Broken crank shaft
Does anyone know if the crank shaft on a C&P old style is iron or steel?
I begrudgingly sold my press a few years back after closing my business. The new owner’s husband didn’t want to pay the extra $40 for the late return on a trailer rental, so he decided to move the press before I could come over and help unload. He toppled it off of the trailer, nearly crushing his dad in the process. The flywheel wasn’t so lucky as his dad was. They finally got tired of having a broken press in their garage, so I snatched it back up recently.
Fortunately the drive shaft broke about halfway between the flywheel and the body of the press, so I feel like I should be able to fix it. I plan to bore out 4” on both sides of the break, pin it, weld/braze it, and then add a collar around the break to further strengthen it. I’d love to hear any other suggestions.
Thanks!
The crankshaft with a throw in them (for a treadle) apparently are a spun cast steel. I know somebody who repaired their shaft, broken in the same place, the same way with success. Instead of a pin, I think he used a threaded rod (would probably need to be a left hand thread to prevent amd chance of unthreading). Alternately, if the press is motorized and you have no throw in the shaft, a piece of straight steel rod can be used instead.
A good weld shop would be able to fix this with a high-nickel rod.