Threaded Heat Set Insert Press

This heat set press for threaded inserts is the fourth one I’ve used and, so far, it works the best. Ones that use springs tend to waste the vertical space giving less range of motion. This press uses a carriage that rolls up and down in the slots of an aluminum extrusion and is kept balanced by use of a counterweight. It is roughly based on the Adafruit heat set rig created by the Ruiz brothers. A useful addition is optional drawers to hold various sizes of threaded inserts. Included is a “Universal” soldering iron holder as well as two holders for specific Weller brand soldering irons, the SP40NUS and the WLIR3012A. The Weller holders might also work for other soldering irons. You will need some metric screws and a few specialized parts (including a soldering iron). I have included a set of detailed build instructions that includes a list of needed hardware and 3D printed parts. See the included PDF.