youngdylan

I've seen a "needs must" approach to a fly press with no balls .... the owner just clamped two moderately sized vices to the pegs where the balls normally sit using the jaws of the vices to grip the "pegs" .... mass is mass is mass ... worked pretty d. well

Nice work Danger ..... you sure know your way round a set of curves

Guess when I finally get to ride round the states I'll have to be a bit more careful drinking in Arizona. :)

you haven't met my landlord Sam

Blacksmith sized 6'1" 220 lb ..... but VERY organized. Simply got no choice in 20' by 20' (and probably 20' to roof ridge

Bob there isn't a day goes by when I don't bemoan my lack of a platten table. When I set up my workshop I didn't really know what i was doing or would do .... no change there then. I built a table with a rigid frame but only a 1/4" plate top. Cos my two 2 off 250kg jibs cranes are tied into the bench it would be an absolute b**lache to replace the table. I do use some wood working style clamps .... very effective. But because the top is so thin I can't just drill holes in it; I have to make special sockets that fit under the table. I've also got a few .bits of 25mm plate with 30mm square holes bolted underneath in a few places. I've been looking around for a platen table for when I finally get out of my shoebox but they seem as rare as rocking horse s*** over here. The (very) few I've seen have all been big monsters about 8' square and 6" thick. I yet to see anything of any size on ebay. Planning on fabbing up a table using 30mm or thicker plate when I do move

Danger, I wasn't really thinking of music, I was more playing around with the "frameless" thing I like to do but yeah I can see why you say music, might actually "think" music next chance I get and sea what happens. Plate was textured using bolt on dies in my Kinyon. I have occassionally thought about milling some dovertails for it but it's kinda handy being able to quickly "throw together" dies, allows you to be quite experimental without to do much planning ahead. I'll try to dig out some photos of the dies, the photo shows various other Kinyon dies. The business end of texturing dies was some 4340 forged to 50mm square, about 100m long with "grooves" randomly cut in with and angle grinder. Gas forges sure are good when working plate. As anside it's one of those jobs where the Kinyon is better than the Anyang, both for making dies and cos the narrow throat of the Anyang means you can only work about 125mm wide strips Bearing are a 25mm ...ish ball on the bottom that is part of the electrical opener, top is a collar around the 60mm upright. No bronze or other bearing material, well greased steel on steel. The whole thing turns freely; that nice feeling where you can feel the weight of the gate but move it with one finger.

Thanks for that danger ...... if they're good enough for the aircraft industry, they're good enough for me

tell me about it, it does annoy me ....... I'm paying my lanlord for that unused wall space

Guess I'm following your's an Grant's "on the roof" advice without knowing it . I've got my main tank rigged up with my compressor 50 ft away in the "bog" but if you look above the Kinyon you'll see I've sneaked in a mid sized "resovoir" tank that near the hammers, come to think of it theres load more room up there for "stuff"

Nope, over here in England they're not/ won't ban pint glasses or bottles from pubs, very unlikely they ever will. What they do ban then from are roudy "saturday night special" places or certain types of outdoor events where the "wrong sort" of people end up drinking all day. It's usually the local councils (the PEOPLE) not the government that ban them. Often the establishments themselves voluntarily and senssibly choose to use plastic. D**kheads and alcohol in these places can and regularly do make a less than pleasant combination. Glasses aren't smacked over your head in some hollywood way to knock you out, the usual trick is to pick the glass/botle, smash off the end on a nearby object then grind the broken half they're still holding into their "opponents" face, women are occassionally on either end of the bottle. Maybe your beermugs are a bit sturdier?

Now then Grant, they're not real people ....... you can tell that because their arms are too long

what's that .... one of those long haired book readers?

metrologically yes ....... said in gruff voice

tool crib? that'll be the realm of the long stand, sky hook, left handed screwdiver, tartan paint ......

I've just noticed the location of the compressor tank in the photos of Helmets treadle hammer at the top of this thread .... roof brackets aren't far off the mark.

Thats spot on there judson. Guess we tend to go horizontal first then vertical

Hey I'm almost "ambimetrological" myself ..... just happen to prefer the logic, convenience, simplicity ....... of the metric systems ...... it's miles better:)

Can't say that I ever have or am ever likely to try using them with small nuts. I guess the clue is in the name "mole grips"; I don't call them "mole wreches". Just about the one job I never seem to use them for is to replace a spanner. Usual methods for me on stubborn and or rounded fastners are heat/ stillsons/ buzz gun/blunt cold chisel amongst others. Never used them to replace tongs, tongs do a pretty good job. Often use them to hold finger slicing pieces of sheet metal when using a drill press.

I'm kinda assuming you've got a belt grinder or buffing machine Sam, if so, isn't it just great to "feel the work" as the mop/belt picks up on the work in the pliers and launches it across the room ... not the best of feelings :)

Pretty good Bob, pretty good . I like the bent needle nose idea. I generally don't use them on nuts and bolt's (Stillsons are pretty good for that, 3/4" buzz gun even better) but the point you make about stopping a nut/bolt spinning behind a bulk head is a pretty good one. As you've probably guessed I'm a big fan of these tools. Most time I use one, I always take great delight in the principle of the over centre locking ... I really must get out more. I do actually remenber a time a few years back when I was out in night club, it had a kinda "industrial retro chic" look and you could see the rivetting on the exposed girders. Friends couldn't understand why I was studying these rather than the women there. Couldn't really explain it to them.

hey 3 out four aint bad :)

kinda odd term really, I always take the word utility to mean services such as gas/water/drains/electricity/maybe air. In that sense a self contained is also a utility hammer. ......and the definition of pedant is?

hand work ...... pretty much gove on work hand, very occassionally on hammer hand power hammer work ....... pretty much always both gloves. As much .....because you can hold a bigger hotter larger gas forge heated piece piece for longer .... than for safety. Like most people I much prefer to hold the work (or work with a bar welded on) in my hands than in tongs. I'd much rather be holding the work in gloved hands than in tongs with no gloves. Leather gloves are good when you want to give a quick pull push lift or poke to a bit of work you know to be very hot as long as it's only for a split second. I've done it on red metal a couple of times. Quickly throw the glove off after or dip your hand in the slack tup. Kinda goes against that fear I like to cultivate but ........

two hydraulic presses actually, 30 ton C frame and 15 ton H frame:) I've got a 10hp vane compressor, and it's ...... ....... housed in an old toilet nearby....... needs must ...... I'm sure Grant would appove, easier to maintain than on the roof:) One of the few concessions my landlord has ever given me. Used to be housed under my 8' by 4' workbench. Moving it out made a massive difference to me.