The one tool that saved you so much time.

[Glenn]

What is the one tool that saved you so much time? 

The one tool that kicked you to the next level in projection?

 

Simple as a larger vise, a second vise, a real anvil, a power hammer, a hydraulic press, a hand hammer with a different weight or face design, etc.  

 

We need some ideas on how to better outfit our shop and make life easier. (grin)

[Mr.M]

Going from the wood fired forge to gas was the biggest saving so far. Now I just need to get some strength in my arms so I can keep up.

[Farmweld]

Definitely a power hammer for me, and then came all the heavier tools to handle the extra power, and the learning curve associated with a new tool, then the thinking about how to use it in different ways, then making the tools to see if you can use it that way, then modifying those tools to get the desired result or keeping the fortuitous mistakes and redesigning the new ones to get closer to what you were after, etc, etc.  Occasionally work is achieved as well.

 

Andrew

[Charles R. Stevens]

The simple answer is knowlege, thank you Glenn, fellow menbers of IFI, and members of the salt fork craftsmen.
Curently it is the change of profile on the pein face of my primary hammers. More curve to my rounding hammers and very blunt (1/2 round profiles) on my peins. They resemble power hammer dies, lol. They move the metal with less clean up. Not sayong that I don't have and use more conventinal peins, but for most work I have a 3# half round strait pein in my hand for general blacksmithin, roumding hammer for shoeing (reliivin the offside inere edge, curving out the heal, drawing a clip or starting the initial bend) ;-)

[njanvilman]

Getting my Champion Powerhammer set up and running in my shop.  It has saved my countless hours primarily in drawing out steel over hand hammering.  Also saved my elbow.

[Steve Sells]

building my belt grinder, and rolling mill.

[dablacksmith]

tumbler...kept me away from the wire wheel.

[HWooldridge]

Adding a gas forge helped me increase overall production output and improve appearance of finished work.

[ThomasPowers]

Gas forge is probably the greatest production increaser. A lot of tools *change* the type of work you consider or the way you do it.

I was first going to go with the internet---but we still tend to flail around on our own first and *then* do the research after we have run into a brick wall.

[VaughnT]

While I'm certain that my propane forge allowed me to do more simply because I can use it inside without a big chimney, I have to say that the number one tool that really allowed me to stretch my legs was a stick welder.

 

Having a stick welder, and the ability to run a serviceable bead, means that I can create tooling for the vice and anvil.  That makes a HUGE difference.

 

Guillotine tools and hardy stems are just the proverbial tip of the iceberg in terms of what a welder can help you build quickly and easily.  Yes, all of those tools can be done with nothing more than hammer and anvil, but the welder allows you to make them with relative ease.

 

If you've not bought an old buzzbox yet, do so with all due speed.  

[ironwolfforgeca]

Well ALL of the above Eqt !!  arc welder wise get a DC unit !! you will be happier !

 

other than that my Burr king belt sander I USE Daily & my 14" cut off saw that can cut angles right or left = 180 degs 

& 3 Ph wire feed -- then theirs the Hosfeld bender when needed & the list go's on LOL

 

LOL Just 1 tool ????????????  really :o

that's like asking what is you're favorite hammer  ? out of how many ?

[Direwolf]

As noted above hard to ID one thing. I do a lot of mechanic work and restoration plus welding and blacksmithing. The one tool I'd hate to give up is my Dewalt portable band saw. Seems I'm always cutting something and have O/A torches, chop saw plus lots of other options but I've had my trusty porta band saw at least 20 years and use it constantly. Cuts anything fast with not much kerf, carry it to any work piece. Also like my pneumatic needle scalers. Great for removing weld slag, rust and crud and can be used to texture a piece of metal.

[Jeddly]

In order of appearance, 4.5" angle grinder, wire feed welder, and lastly, the KMG clone.

 

Soon to be added, are the tire hammer, and a hefty hydraulic press.

[ausfire]

The chain and stirrup hold-down on my anvil. Indispensible!!

[Crazy Ivan]

TIG welder, Porta-band, and a IR reflective coating in my gas forge.

[SmoothBore]

I use a 6x48 Powermatic Belt Sander EVERY DAY, ... for a wide variety of jobs.

 

Vertical DoAll bandsaw, ditto.

 

Drill Presses, Angle Grinders, Rolling Gantry with "air" hoist, AC/DC Stick Welder, 2000# Hydraulic Lift Table, and the trusdty AutoCAD also get DAILY use.

 

This year, I added a 6x4 John Deere "Gator",  that's proving to be much more useful than I anticipated. ( Broke 9 Vertabrae last year, and mobility has become something of an issue.  ;)  )

 

 

 

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[Frosty]

There isn't any single tool I can think of that's THE time saver. Gas forge and power cut off come to mind but they only help.

 

I have to go back to one of the things Father used to say to me. It's not the shop or tools it's the layout. Production work or not having the tools and equipment laid out as if it is makes everything more efficient. Efficient is what this thread is actually about, getting the most work for the time and effort.

 

So I guess that's my biggest time saver tool, good layout.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[VaughnT]

Frosty, that's a very good point, and something often overlooked.  Keeping your shop clean and organized, with tools in their place and ready to use, saves far more time than most folks realize.  And it makes it a lot more fun to actually work on stuff.

 

Of course, I'm the world's worst at it and constantly struggle to get around in the shop.

[Frozenforge]

I totally agree on the organized shop! When I was younger and my friends and I were always working on our cars I really disliked working over at my buddies house. Between his dad, brother and himself all working on vehicles and projects trying to find a 1/2 or 9/16 wrench or socket was almost impossible cause nobody cleaned up at the end of the day. When they did spring cleanings and put all the tools away there were 3 or 4 sets of wrenches and sockets available for a few days or weeks.

When I start a bigger project I have a folding 3x5 table I set up as a work station to put all the high use tools and keep them next to your work. I really really hate losing, misplacing tools so if I dont use the table I end up wasting time walking back and forth to the tool box.

My mig welder I bought in 1991 or 92 and still works flawlessly today has paid for itself tenfold. I have made quite a few trailers for people and had them buy me a specific tool for payment for the labor. The first trailer got me a chopsaw, 2nd a bench grinder ect....ect.

It always seems like you can do better when no actual cash changes hands!

[anvil]

Time,,, to learn my hammer and anvil so well I no longer had to think about what I need to do or how/where to hit my iron to go from concept to product.

it took about 7 years of full time smithing for me to reach this point.

after that my need for conventional power tools fell to a minimum. O/A bottles filled about once a year. grinder use and wheels became nearly nothing. hot filing, cold filing, sand paper saved me time and money over other conventional consumables.

once I learned that, all my hammers, including my power hammer became 10 times more efficient.

just goes to show,, all you got to do is heat it and beat it

[basher]

Belt grinder, power hammer , gas forge in that order..... I could live without the gas forge , Id hate to but I could .

 

both the belt grinder and power hammer work at over 10 to one against hand work.

 

 

and dremmel or its big brother pendant grinder. the dremmel changed a half day job with a file.... into a 1 hour job...

[Ric Furrer]

Electricity...........I remember when I got the first light bulb in my first shop.

Very soon after came an electric blower on the coal forge.

 

Now if it does not plug in I probably do not know how to use it.

 

Ric

[yahoo2]

This was the first decent quality cordless tool I owned. A half inch impact wrench. It completely changed my mindset to how I work and how I think about work efficiency, it made me realize there was a lot of wasted time, energy, effort and capital in how I worked.

 

I have turned into a quick and nimble "do more with less" kinda person rather than throw everything including the kitchen sink onboard, just in case I needed it.

[BOB T]

I think my "Best Tool" all my blacksmith friends, their sharing of Knowledge, Friendship, Companionship. I think of all the hammer-end, workshops, conferences and schools I've been to. How each and everyone of them made a difference in my blacksmithing skills over the years..

[JNewman]

For blacksmithing Power hammers and my hydraulic presses.  The presses I primarily use to bend with and they allow me to bend things that would otherwise be a struggle and allow me to bend lots of things cold.  I had a job bending 1000 1" round bars in a sharp 90.  The first time I did it in about 2 weeks with a flypress and I think I may have done permanent damage to my shoulder.  After I got a hydraulic press it took less than a week to do the other batches of 1000.  It upped my hourly rate on that job to around $140/hr.