I’ve had it in mind to make a bolster plate for an old Famco #3 arbor press, so I’d been keeping my eyes open for some appropriate steel stock. I was therefore pleased when I found some 9″ x 3/4″ thick cut-outs in the surplus bin at one of the local steel suppliers. Of course the stock sat around for a while, but recently I set out to make the bolster plate. My initial thought was to weld the two disks together, but bolting them seemed to me a better solution. With the disks securely bolted together, I rough-sawed the slots, then cleaned them up in the mill. The edge and top didn’t really need to be done, but why not? Besides, it gave me an opportunity to use the little face mill I’d made the arbor for (though the resulting surface finish did leave a bit to be desired). Regardless, the old arbor press is now as good as new!
