[Closed] These home-made headset press thingos...

do them one at a time?

Edit - grease on the inside of the frame will help too.

one at a time... why didn't that occur to me? 😳

it's a CK headset, is there any special thing I should be doing? or just clamp it into the headtube?

as long as you keep the bolt centred on the cup you should be fine. If it starts going in at an angle then move the bolt to the opposite side and press there a bit to even it up.

Not quite sure what "style" of home made press you are using.

I use a length of threaded bar, some nuts and some big thick washers. I also put a suitably sized socket into the headset cup and run the threaded bar through that too to give it some shape.

Plenty of grease, one at a time, give it a tap to line it up if needed when you start winding it in.

same thing, threaded bolt with two big square washers and nuts... shall whack a bit of grease in there and do one at a time...

Can I do any damage this way? it's a nice secondhand Ti frame, it's had headsets fitted in the past, so assuming the headtube is all faced/reamed fine...

I did it one at a time using a threaded bar and large washer method. As the cup gets close to the headtube, just check the gap is even and take your time.

keep the gap even and take it slowly and you'll be fine.

try it it round washers that sit in the cups better.

[img] [/img]

if one side begins to go skew-if then tap it with a hammer to counter it. nice and slowly. oh, and think about where you want the logo/name before setting it in the frame.

Are bloody difficult to use! How do you get the cups lined up straight to start with?? Have spent the past 15 minutes trying to get both to start going in square, but one or the other always ends up starting at an angle!

Yeah I made one and tried it. Same result. So I went back to a hammer and 2 bits of wood, which has always worked fine for me. 🙂

My buds dad has a lathe so he machined two gadgets which look rather like the parts you get on a "cyclo" one.[img] [/img]

So two cones with stepped interfaces for different size cups.. then threaded bar..
few M nuts of appropriate size and for the sake of sharing it between us, new frames become less hassle.

Wooden faced bench vice for me- bit of a faff lifting the frame up but its always spot on.

Definetly one cup at a time

I gave up with mine. ****ted it with a rubber mallet resting on a bit of wood. Did the job.

just hit it!

When my LBS quoted £20+ to press headset cups I bought a Cyclus press (similar to the one shown in angryratio's post) for about £30 and they seem to work well. I'm a bit hamfisted at the best of times and £30 seemed a good investment, I wouldn't want to screw up a headset and, potentially, a frame just to save a few pounds.

PJay - Member

When my LBS quoted £20+ to press headset cups I bought a Cyclus press (similar to the one shown in angryratio's post) for about £30 and they seem to work well. I'm a bit hamfisted at the best of times and £30 seemed a good investment, I wouldn't want to screw up a headset and, potentially, a frame just to save a few pounds.

+1 on the cyclus press I've made a vew home made presses but the cylcus one really si top quality and its not 200 quid.. 33 delivered from somewhere on google.

I bought one of these but one cup just didn't wanna go in straight. The guy who made it machined me some nylon guide things but still didn't work. Gave up in the end and just bought a "proper" one. I tried it with a headset with a short flange and it worked fine though.

I have always used the fork steerer and top cap with stem loose and extra spacers to sqeeze my headsets in, a bit of grease it works a treat. Why the need for a tool? Steerer has added advantage of holding the cups in alignment as they go in.

£30 to press in a headset is hilarious. my LBS charged £10, which I would feel is as much as I'd ever pay, given it's a 2 minute job.

That said, last time I pressed in a headset I used an old crank and a chopping board. Went in perfect, though I was a bit relieved!

tap it with a hammer

hijack alert! put a few headsets in frames i've bought and hammered out knackered ones but never taken one out so can get frame powder coated and reuse - suggestions? all i can think of is a wooden dowel

long blade scredriver inside the headtube and gently work your way around the cup from the 'wrong' end. Turn frame over and repeat.

For removing the removal tool is very handy, only about £10 for one. Otherwise if you are lucky you can drift it with wooden dowel as you say.

tap it with a hammer

make that a rubber mallet

Nahh. Put a bit of wood over the headset and give it a good hard belt with the biggest hammer you've got. Hit it like you mean it, don't stroke the damned thing FFS! 🙂

I've got an old pushrod from a motorcycle engine that does this job nicely.

[img] [/img]

antigee - Member
tap it with a hammer

make that a rubber mallet - maybe a few gentle taps to get it seated and def one at a time as said
hijack alert! put a few headsets in frames i've bought and hammered out knackered ones but never taken one out so can get frame powder coated and reuse - suggestions? all i can think of is a wooden dowel

Make a cup remover. get a section of copper pipe, cut down the length, and then slightly splay out the ends so they sit on the inside of the cup, hammer. cup falls out*

*I've done this and it worked for me. but that could have been blind luck 😯

Most of my founding MTB years were done with a couple of blocks of wood and a lump hammer, and a cold chisel for removal. Careful use=no damage. These days I have a 10T press for the job 🙂

just an update... I had success 🙂

[img] [/img]

didn't manage to get the 'king' bits to lineup, but oh well 😳

Take it out and start again 🙄

I don't think so... took me almost an hour to get it both cups in straight! I need to improve my 'headset press'

Googling around finds this [url= http://www.bikecommuters.com/2007/09/29/homemade-headset-installation-tools/ ]evolution:[/url]:

[img] [/img]

Just need to find the appropriate plumbing bits 🙂

I use the same except 16mm threaded bar is my tool of choice. Also where the copper bits are, I use a cheapo 30mm seat post cut down that passes through the washers. The inner diameter of the headset cups are 30.5mm, and as such keeps the headset parrallel and allows you to install both cups at once.

I use a bench-vice, not attached to a bench. Put a blck of wood on one end of the head tube, headset cup on the other and tighten, pretty much lines itself up. Undo, change ends, job done. About 3mins.

I have put 10 headset or more in with my good old block of wood. always done the job spot on.

For what it's worth I stuff a bit of pipe lagging (the foam rubber sort) inside the headset cup and run the bolt through that, Keeps the bolt centred well - very cheap addition. I'm liking the bits of plumbing though.

For drifting cups out I use about a foot of wooden broom handle - effectively cheap thck dowel. Doesn't last for ever, but it's cheap and it doesn't score the frame.

[i]So I went back to a hammer and 2 bits of wood,[/i]

That's not fitting a headset, that's getting away with it... 🙂

My LBS charges a fiver so ive never seen a reason to make one. But if i was going to id look at getting something like [url= http://www.cyclesportsuk.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=6460 ]this.[/url]

I wish my LBS charged a fiver... that's not bad value at £35 delivered, cheers for the link 🙂

use a vice.

[i]So I went back to a hammer and 2 bits of wood,

That's not fitting a headset, that's getting away with it...[/i]

Too right. Remind me NOT to give you lot the job of fitting my next H/S
One of these days you ARE gonna **** your headtube, I've seen it done. (& not by me)

lordy, if i was going to press a ck headset into an indy fab i would consider £35 for my own cyclus headset press a right bargain!

Thats the one I bought. Very effective it is too, we tried to use a home made one to get my mates semi integrated cups into his boardman, kept going off sideways. As soon as we applied the cyclus press, happy days. As they say in the trade "Pure Fahkin Magic.."

[hijack]thanks some useful tips on removal[/hijack]

PeterPoddy - Member
give it a good hard belt with the biggest hammer you've got. Hit it like you mean it, don't stroke the damned thing FFS

at this point PP should post the excellent pic of how to realign a bent dropout - warning if still around it is not for those of a nervous mechanical disposition

Any ex weight lifters? A dumbell bar and weights makes a great headset press.