I just re-read my post below. It seems absurdly long, and so I am going to summarize. If anyone wants more detail, they can proceed to read the original post.
Summary:
Last year, due to back pain, I abandoned shop work that required carrying heavy sheet goods or heavy lumber. Instead I made 65 small toys which a local charity distributed.
All the toys I made were for the 3 - 6 year olds.
The back pain persists and I am planning on producing more gifts. I wanted some for older children. I decided on making small flower presses.
I discussed this with a friend’s wife who helped her daughter use her first flower press. She had only one piece of advice: Figure out how to prevent the loss of the hardware.
The hardware consists of four threaded posts, four wing nuts and four washers.
Much of the post below is about my trials and travails trying to accomplish that.
1. The posts were permanently attached using stamped “nuts” (see photos below) and Locktite’s thread locker.
2. I eliminated the washer by permanently attaching small squares of plastic. (See photo below).
3. The wing nuts could not be permanently attached. To keep track of them, I added two magnets mounted to the top plate.
4. So that the disadvantaged families that will receive the gifts don’t have to spend money on the hobby, I included a pair of tweezers, and a “template” so they could easily replace the consumables from old cartons and old newspapers.
5. I still have to write a brief set of instructions. This may be a challenge, as I have never pressed flowers. I will do the best I can, but I will come back to this begging for someone knowledgeable on this subject to read and comment on the instructions.
6. The total production run is just 10 pieces. They will be complete on, or about the start of the new year.
Read below if you want more detailed information. I made more errors on this project than on any other one I tried. I think I ended up with a better product than I would have if I simply copied existing flower presses.
Original Post begins below:
As it turns out, I have the same back condition as the CEO killer. Im trying to keep busy and I can’t lift heavy stuff.
So I am back to making Christmas gifts to donate to the disadvantaged.
For this year, I had made 65 toys which were distributed by a local charitable organization. All the toys were designed for 3 to 6 year olds.
I’m going to repeat some of those toys, design 3 or 4 new ones and make at least one gift for 10 to adult age group.
I decided on a flower press kit. I have only one “expert” on the subject and her expertise was helping her daughter with this tool. Her only real observation was that her daughter kept losing the hardware. That would be the posts (carriage bolts), the wing nuts, and the steel washers that the wing nuts tightened against.
My “kit” is shown below.
1. The kit includes a bottom plate with 4 posts, permanently installed. (More on that later)
2. A top plate with 4 bearing surfaces (black squares) to replace the often lost washers.
3. The top plate also includes two strong magnets to store the wing nuts in one place. (More on that later too.)
4. 5 cardboard separators and 8 blotter papers, and a template so they can make more of the same.
5. A pair of tweezers (surprisingly cheap when you by 15 at a time—just over one dollar each.
I am fairly satisfied.
The oak was salvaged from when I re-faced my kitchen cabinets and is 5/8” thick.
The bolts are 3”.
The size is for A6 paper (4” x 6”)
The template will allow the recipient to cut cardboard replacements from old corrugated cartons. And to cut newspaper to size instead of buying blotter paper.
By doing all that, I think I have made this a sustainable hobby for someone with almost no money to spare.
I am thinking of adding a few greeting card sized papers and envelopes for projects.
This is how it will ship. The two metal discs are magnets to keep track of the wing nuts and possibly the tweezers.
And the long list of mistakes.
Mistake #1. I used epoxy to glue the washers to the top plate. It all seemed good, but read on.
Mistake #2. I wanted to permanently mount the posts. My first effort was to drill the four holes on the drill press and then use my metal working tap to make the threads. The problem was that I could not control the angle the tap entered the wood and the posts looked like a drunk had installed them.
Mistake #3. I then tried epoxy on the posts and used the wing nuts and the top plate to clamp and assure alignment. The fit was perfect at the exact distance from the bottom plate, but pulling the top plate off was nearly impossible because of the metal washers.
I tried drilling out the inside diameter of the already epoxied washers and as soon at the drill bit entered the washer it twisted off the steel washer. Epoxy was no match for an electric drill.
Mistake #4. I got nylon washers. Epoxy does not want to stick to nylon I found out. A google search would have avoided this mistake.
Mistake #5. My mistake was believing that if I got the posts perfectly plumb to the bottom plate, it would be easy to slide on and off the top plate. If you keep the top plate perfectly level, it is. But it is nearly impossible to keep it level.
I finally figured out how to permanently mount the posts. I used stamped nuts (see photo) and Locktite thread locker. I kept the bolt a little loose so there is some angular movement possible. The Locktite keeps the posts from getting lost.
The washer problem was solved by using a sheet of 0.100” thick UHMW polypropylene. That is a Ultra Heavy Molecular Weight version of the stuff they make soda bottles from. It is scratch resistant, has a high lubricity surface and is relatively cheap. Cutting the stuff was a challenge.
I screwed them on with small stainless steel screws and then through drilled the UHMW pieces after mounting them.
Mistake #6. I made a sketch to see what size magnet I would need to hold all 4 wing nuts. 1” to about 1-1/2” would be perfect. I ordered the magnets and they arrived. I should have read all the specs and not just the diameter. It had a guaranteed holding power of 130 pounds. You needed pliers to pull the wing nuts off the magnet.
I replaced those with smaller magnets (but still with a 30 pound holding power. I now have to include instructions to “slide the wing nuts off the magnet, and not lift the wing nuts.
The tweezers also fit on the magnet, but that was far too challenging to remove, even when sliding it off.
Below is a photo of the stamped nuts.
It seems that just about every seller of flower presses also include a basic instruction sheet. I am going to write one based on my readings from the internet.
If anyone knows someone that has pressed flowers, who would be willing to look over my instruction sheet, that would be a big help.
It could be that this is not a good Christmas gift and I may end up donating them to a school art department. We’ll see.
I should have all 10 done in a couple of days.
Summary:
Last year, due to back pain, I abandoned shop work that required carrying heavy sheet goods or heavy lumber. Instead I made 65 small toys which a local charity distributed.
All the toys I made were for the 3 - 6 year olds.
The back pain persists and I am planning on producing more gifts. I wanted some for older children. I decided on making small flower presses.
I discussed this with a friend’s wife who helped her daughter use her first flower press. She had only one piece of advice: Figure out how to prevent the loss of the hardware.
The hardware consists of four threaded posts, four wing nuts and four washers.
Much of the post below is about my trials and travails trying to accomplish that.
1. The posts were permanently attached using stamped “nuts” (see photos below) and Locktite’s thread locker.
2. I eliminated the washer by permanently attaching small squares of plastic. (See photo below).
3. The wing nuts could not be permanently attached. To keep track of them, I added two magnets mounted to the top plate.
4. So that the disadvantaged families that will receive the gifts don’t have to spend money on the hobby, I included a pair of tweezers, and a “template” so they could easily replace the consumables from old cartons and old newspapers.
5. I still have to write a brief set of instructions. This may be a challenge, as I have never pressed flowers. I will do the best I can, but I will come back to this begging for someone knowledgeable on this subject to read and comment on the instructions.
6. The total production run is just 10 pieces. They will be complete on, or about the start of the new year.
Read below if you want more detailed information. I made more errors on this project than on any other one I tried. I think I ended up with a better product than I would have if I simply copied existing flower presses.
Original Post begins below:
As it turns out, I have the same back condition as the CEO killer. Im trying to keep busy and I can’t lift heavy stuff.
So I am back to making Christmas gifts to donate to the disadvantaged.
For this year, I had made 65 toys which were distributed by a local charitable organization. All the toys were designed for 3 to 6 year olds.
I’m going to repeat some of those toys, design 3 or 4 new ones and make at least one gift for 10 to adult age group.
I decided on a flower press kit. I have only one “expert” on the subject and her expertise was helping her daughter with this tool. Her only real observation was that her daughter kept losing the hardware. That would be the posts (carriage bolts), the wing nuts, and the steel washers that the wing nuts tightened against.
My “kit” is shown below.
1. The kit includes a bottom plate with 4 posts, permanently installed. (More on that later)
2. A top plate with 4 bearing surfaces (black squares) to replace the often lost washers.
3. The top plate also includes two strong magnets to store the wing nuts in one place. (More on that later too.)
4. 5 cardboard separators and 8 blotter papers, and a template so they can make more of the same.
5. A pair of tweezers (surprisingly cheap when you by 15 at a time—just over one dollar each.
I am fairly satisfied.
The oak was salvaged from when I re-faced my kitchen cabinets and is 5/8” thick.
The bolts are 3”.
The size is for A6 paper (4” x 6”)
The template will allow the recipient to cut cardboard replacements from old corrugated cartons. And to cut newspaper to size instead of buying blotter paper.
By doing all that, I think I have made this a sustainable hobby for someone with almost no money to spare.
I am thinking of adding a few greeting card sized papers and envelopes for projects.
This is how it will ship. The two metal discs are magnets to keep track of the wing nuts and possibly the tweezers.
And the long list of mistakes.
Mistake #1. I used epoxy to glue the washers to the top plate. It all seemed good, but read on.
Mistake #2. I wanted to permanently mount the posts. My first effort was to drill the four holes on the drill press and then use my metal working tap to make the threads. The problem was that I could not control the angle the tap entered the wood and the posts looked like a drunk had installed them.
Mistake #3. I then tried epoxy on the posts and used the wing nuts and the top plate to clamp and assure alignment. The fit was perfect at the exact distance from the bottom plate, but pulling the top plate off was nearly impossible because of the metal washers.
I tried drilling out the inside diameter of the already epoxied washers and as soon at the drill bit entered the washer it twisted off the steel washer. Epoxy was no match for an electric drill.
Mistake #4. I got nylon washers. Epoxy does not want to stick to nylon I found out. A google search would have avoided this mistake.
Mistake #5. My mistake was believing that if I got the posts perfectly plumb to the bottom plate, it would be easy to slide on and off the top plate. If you keep the top plate perfectly level, it is. But it is nearly impossible to keep it level.
I finally figured out how to permanently mount the posts. I used stamped nuts (see photo) and Locktite thread locker. I kept the bolt a little loose so there is some angular movement possible. The Locktite keeps the posts from getting lost.
The washer problem was solved by using a sheet of 0.100” thick UHMW polypropylene. That is a Ultra Heavy Molecular Weight version of the stuff they make soda bottles from. It is scratch resistant, has a high lubricity surface and is relatively cheap. Cutting the stuff was a challenge.
I screwed them on with small stainless steel screws and then through drilled the UHMW pieces after mounting them.
Mistake #6. I made a sketch to see what size magnet I would need to hold all 4 wing nuts. 1” to about 1-1/2” would be perfect. I ordered the magnets and they arrived. I should have read all the specs and not just the diameter. It had a guaranteed holding power of 130 pounds. You needed pliers to pull the wing nuts off the magnet.
I replaced those with smaller magnets (but still with a 30 pound holding power. I now have to include instructions to “slide the wing nuts off the magnet, and not lift the wing nuts.
The tweezers also fit on the magnet, but that was far too challenging to remove, even when sliding it off.
Below is a photo of the stamped nuts.
It seems that just about every seller of flower presses also include a basic instruction sheet. I am going to write one based on my readings from the internet.
If anyone knows someone that has pressed flowers, who would be willing to look over my instruction sheet, that would be a big help.
It could be that this is not a good Christmas gift and I may end up donating them to a school art department. We’ll see.
I should have all 10 done in a couple of days.
