I am going to be a new owner of a No. 3. that doesn’t have a lock up bar. I am considering having a metal worker create stationary “foot lock up bar” (I think that is what the manual is calling it). I have seen the post linked below about the fixed dead bar for presses such as the No 4. The No. 3s I have worked on did not have this type of stationary bar and there is not an image of the bar in the manual so I question if I am imagining this piece and the foot look up bar is actually referring to a positive lock up bar.
If I am not imagining this piece, does anyone have the foot lock up bar on this press? If so, what are the dimensions? Is it similar in function and shape to the one on the No. 4? There are lock up pins at the end of the bed plate on the No. 3. Does a fixed bar insert into the semi circle indents and against the lock up pins? Or, would a steel bar simply set against the pins? Or, are the lock up pins only for the bead plate and a dead bar would be shy of the pins? Does cold rolled or hot rolled steel make a differnece for this piece?
If I am imagining this piece, does it make sense to make it?
Thanks for any information or advice you can offer.
Positive-lock-bar-vs-fixed-dead-bar
Thanks, Paul. That is a straightforward solution and I will give NA Graphics a call on Monday.
The lockup pins (LB-64) are available from NA Graphics.
Make the bar and 1/16″ narrower than the bed .
Thanks for your response, Eric. My friend is going to choose the pin or the hole based on which fabrication is easier. We are making it 1 inch wide with 5/8 inch thickness. I assume the placement of the bar in relation to the pins/indents isn’t a critical. Is there anything we should consider here?
Many thanks! Leslie
You don’t need to use both indents and pins. If the press has holes for pins, that is a much easier bar to fabricate.
If there are just indents, you don’t need to duplicate the original exactly from drawings. The original bar has a lock-screw specifically for a Vandercook Plate Base, and you’d do better to fabricate a thicker bar of furniture height.