Thomas Dean,
good thinking on the painting....hadn't considered that.....I'll paint the lower half, but keep the jaws and surrounding metal unpainted.
as for keeping the drill....i have a regular motor drive drill press so i should need it. plus I don't have a belt drive system to drive this drill....and i have so many other things going on (2 old jeeps to be restored, got to build the forge, house remodeling, and on and on and on), that by the time i got around to freeing it up, I'd be an old old man.
think I'm keeping the swedges....no idea how to use them.....but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually do i need an upper half for each size there? cuz if so, I'm definitely missing some.
thanks for the comments everyone else.....i cant wait to get started.....i'm going to build a mini forge from a few hollowed out fire bricks or something while i plan and build a bigger one. i can power it with my small bernzomatic torch while i make the bigger burners and get a spare propane grill gas tank.
I'm getting impatient!
:D