Randy

Good job! Too many people forget to do that tuck before you roll and that's what makes the hay-penny. (The hay-penny is actually the English half-penny, but they say it the other way. It's a big coin.) Too many just have the disc on the end of the bar and start the scroll. You need to do that tuck or squish first so the transition from the disc to the bar gradually flows out. Way to go, Dave!

Thanks! Yea, a bit big and a bit heavy, but what else could I call it? It wouldn't be big on Shaq...

I've worked with brick floors and and there was a problem with cracking, breaking and corners popping up to trip you. Wood floor were never even. I had a dirt floor mixed with fine wood ash, watered and tamped down. One of the most comfortable floors, but requires a lot of maintenance. The all around best floor I've used is all concrete. Seems it's the cold in the concrete that causes a lot of the standing problems. Now they use a foam insulation under the concrete and that takes that problem away. That's what I'd recommend.

Here's a titanium sheet that I sunk and punched and inlayed into a piece of steel for a pendant. It's 3-1/8" high. Here's the full front view: Here's the side so you can see the depth:

Learn something new every day. Thanks! Okay, I searched the website, any idea how I'd go about reaching these people with my goods?

Thanks all. Thomas, what's the SCA?

This is a carry over from the skulls shown earlier. This time a pirate skull and two sabers had to be made for the tooling. So from a pirate doubloon to a ladies belt buckle to a men's belt buckle. I've sold a couple and am now looking for a bigger market. You can see the depth of the press I've achieved.

I'm not a big fan of skulls either. Now I'm having trouble looking at someone with out seeing the skull in their head. :blink: But the interest is there so why not?

I noticed that, too! They were a nice size, not the huge ones you usually see. That's okay, that just gives a smith the chance to find and use it. There has been a number of barns/shops with tools as you said. I wish they gave contact info so things we see could be found. Did you see the Von Dutch Harley with a vw engine that was owned by Big Daddy Ed Roth?! Amazing and they bought it for $21,000!

Hope you put down some insulation first. It's a big help to keep the cold from coming through.

You're very fortunate. Be sure to post some photos of the found tools.

Kate's good. Too bad the producers don't know anything about forging and too stupid to ask. Couldn't believe they had an anvil 5 feet off of the ground for her to hammer on. I also like the one in Fly Away Home. Forged out a really big dragon. Plus it's modern day. Also like the ones in Lord of the Rings. Scary, but powerful.

All depends on what you're making. What do you "specialize" in?

Can you forge weld? You can make a hardie hole tool like this drawing. Upset the center bar first as you'll lose some material from heating.

Thanks, all. Yes, the tooling was pressed into a plate and then the hot bronze was pushed into the plate. That's pretty much how most of my dies are made. It amazes me the amount of detail and depth I can get with this, too. The more detail/time you put into the tooling the more detail you'll have in your finished piece. I've also done buckles with flying anvils, waves, tire tread running across them and a cheshire cats' head. I designed and get the backing laser cut out of stainless and silver solder them on.

Looking good, Dan. My only concern is it bowing sideways with that long push that you're going to have. Are you going to add any bracing or end plates to the vertical I-beams? I like how Eric super glued his guide pieces together for drilling. Smart! What is this going to mount to? A table like Eric's or..?

Here's my latest solid bronze belt buckle. Done on the press and the tooling I made to produce it. Front: Showing depth: And the steel tooling:

Where do you live? Maybe you can join a local group and use a local shop?

Yea, Dan, sounds like you'd have to stand on a box!

The key is having fences and stops, which you need to have anyway in punching. Also if you center punch your work and have a point on your punch it's not a problem at all. (the metal moving up instead of the press coming down) It's hard to eyeball anything as your dies get in the way. Everything moves so smooth that you don't get bounching around of the metal. Plus before you put the hot metal in the press you have already brought the dies down most of the way. Saves time/heat and it can all be aligned before putting in the hot metal. I was concerned at first, too, in having the metal moving up, but after the first squish I pretty much have forgotten that I'm working this way.

peacock has it exactly right: "It's really a matter of the oil taking the path of least resistance." If it helps I've attached the front and back closeups of my press. Only problem I've had is either my measurement for the cylinder spacing or the guy who cut the plates or maybe something else caused the one cylinder to cock to the right and so there is a slight imbalance in the push. It hasn't been a problem. I should also mention that the cylinders are locked in place in the frame at the top and the bottom as they pull as well as push. Personally I wouldn't have the cylinders on the top just due to it being top heavy and having the ceiling height to accommodate them. You may have to bolt the unit to the floor where with mine I could have on casters if I wanted. But one does what he likes. I'd also recommend a limit switch to control the travel. And a must is protective sleeves for your high pressure hoses. Only cost about $3.50 a foot and can save your life and your shop. Here's the front: Here's the back:

Colleen, congrats on making some sales and money. Shoes are easily recognizable and most non smithing people do like them, some just because it reminds them of the past. Too bad that's all they know about smiths. It's funny, if you make a grand forged sculpture or gate or dragon or whatever, if they see a horseshoe they will gravitate to that as they "know" it. And then they show their kids and the circle never ends. Then we're always known as just a shoer.

Here's another one I made. Just sold it on etsy.

Ninety-five percent of the time my titanium has been free so I'll work with it no matter what alloy it is. I love it! :P

Wow! Kevin! Way to go! Look forward to seeing it!