fciron

A couple of fellows I used to work with were doing a job that had a bunch of little collared assemblies. One guy would back up the hot collars with a swage while the other hammered them closed. Getting toward the end of a long day and Charlie put a collar in place and said "Buck it!" Jerry said "About time.", put down his hammer and headed for the office. :lol:

I think it's worth noting that a smith works on the horn and heel of the anvil as well as the center of the face. A larger anvil is going to tell more as you move away from the center of mass. As has been noted earlier, variables such as the mounting of the anvil can make a difference as well. Bajajoaquin, thanks for doing the math.

Don, fciron is me, Lewis! I used to work at the Metal Museum in Memphis about 15 years ago. I've got a couple of 'Poppa Don' knives in the kitchen, been out to your place even. I believe Stewart was agreeing with my comment (at the top of the page) that the lack of safety equipment on LGs was not due to penny pinching but lack of interest. I agree that a well tuned Little Giant works fine. I've got a twenty-five and a fifty. I had a similar experience with the 50 when I first started renting the shop: at least 1/2" of play in the guides, also pulled a couple of shims from the bearings and tightened the treadle connecting rod before I could use it. That said, there are very few adjustable/renewable parts in a Little Giant, which makes it difficult to keep them in good repair. My 25 had the original arms and links, yet when I got a new spring from Sid it was too short for my hammer. Of course, the fact that any new replacement parts are available at all puts it ahead of other mechanical hammers. There are lots of them out there and we're gonna keep using them. I know I am. :lol:

You don't have to slow down the motor; you can put a valve on either the intake or output to control the airflow. I used to control one blower I had by putting a piece of cardboard on the intake, the suction would hold it in place and I could slide it back and forth to get just the right amount of air. Eventually you'll want to look for a blower with big pressure creating vanes instead of a little velocity producing squirrel-cage, but by then you won't have any plumbing questions.

There are to approaches to that: #1 "If it's a fifth the price at Lowe's then you should buy it from Lowe's." I refuse to make curtain rings anymore, it's not good for me or the customer. I'll make rods and brackets because people always want something that's 2 inches longer than what's in stock and they're willing to pay for it, but it's better for both of us if they just buy the rings from the store. I can't keep the darn things in stock and I hate making them. #2 Send her a picture or a sample of something similar but better. Upset the ends, add a nice curve or cool texture so that the client (and friends) can see right away that this is a custom piece made just for that client and her cabinets. The only way to compete with mass production on price is to mass produce things. So don't compete on price. B)

That's the key ingredient. I don't often swing a hammer slowly. :D

I have the increased velocity math as the reason for the wrist snap at the end of the hammer stroke. You have a 12 year old girl next door that's on her way to engineering school?! :huh:

Last time I did some research on AL for a job I was surprised to see that 6061 (which is the most common alloy I run into) is a poor choice for forming. If I remember correctly it has good structural and welding qualities, but poor forming and bending qualities. It's possible that the cracking was caused by the bend being too sharp; for example, my Reynolds Aluminum book recommends 1" as a minimum inside radius for bending 1/4" 6061 plate. Arftist, I'm not trying to be a jerk, when I see your name on a post I usually pay a little more attention. It bugs me when people throw out numbers and don't explain them. The original poster said that he was working the material hot, so if we assume that he is using blacksmithing methods, rather than a 2" punch and die set, then even a small fly-press might be an improvement. Rob G, I checked the Forging Industry Handbook and forging temperature is between 700-850 degrees farhenheit for 7075 aluminum. I don't know how you would check that temperature with a stick, but it sounds like you've been working a little too cold.

I would also be concerned that the eye of a relatively modern ball pein hammer is not strong enough to be hammered on. A flatter has a large surface area in contact with the work and requires heavy blows to work.

Except that, as has been discussed before, a fly-press can deliver multiple blows and keep doing work. It does not stop working after a single blow bottoms out, so it's possible that it could eventually push the punch through. That is why the fly-presses are popular among smiths, if it were the manual equivalent of hydraulic or crank presses they would be too much work. Aluminum is a much better conductor of heat than steel, so I wouldn't discount the charred stick method. I've forged 3" aluminum using the 'Oh, my sharpie mark disappeared method' and done fine.

I hate to say it, but I think brazing in a new worm is the way to go. Just take it slow and easy.

Yep, I think the key is to drive the handle further into the head before tightening the wedges. I sometimes use a center punch to set the metal wedge into the wood a little further. It is also a good idea to have the opposite end of the handle resting on something solid when driving the wedges, otherwise part of your work ends up driving the handle back out of the eye.

I noticed I wasn't using the last four inches on most of my hammers so I cut them off. Exactly the opposite of Ramsberg's Modest Proposal, but I prefer them that way. I do have a box of old hammers. I am gonna make up a double header and try this experiment soon.

I'm going to agree with the finn. It's is a very good read and quite inspirational, but it would be a poor choice as a how-to manual. I really like the descriptions of the different types of work and the atmospheric prose, but Mr. Watson is a bit credulous as to the various blacksmithing myths pertaining to the knowledge and wisdom of the 'olden days'.

Um, DP may stand for drill press, just a guess. A picture would be worth a thousand words in this case. Given the lack of markings it is things like the shapes of the flywheel and handles that can help to ID a machine. You might have some luck searching for 'post drill' and seeing if any images that match your drill press turn up. Post drill is the common term for these hand cranked machines that are designed to mount to the wall or a post.

Grant, now that you mentioned it, I can see how it would go outwards. If it went inwards it would actually have to shrink into a smaller circle. That would create more resistance than moving to the outside. Cool.

The screw part looks ok. I'd check to make sure that you're not cross-threading in your reassembly attempts. Also there maybe a single chunk at the front of the box that got tweaked when it came apart, it may only require a little tweak to make things work again.

I used a 175 pound anvil for years and when I got access to a 250 pounder I was clearly able to tell the difference. When working stock over a 1/2 inch or so it feels like I am getting a lot more done working on the big anvil. I can see that if you had a couple of guys striking that it might make sense to go to a silly big anvil.

You still haven't answered the question of how you plan to attach your face plate and what you're trying to achieve. My first anvil came from a guy who was very proud of the piece of plate welded to the top. In my opinion it absorbed the force of the hammer blow and the torch cut edges were nasty. I had to spend a weekend prying it off and was able to do much better work on the swaybacked original top of the anvil underneath. Why sand and weld if you're going to add a plate? Why reface the entire anvil to make a knife when all you need is a few square inches of smooth steel?

Shhhh! Don't tell Clay Spencer. Andy Fitzgibbon has given me permission to repost his photos here.

When I was in Memphis (this goes back a few years) the Riverbluff Forge Council and the Metal Museum would order coal a few times a year and people could get in on that action. The RBFC web site seems to still be under construction, so that's no help. I saw in another thread that you've run out, so hopefully someone local to you will show up with some advice.

I've used a forge with both types of blowers connected. The two blowers were connected to a 'Y' in the ductwork and there were air gates on both to keep air from escaping out the unused option. Remember, the more bends in your system the more of your air pressure is spent over coming the resistance in the ductwork, so keep it simple. :)

This is at the Chautauqua County Antique Engine Association in Western NY. Pics here. http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/neat-home-made-power-hammer-214670/#post1462949

Oh, good. Now the troll doesn't even have to show up and you guys argue with each other. If pounditwhileitshot is really going to blow himself up with a gun barrel that he forge welds together from a railroad spike in a forge full of corn then nothing you guys say will dissuade him. DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!

Tried? Looks like you succeeded. :lol: