extensions would provide. Haven't done that yet, just surmising......

The parts you asked about were specifically designed and made for the Hobby Horse press. How you might adapt them to another press is up to you.

It is true that you will have clearance problems with some items if you try to use a standard wheel cup sitting directly on a flat plate. Some items are Turbines, Berkshires, and Gang cars. There are probably others.

By the way, I don't think I followed your comments on disassembling the motor trucks.
I reduce the size of the tabs in order to get them out of the slots by cutting back the edges that protrude past due to the staking. That leaves plenty of material to re-stake them on re-assembly.

That is EXACTLY the technique I use.

Even though I own a press and lots of press tools, I use a 1/4 inch chisel and a hammer to restake the tabs.

That is also EXACTLY the technique I have used, but I want to at least try the arbor press to see if it works better/smoother/easier...

I cannot imagine being able to split the tabs lengthwise with the chisel.

You have to be very careful, and hold your jaw at a 45 degree angle to the base plate .... Seriously, I don't actually split the tab per se, but it does squish both sides out just enough to form a very tight bond - I tried to pull it apart with my hands and couldn't do it.

 

That is also EXACTLY the technique I have used, but I want to at least try the arbor press to see if it works better/smoother/easier...

There are lots of times that I use a press tool outside of the press, striking the tool with a soft faced hammer. I have leather, rubber and brass hammers for exactly this purpose. It is important not to strike a tool with a regular hammer. Some say the tool can splinter. I don't know about that, but the tool can be distorted. Any distortion or burrs on the tool can cause it to get good and stuck in the ram.

I have a shelf full of different shaped blocks of metal that I use as anvils or as forming tools for shaping sheet metal. I also have a block that holds the press anvils, and allows me to use them outside the press.

C W Burfle posted:

By the way, if you are planning on using standard wheel cups, you should be aware that the shanks on lower wheel cups are 5/8 inch.
Old thread on press hole sizes

Yeah, I saw that - but THANKS! I actually bought the wheel cups before I had the arbor press, so I had those two tools as guides.

I'm trying to decide whether to use the rotary base that comes with the Harbor Freight press, or build a flat 4" x 5" x 3/4" block of metal with the appropriate holes. I'm thinking the block of metal would be more flexible for positioning. The rotary base that came with the press is typical HF quality, it's ALMOST perfectly flat, just one spot where there is the tiniest bit of rocking. I will have my machinist friend mill that flat. It appears to be perfectly perpendicular to the ram, so that's good news.

Who knew?  I always thought that Lionel hobbyists just ran the darn things, and only we 2-railers were in to pressing drive wheels, quartering, and keeping wheelsets from wobbling.  I actually machine my own drivers from cast iron, my axles from drill rod, and my frames on an end mill, and you guys are so far ahead of me that it is embarrassing.  I do need to get one of those HF arbor presses for $29.95.  I have four of their $50 cast iron drill presses.

For the hobbyist above who uses drill bits as reams - real reams are no longer prohibitively expensive.  I think you can get adjustable reams for around ten bucks each in small sizes.

I'm trying to decide whether to use the rotary base that comes with the Harbor Freight press, or build a flat 4" x 5" x 3/4" block of metal with the appropriate holes. I'm thinking the block of metal would be more flexible for positioning.

Every press that I have seen has the anvil holder in a fixed location. They cannot be moved around.
Alignment is very important.

I have seen presses that still had the table on the bottom, but they were locked in place.

Last edited by C W Burfle

For the hobbyist above who uses drill bits as reams - real reams are no longer prohibitively expensive.  I think you can get adjustable reams for around ten bucks each in small sizes.

Can you specify a source?

Who knew?  I always thought that Lionel hobbyists just ran the darn things, and only we 2-railers were in to pressing drive wheels, quartering, and keeping wheelsets from wobbling.  I actually machine my own drivers from cast iron, my axles from drill rod, and my frames on an end mill, and you guys are so far ahead of me that it is embarrassing.  I do need to get one of those HF arbor presses for $29.95.  I have four of their $50 cast iron drill presses.

I wish I had room for some machines. I don't.
Years ago I was given a really nice, commercial floor standing drill press. I couldn't fit it in, so it's on loan to one of my buddies. He's had it for years and years.

I have an inexpensive table top model drill press. It does what I need.
I also have a Minicraft high speed rotary tool mounted in a fairly precise drill press accessory.
Minicraft made some nice stuff. I picked up a bunch of it at a Black and Decker outlet store. I don't think it is made any longer.

Last edited by C W Burfle

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