The first step in figuring out what needs to be done to the press is to take it all apart. So that’s what we did this weekend. The mark of a good tool is simplicity. The fewer parts, the better it works. Amazingly, the press only has about 25 parts in total (Half of those are cast body parts, the other half are the metal rods holding larger cast parts together and screws).

Here they all are laid out on the floor:

It became abundantly clear that a previous owner has spray-painted the entire press red without taking apart anything. Also, a couple of the rods had been intentionally deformed to prevent extraction of the pins. As a result, Doug drilled and tapped the problematic rods, then performed some magic to extract them. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I did not catch Doug’s sorcery on film.

But in the end we succeeded in taking the thing apart.

Next weekend: Stripping and painting!