Ken,
thanks for the details. Everything that I have read up to this point talks about lots of heat and force and I was surprised by the tech article. I remember from my teenage years, working in a shop, that there was a guy there that used to do the axles. Although I didn't know much about them then, I can remember him using a large sledge hammer and pounding it as it sat on two stands. He was quite strong and had very good aim! I would probably fail at those two requirements! Obviously a press is the civilized way to do it in the shop.