R Funk

As an mechancal engineer I donot see any snap action from spring shape. I havenot done a detail analysis but see the ctrical isssue being thath the springs be assembled in tight packs with no free leaves and well guarded. The sprung pack must be tight as a poorly guarded spring pack is likely to cause fatal injuries and a loose springing pack will cause operational irreqularities due to differring pring rates in the up and down operation of the hammer.

Thanks for your kind responses and keeping me in your prayers. Unfortunately my eyesight is now very limited and I am now very nearly unable to partcipate in the forum discussions as I would like to do, but will try to participate as much as possible by having someone read to me. Thanks again for your support and friendship over the years and for your prayers now. Ruben Funk

I am very sorry to hear of your son's injury I do want to express my appreciation to your son for his service and continued future for our great country. I wish the very best and will be praying for him for complete and speedy recovery Thanks to you as his parents for the sacrifices that you have made during his deployment and which will become even greater as you work together with him and the med team in the healing, rehabilitation and restoration process. Thanks again for the service of your son.

I am not trying to be Grinch here, but we should always go back to the manfacturers website, verify that component you are using is rated for the gas that you will be using. There are so many variables in OX/AC OX/Propane, OX/MAPP equipment designs that we must be very careful as to what we are doing. If you understand what you are doing (not guessing or I hope so) some flexibility could be allowed. The flame propagation speed of actylene is much faster than that of propane. Mapp's flame propogation speed is between actylene's and propane's Therefore propane tips are designed to ignite the flame further back in tip so the flame will emerge fully developed. Functionality and general safety aside if you run actylene through a MAP or propane tip it will massively overheat them as the flame is forming further back in the tip than designed because of the flame propgation speed. Likewise if you run MAP though a propane tip it will overheat for the same reason. Due to flame and stability issues, due again to the slower flame propagation speed, propane run through most actylene tips are non functional. I know skunkriv and would trust his judgement that what he is doing with his rosebud is safe. However if you are relative newbie to torches please completely play by the rules. We don't need the publicity of a blacksmith blowing up his shop (and himself)

That is why I always pay with credit card. You do not get the goods or services and you not pay

I have a Lincoln 235 Tombstone and Miller Thunderbolt 225AC/150 DC stick welders. I am more fond of the Miller for obvioulsy the DC capability but the more important thing for me is the infinite crank adjustmemt on the Miller. The Lincoln has 15 amp steps. This is not an issue above 125 amps or so. But the difference between 60 amps and 75 amps is significant and some thin steels may require 67 amps which just can not be done with a Lincoln. I have several ox/ac and ox/map/propane torches. Primarily Harris but some Victor

Irnsrgn, Great work! You must have a of time in all that fine tooling!

The mill would be used as "drill press" with an ordinary drill bit with a precision locating table. A good machinist with a good drill press would be able to do the work on a drill press But an inexpereinced machinist would have a challenge to get all the holes and pins to fit in all the holes.

H-13 is the best material for a hot cut. Hard to forge however. Almost as hard at low red as mild stell at room temperature.

I don't want to be to repetative (sp) but I would again ask the question why do want to repair the crack? Are they in a critcal location? If they are in critcal location stiching and pinning could be the preferred repair. (there was a post and a link on stiching and pinning on IFI a month or so ago) How long have the cracks exisited? Where they loaded with grease and years of dirt? Are you concerned about structural strength? Cracked castings in non crtical locations have existed in in some machines for years with no adverse affects If your concern is asthetic Bondo will do wonders Just some encourage to reconsider and not make some of the mistakes I made.

I doubt if you can ever the see the agreement between th patent holder and the manufacturer. Start with looking at the patent. You can find the patent on line. Read and understand the patent. I know it will be in obscure language but try. PM me the patent if you desire and I can look at it. I am not a lawyer and can not offer advice but I can help you understand the patent.

What is the likely cause of the crack? Was it dropped or hit? It may be a crack caused by poor casting design. If I can see no cause for the crack I might be tempted to drill a hole at the end of the cracks to keep them from spreading and call it good. I have done a fair amount of cast iron welding and brazing and I am always concerned that I make the situation worse by thermal sresses

The key thing you need to do is read the patent carefully. Read the "prior art" section this discusses what similar type of items previously existed. This gives a good idea of what is not covered by the patent as it was pre-existing The next section to read is the "clams" of the patent. This goes into great detail as to the specifics of the patent and what the person requesting and obtaining the patent beleives the unique features of the patent is. For all you know they may be patenting a very obscure feature of item just so as a marketing tool they can say "exclusive patented technolgy" and intimidate the less serious person from copying their product. A warning: If you have a patent you must must defend it. This can be very expensive until you win. If it can be documented that you do not defend your patent you cab essentially lose it. I know of a small business that had patent and a large corporation wanted to copy it. They made the defense of the patent so expensive that the small business had to give up protecting their patent. Also China has a nasty habit of ignoring and stealing patents. Again this can make protecting your patent more difficult.

Google "tapping heads". and several suppliers should come up. I know that Enco sells tapping heads. A tapping head fits in a drill press and and has a clutch and gear reduction system in it and and an auto reverse feature that backs the tap back out again. I beleive a new tapping head, will set you back $250 to $500 but I have not priced them for a while. But if lucky you can find them used for well under $100. There are some listed on Ebay now. If you don't want something quite that automated you can buy a tapping guide which is a plate with a vertically free floating hand cranked arbor attached which holds a tap and guides it straight up and down so that it won't break. The item to be tapped is placed in a vise or similar fixture on the plate and the tap is quickly spun in and out with the hand crank. Which ever type you buy, make certain that it has collets or similar tap holding tooling with it for the size tap you desire to use. Also buy High Speed production taps for this application. The hardware store variety carbon steel taps will most likely leave you dissappointed in this type of application. And of course use plenty of of good cutting oil.

Foundry Fiend What are your plans for 500# Anvil? Use as is, hardface, etc. Thanks!