DIY Headset Press

by A. Tong

Probably one of the tools that is the most difficult to justify for a home bike mechanic is a headset press.  It is rarely used and costs a lot for the amount of times you'll use it.  There are however, other methods of installing a headset.  

The first method I used was the good 'ol wooden block and hammer method.  Make sure the headset is sitting square in the head tube, place the wooden block on the headset and smash away!  I've done it before and it worked fine, but not something I'd want to do with the Knolly build.  

The second way is to make your own headset press.  It's pretty easy but my first try a few years back worked okay.  Basically it was a threaded rod with a few washers and nuts.  It worked to press in some bearings but the washers didn't keep the bearings straight when I started tightening the bolt.  My thought was that the washers had too large an inner diameter allowing the washes to move too much.  Also, with a nut on both ends, it was hard to keep one end from twisting as I tightened the nut.  

Try #2 with a few mods to the headset press.  The main difference this time would be the addition of 2 blocks of wood with a 1/2 inch hole drilled through the middle.  The blocks of wood worked better than just the washers because they stayed perpendicular with the threaded rod.  

Here is what you'll need to make your own press:

two 7 inch bolts, 1/2 inch diameter
1 bolt coupler (long bolt in the picture below)
note: you can use one long threaded rod if you can find one


3 small washers
3 large washers
3 nuts
2 pieces of wood with 1/2 inch holes drilled through

Pieces you'll need to make your own head set press.  Works like a charm!

Here is a pic of the pieces assembled. 

Note the use of 2 nuts on the lower and 1 on the upper bolt.

Here it is finished.  The lower block stays permanently in place help by 2 nuts.  The long nut is the coupler holding the 2 bolts together.  Note the is no nut below the upper block.  This allows the top block to slide towards the lower block as you tighten the upper nut.

And here it is in action!

Ewww!  Mold!  Hold the bottom nut tight and crank of the top. 

When using the tool make sure the headset cup is resting on the stationary wood block.  The sliding block should rest against either the head tube or seated headset cup.  This should pull the headset cup straight into the head tube.  An added bonus of the wood is that it doesn't scratch the headset.  

Did this work for you?  Have an idea on how to make it better?  Put it in the comments below please!