doc

Mack, The smiths name you were trying to remember was John Algood.

Glenn, Not to be picky but John makes the Iron Kiss Hammers . The KA"s are made by Bob Bergman, who took them over from the original builder whom I believe was Grant Sarver.

HI Sid, As this site is primarily about forging metals and not machining I would start by looking at this link for the information you'r looking for. http://www.practicalmachinist.com/

Great Job Grant, I once had Fairbanks Hammer owners manual that showed a die constructed very similar to that. At the time I didn't have the tools or the money to try and make one.

Grant , It looks like you'll be eating the face of that hammer if you try using the pointy end :P

Another interesting feature is that the 600 lb. has no step but you can see that the steel face continues right on out over where the step should be!

HI Dave, Lets keep it simple OK . You want and need a small gasser to do a small job inexpensively and efficiently. You could get Kao-wool it works fine but you'd have to by a minimum amount that is more than you need for what you'r building. Then in order for the wool to last anytime and to protect your lungs from the bits of fiber that will be strewn in the air every time you fire it up and every time you pass stock in & out of it you need to coat it with rigidizer. Then if you want it to really last and give you more heat for your buck you'll need to coat it with ITC-100 or some equivalent. BOTTOM LINE all this is going to cost you more in materials and labor than you'r going to make from the job it's for. Get yourself some soft reflective fire brick, some angle iron build a forge box one brick high one wide and maybe two deep.The area you'r heating is less than one cubic foot, any losses thru the brick will be minimal compared to the heat in side and will get your job done fast and efficiently. After you've completed your job you will have gained some understanding of how a gasser works and is built. If you think you'd like a larger one for other stuff you'r in a better place for building one and maybe can justify the expense. The small brick one will out last any equivalent wool forge at less cost. Caleb's explanation on freezing and link to Ron Reils' burners are something I should have added to my first post........ Thanks Caleb If this all sounds wrong to you then you can just disregard Doc

Dave, The small size of forge you'd like to build should be quite reasonably made from soft fire brick and angle iron frame. Almost any simple pipe burner (made from plumbing fittings) of about 1/2" or 3/4" pipe should be sufficient.A grill sized tank probably wouldn't give you too much trouble with this size burner/forge combination but you could either manifold two 25lbs. together or get yourself a 60lber.This would alleviate freezing up. You might want to use a hard brick on top of soft for the floor to resist wear. Hope this helps

I guess power hammer Olympics has gotten boring. -_-

Nice tool macbruce it does a great job. There are alot of versions of this type of tool made and sold by the autobody sheet metal guys out there. On the other hand I do the same thing with the " C-frame" you spoke of only I mount it in my Bull air hammer and turn the valve down. Vanes 12ga. acanthus leaves like nobodys business.

Looks like you did a great job finishing up where we left off the other day Ciladog :)

If you search the "BP"s for tapers refined you'll find the original post for this tool from about seven or eight years ago. The one shown in the BP was shown going across the die rather than along the length just to present the principle.

tomhw You're absolutely correct ATF is not a lubricant! If I were concerned about the oil being too heavy in my crank blower I'd use Marvel Mystery Oil, drizzled on through the oiler hole as needed. The gear boxes of most hand cranks were intended to hold oil (no seals) but to be lubed as needed.

Dave , That bar shear is a good tool. I used to sell a Pedinghaus model like that one 30yrs ago, that sold for about that price new back then. If you notice the cutting blades are square blocks with four cutting edges that can be rotated to a new edge as they get dull. If your bound to get a shear and it's made well it should be the ticket for you. For direct forging from cutting a shear is much cheaper and quicker than a bandsaw to operate. Doc

Peter, Just wondering...., if you want a hardened edge and a soft back. Why not just edge quench from the beginning and eliminate the second temper draw in the water? I'm not criticizing, just interested in your approach. Doc

google translator says their making sledge hammers

Wonderfully simple tool. I would only suggest that you grind a point on a set screw and thread it in where your center punch mark is now, with the point protruding upward it would automatically make your center punch mark for drilling the rivet hole. This would eliminate a few steps you have mentioned. Doc

very well done

Hi all , I've been lingering in the back ground of this thread since it started and thought maybe it was time for me to drop something in for your thoughts. After Beth's remarks about the three dimentionality of forged iron I felt you all might like to look at a friends of mines work. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joseph-Anderson-Sculpture/137687176255116 I'm not trying to persuade anyone's thoughts on how they relate to iron but feel that my friend Joe has truly grasped something that many of us haven't or can not. Enjoy. Doc

Thanks Sam..... for pointing out that Brian's class isn't full yet. All of us at Peters Valley are hoping he'll be able to come and teach but that won't happen if more students don't sign up for the class. Doc

The proper way to hammer and eventually end up with tendinitis or some other problem is to learn to throw the hammer.Your grip should loose as the hammer is descending as if the only reason for a handle is so you won't loose the hammer into space.It is then gripped on the rebound raised to the required hight aimed and thrown again.the looser the grip on descent the better. A slab sided handle is best because it allows you to feel the angle at which your releasing the hammer as you through it and direct you blows with accuracy.Believe me as after 40 yrs of full time free hand forging and having injured my severely in my first ten years of smithing this is how it should be done. Doc

Great demo of the versatility of your hammer controls. You've got many more choices than with a simple linear switched hammer.

If I were you I'd start to make my bolt from square stock. Shoulder below where you want the head to end,draw out the shank and finish in a swage. The header need be anything more than a bolster plate with the correct size hole. I can't tell if you want a 1/2" square head or a 1/2" bolt shank. But if say you want a 1/2" shank then the head of your bolt should be 3/4" square. You could forge this 1/2"sq. stock as you would a nail by cutting it off with enough left to upset in the bolster to form a 3/4" head and then true up the edges so they're a true square head. hope this is clear Doc

Hi John and HWHII you are both right. It depends on what type of brazing you are doing . check out this link http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.embraco.com%2FDesktopModules%2FDownloadsAdmin%2FArquivos%2FHjmk2nyG9t.pdf&ei=EHyWTaXWGtG20QGvutjxCw&usg=AFQjCNFxOGJ7CZkTFkkFzEHmcARkl2uDEg&sig2=q90nzgSnc7dXeyB8Wj3cog

Dave If you'd like a black hard finish on your hooks with linseed oil. Dip or quench the hook completely in the oil when at its highest black heat or just as it is beginning to show color.Swish it around a bit as it cools and then wipe dry with a rag as you remove them from the oil.This will give you a black oxide type of finish that is quite hard and durable. The linseed , beeswax ,turps and japan dryer finishes are for cold finishing and the item to be coated is warmed only enough to make application easy. Hope this helps Doc.