There ARE expensive arbor presses with amazing force measurement add-ons like the K&M Dial Indicator Arbor press or the 21st Century Hydro press, but overall, most arbor presses are super cheap.
I suppose a guy could use a standard press to compress chamber type dies, even a bench vise if you had all of the time in the world on your hands, or a hammer if you were into that kind of self-hate... If you had a flat anvil on your ram and a flat plug in the die position, I’d suppose a standard press would be able to seat on chamber type dies, but it would be a little awkward/cumbersome, and you’d lose the dexterous feel you gain with a smaller arbor press. The Arkco/Charlie Hood press works kinda like that - a double ram with two positions, one position for a standard threaded sizing die and the second position for compressing a chamber type seating die. But I digress....
Brownells sells the inexpensive Sinclair arbor press for $110, wait out the Covid crisis until they go back to their 10% and free shipping monthly deal, and you’re in it for less than $100. Or try to find one used. My first arbor press was actually a modified clicker press (leatherworking), but I bought one of these Sinclair presses a handful of years ago - I seated thousands and thousands of rounds on one of these Sinclair presses before I eventually bought a 21st century hydroseater year before last (the K&M is cheaper, and a little more svelte in design). This simple arbor press is pretty hard to mess up, and it’s inexpensive.
https://www.brownells.com/reloading...e-presses/sinclair-arbor-press-prod37764.aspx
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