kpotter

What kind of lathe is it? How big is it, is it american made or import. I would get a lathe it is hard to survive in this world without one. I have 5 of them ranging from 9x20 to 18x40 with 2hp-10hp and wouldnt get rid of any of them, you can do alot with a lathe and then you will want a mill and a shaper then a bandsaw and a surface grinder and then you are stuck you can never move from your house because it will cost a fortune to move the shop.

I think you are going to need some larger tools I have never seen a bench top horizontal that could handle 85lbs i think you will squish it. I have made some bowl impressions in a block of steel using my mill and tilting the head and using a shell mill and a rotary table. I used my shaper to cut swaging grooves.

I am going to put the hardy on the bottom of the anvil so i dont mess up my big flat surface. The hardee will be made by machining a sqaure hole with the shaper in a piece of 2 inch round bar then I will drill a 2 inch hole in the bottom of the anvil with my horizontal mill and machine a nice bevel on it then press the 2 inch bar into the anvil and weld it up. The swage block church window stuff will be welded to the body with whatever Harold deems appropriate. This anvil is small probably under 100 lbs all done so it is not like I will be forging on it with a sledge hammer or something.

I haven't been able to sleep for days - I've been dreaming about making this hornless anvil. I was devastated when I went to the steel yard and the guy who operates the burn table went on a fishing trip! I had to wait an extra few days. I got 'em back on Friday and I started machining them this morning. I put them up on my shaper and machined the bottoms to get them perfectly flat. I'm going to have my buddy Harold who is a member on this site, weld the tool steel plate and the church windows. I consider Harold God's welder- When God needs something welded, I'd swear he calls Harold. It's have a swadge block on the side, a hardy hole on the bottom of the anvil and a tool steel top. I've made a 300 pound anvil in the past. it was more of an ASO - anvil shaped object. I have more confidence in this one. I'm making it not for forging steel on, but for doing silversmithing work. I already have two really good anvils, which is kind of unfortunate - having a Buddin and a Peddinghaus because that sets the bar pretty high,especially if I do the ball bearing test side by side. Anyway, here is a video: Making an anvil Anyway, thanks for watching. Kevin

Great video that looks like alot of work. I am going to use my press to do the shaping and squeezing but if I had a big enough hammer I would do it like that, it looks like a ton of fun, the heat coming off that thing must have been intense. I love all the old videos from the library of congress that shows the smiths hammering on huge hot chunks of iron.

I suppose 15 years ago that stuff was only worth 100 dollars, it is a nice swage block and vise but what was cool was they really called me. They didnt think to much of dads stuff to them it was junk and alot of it was but everyone has a treasure or two. I helped them clear out the blacksmith shop but there was nothing in there but old tupperware and rotting newspaper I had visions of a 500lbs anvil actually more like fantasies any way I think every dog has his day maybe that was mine.

About 15 years ago I was riding my bike through an old part of the city and in this guys front yard was a post vise and a big swage block as well as an old metal planer. I have found all kinds of cool stuff out in the world but when it is in the front yard it is usually not for sale, but I had to check you never know. I knocked on the door and an old guy answered, I asked him if the stuff was for sale and of course it wasnt but he showed me the back of the house and it used to be a blacksmiths shop it was his families shop and had been in the family since the late 1800s. I talked with him for a bit and got ready to leave and he said give me your name and number and when I die my son will call you and you can have them for 100 dollars. I thought for a second since this was kinda strange but figured what the hell I gave him my number he told me he would put it on the bulliten board. I didnt want to ask when he was going to die that would have been rude so I just hopped on my bike and rode away. I figured I would never hear from them and I would occasionally drive buy and the stuff would be sitting there, well fast forward 15 years and I got a call and the guy says is this Kevin Potter, do you still want the vise and swage block I have a note that says you will pay 100 bucks for the stuff. It took a minute or two to figure out what he was talking about but I was in the truck heading over with cash in hand. I got there and he told me his dad had died and that he saw the note and gave me a call. The whole family was there going through the estate the guy was a pack rat, takes one to know one, any way I figured I would tell you guys about the find I just mounted the vise last week and remembered the tale.

I am building a couple of hornless anvils. I had them cut out of 4 inch plate they will be faced with an h13 plate and have the look of an old anvil. I have them on my shaper right now flattening out the tops and bottoms, they are about 100lbs each.

All these stories confirm it they are way to tough to play with I thought maybe it was just me. I have seen giant piles of them and it is all I can do not to make a pile and buy them but past experience has shown they are more work than they are worth, I have been buying 4 inch ball bearings that are still soft they are great.

I make them for silversmiths and coppersmiths I could sell you some unfinished ones for less as that is where all the time and cost comes from I spend a few hours grinding and polishing on them but if you are willing to do the work you would save some money. I make a whole line of t stakes and mushroom stakes. Just thought I would throw this out there since this is what I do.

I have some of those as well, living in AZ they are at the scrap yards I have had trouble welding them they are manganese steel at least that is what I was told. When I welded to them the stake that i tried to attach would crack off. I have found better balls but not cheaper balls from bearing supply houses.

Anvil envy, I am feeling warmly toward your anvil. that is just plain cool I would use it as a bench and an anvil.

I have the shop that harold was talking about and I use my cincinatti 20 inch all the time it can take off more metal than a BP any day it wont drill a hole though. I used mine to plain off a piece of hotroll plate for my forging press it leaves a great finish. I have video of it on you tube my channel is rivett lathe or potterusa I dont know how to link it but there are some good shots of the shaper. 500 bucks is not to bad if it runs and you dont have to ship it.

I have made an anvil from a solid block of a36 it weighs about 350lbs it looks beautiful just like an anvil I had it flame cut out then I machined it and hardfaced it. It cost more than a good used anvil I understand the attraction to this I am going to do it again but I am building a hornless anvil.

I was going to machine in the church windows and the contours then forge all over I thought about pressing it I do have the tonnage for that. I like the idea of silver soldering the top on I might test that out. I could put silver solder on the back of the plate then tig weld the plate to the anvil then heat the crap out of it in the forge and maybe it would sweat solder to the anvil. I would like to just forge weld it in the traditional way but that is probably a tall order.

I have been drooling over the pics of hornless anvils and since there is no way I can buy the one that I want I have decided to make one. I know this topic has been beaten to death and I have made my own anvil in the past with less than stellar results, it looks great but has no rebound. I cant help myself I am going to try again. I want to start with a block of A36 and machine or have it flame cut to rough shape then forge it all over under my power hammer more for astetics than anything else. I want to put a plate on it made of tool steel I have some o1 and some s7 as well as some a500. I have never forge welded somthing this big. Or would it be better to start with a block of 4140 it would probably cost a fortune but then I could harden the top. I want something in the 100lbs range. I know that some of you are thinking here we go again another bonehead trying to make an anvil but I do have the equipment to do it I just need some advice. I will probably come to my senses later but I am fixated by these dang things.

I sell the whole thing all assembled unless you want to build it yourself I am using s7 for the dies they hold up real well I can also provide them in h13 wich ever you want I am glade you like it.

I have been making small hydraulic presses for a few years and just converted one of mine to forging, they work great, i had been using the air over hydraulic jack to run the press to stamp the dies that I make so i made up a set of forging dies and holders. i made the dies out of s7 and they have been holding up real well i made some for hot cutting and drawing as well. i am going to make some stops so that i can forge to a specific thickness this week and make some more tooling for the press to hot form shapes. The video is from my website I hope it is ok to post it if not please delete it.

16gpm it is then I really appreciate the help I will post pics, Harold, a member here is doing the welding, so it wont come flying apart from my bird poop welds, the thing is heavy I am still sore from hauling the pipe into the shop.

I have checked the specs on the haldex pumps they seem to be the most common, the 16gpm at 3600rpm is the closest to the recomended specs of 5gpm at 2500psi it has 3.5gpm for the high pressure side and 16 for the low is there any pumps that are closer to the 5 gpm or will it not make much difference.

It is a 3600 rpm motor, 220 3phase. I am building the frame from 8 inch 3/8 wall square tubing I want to use one of legs of this thing as the hydraulic resevoire. I think it will hold about 10 gallons I think that will be enough if not I can use both legs and that has to be plenty. Do most people use the 2 stage pumps to achive a higher pressure? Thanks for the info

I am building a 2 cylinder 50 ton forging press I have 2 5 inch x16 inch stroke cylinders and a 7.5hp motor I was going to use the 16gpm two stage pump or would it be better to just go with a single stage pump I am doing closed die forging in it. I need more speed the press that I am using now is too slow.

Lenin said show me a capitalist and I will show you someone who will sell you the rope and rent you the tree from which to hang him from, or something to that affect. We did just that by doing business with china. Greed is greed how ever you label it, the end result is the same. You will end up with rich and poor winners and losers one method just takes a little longer.

This is a great idea I make small 20 ton hydraulic presses for jewelers and when I read this thread I went out to the shop and made a set of forging dies out of s7 and put them in my press and they worked great. I have been selling my presses to jewelers to punch out dies and form sheet but this is way more fun. I am going to make dies for forging tennons and flats and punching holes. It wont be doing real heavy work but it can easily do 1 inch stuff which is great for most work. I will try and post a video,

Thread cutting on a mill is done with a horizontal universal mill that has a power takeoff to drive the dividing head in conjunction with the table feed so that you can generate a spiral. I could make drill bits and milling cutters if I could figure out all the gearing and feeds and speeds to make it happen, I dont think a cnc BP will do it alone you need the dividing head and a way to power it with the table feed at a predetermined rate.