Easy Build Heat Set Insert Press

If you've ever used a drill press you'll know that its an easy way to drill a accurate perpendicular hole.

So when I saw other makers building presses for heat set inserts, it made perfect sense. There's some really nice designs out there.

But when I came to build one the designs had many parts, most of which I didn't have. So here's a solution that needs only a few parts.

You can watch the build on YouTube

• 30cm(12 inches) length of square aluminium tube 25.4mm(1 inch)
• Four screws 4mm diameter for the base
• Two screws 3mm diameter 5mm long
• A piece of wood for the base approx 125mm x 250mm (5 x 10 inches)
• Four 3D printed parts (STL files are on Printables at https://www.printables.com/model/256418-heat-set-insert-press
• Rubber bands

I made the tolerances are quite close so they fit together snuggly and there's no wobble when using it.

So before you print all parts, do a test print of 10 mm of the Iron Holder Arm so you can check it slides along the tube ok.

If its not a good fit I can do some variations. My tube had an outside diameter of 25.4mm which is the standard 1 inch aluminium SHS (Square Hollow Section) tube. 

Assembly is pretty easy.

Position the base printed part on the wooden base at one end and screw down with the 4 gauge screws.

Insert the tube and slide on the arm and top printed parts.

Secure the tube in the base and top prined parts by drilling a small hole in the aluminium and screwing in the 3 gauge screws.

The trickiest step is the soldering iron holder. As all soldering irons are different there's no one design that suits all. This is why its a separate part that can be screwed on. What I did was measure the profile of the iron with calipers, draw the profile in CAD and then do a 'revolve' for 240 degrees so it'll snap fit onto the iron. This can then be screwed onto the sliding arm. The Fusion 360 CAD file is included on Printables if you want to see closer how I modelled it.

Don't print this in PLA as soldering irons get warm and the plastic may soften and the iron fall out. So print in PETG or ABS.

And on that note, obviously never leave soldering irons turned on and unattended.

This makes the arm hold its position when you're not using it. Originally I thought I'd use a piece of string and counter weight to hold the arm up when not in use. But this was getting complicated with friction and the amount of weight needed so I just used a couple of rubber bands which work really well!

The printed piece at the top is still designed so a piece of string will thread through, so you can use it with either rubber band or counterweight on a string.  

Use enough rubber bands strung together so the arm will hold its position by itself. Thread the band through the loop in the arm and loop the other end over the top cap.

There's a test block with 7 holes on Printables. Print this to try it out.