removing flywheel and axle/shaft to fit press through doorway
Hi, I just moved a C&P 8x12 yesterday and it’s sitting in my driveway. I want to move it into a shop across the street from my house but it is too big to fit through the doorway. I’m thinking I will have to remove the flywheel and the axle/shaft that this sits on, and I have read a little about how to do this but I was wondering if someone could give some more detailed instructions as I’m still a bit confused by the things I’ve read, what tools I should use, etc. I want to be sure of what I’m doing before hitting anything with a hammer or etc. I’m attaching pictures with the two wedges(?) circled in red that were my first guess as to what would be the parts I would have to remove first, but I’m still unsure of the best way to do this.
Thanks, Julian
press1.jpg
press2.jpg
Julian:
First measure the doorway carefully and keep in mind that the press is narrower from the side, with the press closed, than from the front. If the wooden feed tables have been removed you can often use the little bit of extra indentation between the table supports to jockey the press through a doorway without further disassembly. The best motion through a doorway isn’t necessarily a straight line.
But if you simply must remove the flywheel, do it by removing the small pinion gear (under the large bull gear on the right side of the press as you face it). This is highlighted in the top photo. The rest of the flywheel assembly is easily removed as a unit by unscrewing the three screws of a plate covering a oval hole on the left side of the press. The crank of the flywheel shaft fits through this nicely with a bit of rotation. It’s highly unlikely that you would have to remove the flywheel from the shaft.
The pinion gear key can be a bit stubborn at times to remove. Things I’ve tried successfully include a slide hammer on the lip of the key (providing it is still there), a wedge to drive the key out (again using the lip of the key), a large diameter pipe to drive the pinion gear inward to loosen the key, and soaking the key and shaft with penetration oil (such as Kroil, WD40 is useless here). Others have resorted to applied heat/cold on the pinion/shaft and a large gear puller.
Thanks a lot for the detailed info, I’ll be taking more measurements and trying that today if there’s no way I can fit it through…
Hello,
Usualy….The key by the small gear (pinion gear) is a Gib Key, it has has slight taper. This holds the gear in place on the shaft. The key must be removed first! Then the gear should slip off of the shaft, easly-by hand.
I tap a chisel between the key and the gear to extract the key. If you use a puller on the gear while the key is in place, you will make the gear tighter on the shaft.
Good luck,
Jim
I heated the keyway with a propane torch, and the key then came out very easily. As someone else said, there is no reason to remove the flywheel from the shaft. The flywheel and shaft will come out in one piece. Even though the closed press is smaller sideways, removing the flywheel and shaft removes a lot of weight and it made my move a lot easier.
Started a new job so I haven’t tried this yet, but I’ll be figuring it out one way or another on my day off tomorrow! Thanks everyone for the help. If anyone near Guelph, Ontario wants to come take a look at my press in the next few weeks you are more than welcome to!
The propane torch plus some serious pulling got it out, and now the press is sitting in my shop! Thanks again everyone.