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caotropheus

2023 Donor
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Everything posted by caotropheus

  1. caotropheus

    Lever Press?

    I saw this idea in historic olive presses. After crunching the olives between two stones, the pulp was placed under a press very similar to mpc design. The distance from the fulcrum to the edge of the lever where pressure was applied ("pulled by fat guy") was about 10 times greater than the distance from the fulcrum to the "metal smasher". The lever was massive, made of wood of course, a whole tree trunk, 400 to 500 mm across. Now, there was no "fat guy pulling" but workers would pile hundreds of kg of stones to reach the desired pressure on the olive pulp to extract liquids. The press was left with this setup for several hours until no more liquid could be extracted. The point is that all this setup was massive and used in very soft materials like olive pulp and took a lot of time and man power to attain the required pressures. If it would work for smithing most certainly our ancestors would have developed a system to use levers like in mpc design. Compact ways of achieving mechanically these high pressures in small usable spaces and in one effective way are flypresses, eccentric presses, power hammers and such...
  2. A friend called me saying that he saw two shafts "big diameter" in his village junk yard. 3.20 m long, 120 mm diameter, estimate weight 280 kg per shaft. They come from a local plastic industry. Getting ready to cut the first shaft in half to take home, of course, do not forget PPE. 35 min cutting and ready to go home
  3. Nice vice. You just need to forge a spring. If possible, show us more detailed pictures.
  4. Got my self yet another German bench vice for repair. All components are seized, even the handle. it is an Heuer Front 180. Considering the corrosion, it looks like it was in a fire, at least the front part. Now, lets take it apart...
  5. mpc You may use a Heuer made in Germany bench vice (forged steel) but most probably will cost much more then a leg vice, so take into consideration the suggestions previously offered. One guy on Youtube made really nasty testes to several bench vices and the Heuer Front 120 (one of the little ones) was the second best. The best vice was one that he built him-self, several times bigger. If you want to build your own vice, go to Youtube and type "homemade diy vise", or "homemade diy blacksmith vise". You will have hundreds of videos.
  6. Peppie, this project is coming along really nice...who knows in the future if I am going to be accused of piracy for copying your ideas...
  7. I second Mr. McPherson answer. Always 100 % full penetration. I suppose you saw my Youtube videos on how I built my anvils, I welded with 7018 rods and I used a 3 phase arc welding machine that gives me 250 Amps, power supply 380 V 3 X 16 Amp duty cycle 100% at 180 Amp. I used 4 mm rods rated for 140 -190 amps. With my machine I could have used 5 mm rods rated for 240 Amps but I did not want to burn neither the welding machine nor the electricity wiring at home. If you can use bigger diameter rods even better, you will finish your work faster. To use machinery that require more Amperage I am changing now my power supply from 3X 220V 25 Amp to 3X 220 V 40 Amp. As I said before, in my area anvils are extremely expensive and it is cheaper for me to build an anvil if I can source the right materials from the local junkyard. Rods, discs and electricity at my place are also fairly cheap. I takes a long time, but I am stubborn enough to weld an anvil together and when you finish it it gives you a huge satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. So go forward with your project but if you do not show us pictures/videos, it did never happened...
  8. I do not intend to hijack the thread, but I saw the mathematical explanation and what laws of physics are applied to justify why you should weld steel blocks vertically to make an anvil. Sorry I do not have a link...
  9. Justwood&iron Quenching 200 kg of steel is not that easy. If you quench that mass of steel in oil you may cause a fire, even worse you may burn your self and people around you. I suggest you hard face the anvil with arc welding rods. Here is the method http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm I built my own anvils and I hardfaced with air hardening rod locally manufactured. You can see how I did it and hopefully improve my ideas. Good luck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSpXA0b33Fg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1-gk6W5Qrs By the way, if you do not show us pictures/video of your anvil construction, it did never happened.
  10. Terrible idea as an anvil. The teeth are hollow and upon hammering all welds will crack... Get the 30 kg cast steel anvil.
  11. I tried to leave the vice as close to the original version as possible. Sorry purists for welding the stopper pin for the thrust washer and plug weld the holes that were there. I think I am still missing two components, shields, one for the screw (like Heph showed us) and one for the thrust washer like in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUeL3P2h3Yk min 0:17 and 1:51. With time I will fix that. First lets go ahead and fabricate a stand for the vice. Guys, the gap I am referring to when the jaws are closed, is from top view. The edges of the jaws touch but there is a small gap (less than 1 mm) in the middle, you can pass there a piece of paper
  12. Finally finished all the cleaning and reassembled the vice. Electrolysis took a long time. Upon better inspection, you can see the grain structure of the wrought iron. The jaws are parallel but slightly misaligned in the height, about 1 mm and you can see a gap between the jaws when fully closed. I forged a wedge to lock the pivot pin And I welded a stopper for the thrust washer (if you are a purist, look away now!) The vice feels very solid and the operation is very smooth. The movable jaw does not wiggle at all sideways. Hope you enjoyed the project, I am only sorry I do not have/had wrought iron to make the missing pieces. How old do you guys think this vice is? thanks
  13. What is better than doing something? Overdoing it!
  14. So Thomas Powers, you think I have here a wrought iron vice? To confirm, I can always put a portion inside acid an see what happens...
  15. After some rust cleaning electrolysis you can see details on how the vice was forged. These pictures were taken before applying oil on the surface.
  16. I went back to the dealer to take a better look at the vice. Indeed it weighs 50 kg, but...but there was too much corrosion. One of the face plates was flaking, as if it was in touch for a long time with the soil or fertilizer. I decided not to buy.
  17. Thank you very much for the answer. I am also having a "buy attack" for this vice. What is better than a vice? A lot of them, right? I suppose the same principle applies to other tools, anvils in particular. About the pile of vices, the guy is an antique tool dealer and he imports a lot of used tools from Germany, mainly vices and anvils. He has no post vice you can "plug and run". All of them need some sort of repair and lubrication. But the variety is amazing, leg vises, bench mechanic vises, wagon blacksmith vises, and hand vises of all sizes. Nice place.
  18. Thank you very much @jlpservicesinc. I saw what you describe in pictures people sent me and in pictures I saw on the internet. Also yesterday I visited again the blacksmith antique seller and there was an example similar to my vice I could inspect in "person" but the washer was secured by a bolt, not a rivet. Also, when I place correctly the thrust washer it sits nice and flush with the movable jaw, even with the apparent bent claws (ears). So the two protruding bits of metal in the washer are in contact with the screw's head and allow the face (of the screw's head) to stay straight. What puzzles me is that the contact point between the thrust washer and the screw head is minimal, so my question is, is this small contact enough? I have a bit of bronze, probably I will make a bronze washer I will insert between the thrust washer and the screw. About the blind rivet, instead of locking a blind rivet in that hole, I can weld plug the hole and then weld a stopper for the thrust washer. It will strengthen the movable jaw for sure and less prone to loose components. What do you guys think?
  19. Greetings. I went for a "vice picture session" where I bought my latest two vices. I found this curiosity A vice with two braces riveted This looks like a repair several decades old. I must add I estimate the vice weighs at least 50 kg. What do you guys think?
  20. Thank you very much for your kind advice. I thought I got a complete German blacksmith vice, I would make only a clean up, reassemble, but it seems I am missing some components related with the thrust washer and screw shield. You can see the thread here https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/64779-got-me-self-a-german-blacksmith-vice/ Even though the vice construction points to an "old" model, it looks like it is made of mild steel. I will make a spark test and an acid test to confirm. I want to plug this hole it is 25 mm deep and 18 mm wide. So, what is your opinion? Thanks
  21. Greetings. Can I arc weld wrought iron with 6010 or 7018 electrodes? Thanks
  22. Sorry for the lousy picture, it was raining! The spring is about 20 cm long. The guy I bought the vice from, had few more modern (and much more expensive) German leg vices and indeed they have the "V" shaped spring.
  23. Thank you very much for your kind help. I will try to reproduce those components. I managed to take apart the vice (I love my flypress!) and these are the holes in the movable jaw. Probably the bolt broke inside the jaw? after cleaning I will try to figure out.
  24. Thank you. Do you have detailed pictures of the components? Also from the inside, there are holes over there I suppose to secure some sort of shield to the threaded rod. Thanks
  25. Got this vice, very rusty, movable parts seized in place except for the screw and "nut". It weighs 40 kg. The vice seems to had been used with care and good maintenance. Apparently, there are no bends or dings, no missing parts or cracks. It looks like that someone stopped using the vice and just removed it outdoors and stayed there for years exposed to the elements. The screw is in mint condition and jaws are parallel. The hole in the screw's head, where the handle passes, is fairly wide (even oval) for the handle diameter, pointing for extensive use of the vice. Also the pivot pin (yes a pin, not a screw) is secure by a wedge, that is missing. One thing I do not understand is that why are there 2 claws in the thrust washer 90 degrees in relation to keys that fit perfectly into slots on the movable jaw. If you guys have some information on this, please let me know. One final question, what is the manufacturer and how old do you thing this vice is? thanks
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