Bow Presses

[Plebe]

Posting here as it seems to make sense:

Looks like a lot of the nice full size presses are not available now...
- Bow A Constrictor
- Spikepress
- Bow Time Machine

I expected the heavy arrow movement and more advanced tuning opportunities/requirements would mean more options not fewer.

Yet, outside of Last Chance presses, I'm seeing
- Howard's Total Vise
- SniperArchery (of Spain) 5.1 Pro
- Specialty Archery Pro Press

Pro press seems the most precise design, but also way more money. The Sniper Archery 5.1 looks smart and ergonomic to me, but shipping alone rivals an EZ Green and customer service is in another country. So, I'm wondering about the Howard's Total Vice Bow Press Work Station. But thoughts on any of these are welcome.

Anyone?

 

[ketch22]

I have the EZ green, as long as you don’t need the limb adapters for certain bows/years, it’s worth it’s weight in gold.

just this week I’ve changed out my peep, added and removed twists in the yokes and bus cables chasing that perfect bare shaft tune. I even use it to hold the bow when adding new sights or rests or whatever.

it eliminates all travel time back and forth to shops or clubs that have presses.

by the end of summer I plan on adding the last chance draw boards that attach to it.

I know it doesn’t answer your question but I don’t know if anyone who hasn’t loved it.

 

[woodsdog2]

I have an EZ Green on a stand which I like but I also have a Monster Pack Press. Made one at a time by a guy on Archery Talk for years now. William Lawson is his name you can email him his contact info is on the sticker. Great press can do anything. I like it as I can press the smaller bows like Gear Head's stuff all the way up to any bow you have. Built like a tank. Can take it anywhere even set it up on your dining room table if you want. My wife really loves me when I do that. Highly recommend. I believe I also have his phone number in my contacts pm me for it if you are ever interested. And before anyone says anything, yes the fingers are on backwards as I ordered that upgrade later as he didn't have that kind available at the time. I just threw them on when I got them in so I didn't lose any of the parts!!!

 

[Plebe]

I have the EZ green, as long as you don’t need the limb adapters for certain bows/years, it’s worth it’s weight in gold.

just this week I’ve changed out my peep, added and removed twists in the yokes and bus cables chasing that perfect bare shaft tune. I even use it to hold the bow when adding new sights or rests or whatever.

it eliminates all travel time back and forth to shops or clubs that have presses.

by the end of summer I plan on adding the last chance draw boards that attach to it.

I know it doesn’t answer your question but I don’t know if anyone who hasn’t loved it.

Thats what I thought too. I looked a BTM awhile back and liked it, but it's not an option now. Looking into the EZ Green, I'm reading on some other forums that there's been some QC issues as of late.

The EZ Press and Ultimate/Deluxe editions are allegedly more robust but those approach Pro Press pricing for an any length machine (compound/xbow) and from what I can see the pro press looks like a more adequate and adaptable machine than what LCA offers,

But dang, these cost as much as a nice bow.

 

[Plebe]

I have an EZ Green on a stand which I like but I also have a Monster Pack Press. Made one at a time by a guy on Archery Talk for years now. William Lawson is his name you can email him his contact info is on the sticker. Great press can do anything. I like it as I can press the smaller bows like Gear Head's stuff all the way up to any bow you have. Built like a tank. Can take it anywhere even set it up on your dining room table if you want. My wife really loves me when I do that. Highly recommend. I believe I also have his phone number in my contacts pm me for it if you are ever interested. And before anyone says anything, yes the fingers are on backwards as I ordered that upgrade later as he didn't have that kind available at the time. I just threw them on when I got them in so I didn't lose any of the parts!!! View attachment 64399

Did you have to weld it up? I saw one of your previous posts about the pac press, but it got a bit convoluted when I tried to sort it all out on AT. Seemed there were mostly kits for sale and then stock was spent. Looks fantastic though.

 

[woodsdog2]

EZ Green on the stand in my cluttered "man room." No matter what, everyone needs that BAP ball joint bow vice. You can use it as a gun vice too.

 

[woodsdog2]

Did you have to weld it up? I saw one of your previous posts about the pac press, but it got a bit convoluted when I tried to sort it all out on AT. Seemed there were mostly kits for sale and then stock was spent. Looks fantastic though.

No came shipped altogether had to just unfold it and mount the jack which was easy peasy.

 

[ketch22]

Thats what I thought too. I looked a BTM awhile back and liked it, but it's not an option now. Looking into the EZ Green, I'm reading on some other forums that there's been some QC issues as of late.

The EZ Press and Ultimate/Deluxe editions are allegedly more robust but those approach Pro Press pricing for an any length machine (compound/xbow) and from what I can see the pro press looks like a more adequate and adaptable machine than what LCA offers,

But dang, these cost as much as a nice bow.

Yea some of the prices are insane. I think the draw boards attachment is way overpriced! I mean $230 for something I can build for $50. I’d just be paying for the convenience more than anything.

Just personally, no matter what you choose, it’s a life long investment that will save you in the long run. The closest “shop” to me is a 20min drive, that’s minimum and hours worth of driving/gas line plus time to pay someone to do something as simple as a peep change.

as far as QC goes, there are a ton of naysayers out there, I’d look into the companies warranty, it’s why I end up buying some of the brands I do, they may not be the best but I don’t expect everything to be perfect, things happen. When things inevitably go wrong, I just like to have an easy company to deal with.

 

[10essee]

I have an EZ Green on a stand which I like but I also have a Monster Pack Press. Made one at a time by a guy on Archery Talk for years now. William Lawson is his name you can email him his contact info is on the sticker. Great press can do anything. I like it as I can press the smaller bows like Gear Head's stuff all the way up to any bow you have. Built like a tank. Can take it anywhere even set it up on your dining room table if you want. My wife really loves me when I do that. Highly recommend. I believe I also have his phone number in my contacts pm me for it if you are ever interested. And before anyone says anything, yes the fingers are on backwards as I ordered that upgrade later as he didn't have that kind available at the time. I just threw them on when I got them in so I didn't lose any of the parts!!! View attachment 64399

I have a Monster also. Ordered years ago and still going strong. I was looking for a time machine recently but seems as that guy no longer in business. Tear downs little sketchy on the PAC but not too bad really.

 

[woodsdog2]

Yea some of the prices are insane. I think the draw boards attachment is way overpriced! I mean $230 for something I can build for $50. I’d just be paying for the convenience more than anything.

I built my own draw board several years ago too back when I was starting to time bows and was using Larry Wise's guidance. It worked for years but it was always very bulky, I had to take it out and set it up and the LCA draw board option is just very convenient, its always on the press and I can stuff everything back in a corner and its out of the way. Is it expensive, yes but as you said before, lifelong investment. The only thing I don't care for about the draw board is they to send it in every year. If I were a shop doing it multiple times a day I would do that but I I may use it 15 to 20 times all year long so I'm not as OCD about that.

 

[slonstdy]

I built a clone EZ green press for half of what it sells for and a cheap DIY draw board made with a 2x6 and worm gear winch from Harbor Freight. Both were very easy to make although the press does require welding but that wasn't an issue for me as I have access to the equipment at my job.

The press is awesome and makes working on the bow a pleasure. Drop the bow in there crank the handle a few turns and you're ready to rock. I used to use a portable cable press but that is a barbaric contraption compared to the EZ. I wouldn't hesitate to spend on an EZ green if you are unable to build a clone of one yourself.

@woodsdog2 is 100% correct that the draw board is bulky and a pita to use. I attach it to my squat rack when I use it and it works ok but I do find myself muttering profanities while working with it. The worm gear winch is really slooooowww and adds to my frustration when I'm setting the bow in there. The sting from the price of buying a draw board attachment from either LCA or Archery Dezign may be well worth it for the ease of use alone.

EZ Green on the stand in my cluttered "man room." No matter what, everyone needs that BAP ball joint bow vice. You can use it as a gun vice too.

@woodsdog2, I've been looking into that BAP bow vise. Do you have the micro adjuster and is it needed or if not do you think it helps significantly with leveling the bow?

 

[woodsdog2]

I built a clone EZ green press for half of what it sells for and a cheap DIY draw board made with a 2x6 and worm gear winch from Harbor Freight. Both were very easy to make although the press does require welding but that wasn't an issue for me as I have access to the equipment at my job.

The press is awesome and makes working on the bow a pleasure. Drop the bow in there crank the handle a few turns and you're ready to rock. I used to use a portable cable press but that is a barbaric contraption compared to the EZ. I wouldn't hesitate to spend on an EZ green if you are unable to build a clone of one yourself.

@woodsdog2 is 100% correct that the draw board is bulky and a pita to use. I attach it to my squat rack when I use it and it works ok but I do find myself muttering profanities while working with it. The worm gear winch is really slooooowww and adds to my frustration when I'm setting the bow in there. The sting from the price of buying a draw board attachment from either LCA or Archery Dezign may be well worth it for the ease of use alone.



@woodsdog2, I've been looking into that BAP bow vise. Do you have the micro adjuster and is it needed or if not do you think it helps significantly with leveling the bow?

@slonstdy I just saw this mention not sure why It didn't show up in my alerts but I was at a banquet last night and church this am so haven't spent a lot of time on here until tonight. Anyway, I'm not sure I know what the micro adjuster is for the Baker Archery Products vice. Mine has the ball in the "U" bracket which allows you to put your bow in any position for infinite adjustment. It has a handle you loosen or tighten at any angle. The only other adjustment is the handle vice. I bought the aftermarket kit to mount to the EZ Green for like $50 I think. I kinda lucked out on the BAP vice I was down visiting a relative in Lancaster PA a couple of years ago (my sister in law) she literally lived like a quarter of a mile from their showroom. I went in and they had mine on sale for like a weekend promo they were doing locally. I think I got it for 35% off.

 

[woodsdog2]

I have a Monster also. Ordered years ago and still going strong. I was looking for a time machine recently but seems as that guy no longer in business. Tear downs little sketchy on the PAC but not too bad really.

So I contacted Bill Lawrence yesterday and he is still making presses but he told me he got off of AT Classifieds because they started charging an arm and a leg. He has since upgraded his presses beyond them model I currently own. He has a lot of options and has once again updated the fingers and the profile of them. Besides the classified price going up on AT, he also had some back health issues going on so he was out of commission for like a year. He said he just was starting to get back on his feet.... literally..... a couple of months ago now. He texted me some pics of his updated presses. I have no affiliation with this product or this person whatsoever just wanted to make you guys looking into getting a good bow press aware of some of the other options out there. He said he's trying to get a website developed and some youtube videos going too but he's a one man operation so it takes him a bit longer to move all of these things along for his business. He said anyone can email him at that email address on the sticker of my Monster Pack press if they are interested.

Yesterday, he texted me that he has right now already built two Monster Pack Presses for $350 each (with the free adjustable fingers, pretty much bench mounted, fingers, u-pins, straight pins, adjustable pack jack. You can add the optional adjustable folding legs for $70 and the optional hydraulic set jack for $70 (for use to press crossbows) USPS Priority Mail Shipping I believe is included in that pricing structure but you have to double check with him directly for sure. If you wanted to later upgrade to the fancier finger sets or whatever they are $95.

 

[woodsdog2]

A couple of more Monster Pack Press Pics

 

[Davis21]

Been looking for some other options as well, was considering just making do with portable cable press and homemade wood bow holder. Seems like it would work pretty good and lost less money

 

[10essee]

A couple of more Monster Pack Press Pics

Did he happen to say if he was selling linear presses also or only the pac style. Thanks

 

[woodsdog2]

I believe the top ones in the photo with the Matthews Target bow are all linear style presses. He said my model is a few years back style, he said his newer ones "have a bolt together frame, a sliding chain catch to eliminate chain slack, all four (4) of the fingers tilt and he makes a riser pin that replaces the hinge bolt if needed for some radical preloads (modular)."

 

[JBDaddy]

Been looking for some other options as well, was considering just making do with portable cable press and homemade wood bow holder. Seems like it would work pretty good and lost less money

I just don't have space to dedicate to a bow press, so a portable bowmaster cable press makes a lot of sense in that situation, and it's way easier to take in a car.

For a stand I have 2 options: A bicycle vise that attaches to any workbench/desk, or a pair of folding saw horses that are in my garage anyway. The saw horses could really use a clamp for holding the bow but give 2 points of contact for just resting it there. The bicycle vise is smaller, ends up sitting higher (which my back likes) has articulated joints and does hold a bow, but the cheap chinesium ones don't hold a grip very well.

 

[slonstdy]

@slonstdy I just saw this mention not sure why It didn't show up in my alerts but I was at a banquet last night and church this am so haven't spent a lot of time on here until tonight. Anyway, I'm not sure I know what the micro adjuster is for the Baker Archery Products vice. Mine has the ball in the "U" bracket which allows you to put your bow in any position for infinite adjustment. It has a handle you loosen or tighten at any angle. The only other adjustment is the handle vice. I bought the aftermarket kit to mount to the EZ Green for like $50 I think. I kinda lucked out on the BAP vice I was down visiting a relative in Lancaster PA a couple of years ago (my sister in law) she literally lived like a quarter of a mile from their showroom. I went in and they had mine on sale for like a weekend promo they were doing locally. I think I got it for 35% off.

Here's a link to a video of Butch Baker setting up a bow in his vise using the micro adjustment. Jump to 1:45 to see how it works.
The micro adjuster makes leveling a bow that much easier but is it needed?...not really...but it's only $60...hmmmm....

 

[woodsdog2]

Here's a link to a video of Butch Baker setting up a bow in his vise using the micro adjustment. Jump to 1:45 to see how it works.
The micro adjuster makes leveling a bow that much easier but is it needed?...not really...but it's only $60...hmmmm....

No, mine doesn't have that and its probably not needed but it does look like a nice feature. I didn't have any problems getting my bow level to set up my axis 1st, 2nd and 3rd level. Here's a close up picture of mine. Of course its folded down to allow for more room to stow it out of the way.