james gonzalez

Here is the one I made.

Striker 88 hammer #1 Yates american 30" vertical bandsaw #2 Buffalo #22 Drillpress #3 Lincoln 300/300 tig #4 Kalamazoo horizontal bandsaw #5 maxstar 140 #6

I own one of these drill presses. Be careful, they are extremely top heavy. Not really much there to disassemble. If you are transporting it standing I would bottom out the table and "intermediate quill guide body" and maybe remove the motor to bring the center of gravity down some. I love this thing, it is a real beast, I can drill a 1" hole through 1/2" plate without pilot hole. Good luck

Thanks to all for the input. I think I will follow Ed's advice and run some hot iron under this machine before making any final decision. Is there anything specific one should look for when inspecting these type hammers?

Nice one. One of the joys of the craft is being able to make your own tools. Especially when you are not in a hurry and can put some class into it. That is something someone down the line just might handle with a little respect.

I have seen a guard on a #50 lg that was a half cylinder of looked like 16gua sheet. The half cylinder had an ear coming off it that went up to the ram height adjustment bolt where it was secured. This appeared to be an elegant, simple and unobtrusive safeguard and seemed to work real well. This was on the hammer belonging to Rick Korinek (sp?) of now closed island city forge. I do not run a LG these days and when I did I employed the "life's dangerous" philosophy. I would do things differently now. A sunday afternoon project could mean no spring steel where it doesnt belong. I suppose the only real annoyance with this type guard would be complicating adjustment of ram height.

I have been offered a running and allegedly rebuilt Beaudry 06 with motor presently under power. I have not tried it, but reputable sources guarantee it's condition as good. Price is $3,500. I presently am running a striker 88 in my shop and it has done everything I needed done up until now. A second hammer is not a necessity for the volume of forging I do. My shop, furthermore, is not large enough as it is. If I bought this machine it would be in storage until the day I set up a larger shop space. I love these old machines, though, and it is hard to pass one up. What do you think? I am not at liberty to post seller's info without consent.

Here's a handy anvil hold down I made out of an old visegrip. I am using it here to hold a piece of pipe down. anvil grip.pdf

As far as the floor, I am assuming you will go with concrete. Make sure to get a good smooth floor cast. Any texture such as a brushed finish will make sweeping up a hassle. This has been my experience

Did some ironwork for a liquor store. The owner happened to have a spare beat up old aluminum keg. One cutoff wheel later I had the best slack tub you could want. Make friends with the liquor store owner!

Clifton Ralph at his place. audio is shaky and there are dull spots, but he sure knows his stuff. The bendele/bonifas is good too.

Hi Ried I use a circa 1920 yates american bandsaw originally for wood in my shop. A metal bandsaw wants to move real slow, about 100-150 FeetPerMinute. You can figure this mathematically. Motor RPMxdiameter of driving pulley divided by diameter of driven pulley=rpm at bandsaw wheel. diameter of bandsaw wheel x 3.14=circumference of wheel©. CxRpm=fpm. You can bring the speed down in several ways. 1-gearbox with appropriate ratio and HP rating 2-Jackshaft 3-variable frequency drive. I think the cheapest way would be a jackshaft. I have a couple of spare gearboxes if you want to go that route.

Bear in mind, Corten or otherwise, the piece will bleed iron oxide. If this were going in the middle of a paved town square or concrete slab, the eventual results would likely be unsightly. I have experience with clear powdercoating over a rust patina on Corten. Do not do this. The surface will fail. You would be better off coating it with a product like Permalac or perhaps Penetrol, spray applied, if possible. I still suspect the piece would bleed some.

Beaudry. i miswrote bradley in the title then could not figure out how to go back and change it. I would love to have a look at the Beaudry factory literature in your collection.

how much height does a beaudry 100-150 need? can the motor be mounted other than directly above? thanks

hej hammaren ar kung hello and welcome.

Started in my home town JR college O/A welding horrible sculptures in the auto repair dept. Years later found myself in Boston with a full grant to art school. Spent all my time in the basement metal shop. I laid down a few miles of bead then got a job at a local weld shop making fence and grilles. Went into business for myself and eventually bought an old lincoln tig. Still learning.

I worked with just combo dies in my lg#50 for the first years of my business. Now I have a striker #88 and am using the flat die with saddle and tooling approach. It takes some experimentation to find what works, but your palette of forms is much wider.

the williams coal burns fine, if that's what you're asking. there is some variation from batch to batch, but nothing drastic. I worked through 25# of it just today. no complaints. I sure hope they have not gone out of business.

When did they go out of business? I was just there a few months ago, are you certain they are gone?

So I have a good airhammer and am happy with that. I am looking into a more controlled approach for certain processes and it looks like a hydraulic would fill the need. It seems to me it would not be such an ordeal to put one together. I figure the reasons screw presses are popular are 1. no need for electricity, simple 2. Quiet 3. Good "feel" 4. Fast action Of the above, speed is the only real rub. I know a 2 speed press can be made, just not sure on the details. So what do you know? Thanks

I have welded cast iron using 55% nickel rod many a time. These electrodes are expensive, it might be cheaper to buy some thick plate and weld up a new firepot. Just a thought. If you do go with the cast firepot weld, I recommend preheating, peening and dont bother grinding the finished weld.

I was working at the powerhammer today. 1/2 round drawdowns. My hammer is about knuckle height at the anvil. A bit of a pain for small stuff. If you work smaller stuff mostly, set the hammer high. If you work thick, set her low. I suppose a "barber chair" setup would be pretty convenient...I know there are hydraulic systems avalible for adjusting platen tables at Weldsale...

my striker #88 arrived with schematics. In principle the machine appears relatively simple. You would, I suspect, require a big lathe and mill. I seem to recall hearing that the fellow who builds the IRON KISS hammers built a self-contained prototype... Buying a new one would be more cost-effective, but when has that ever been the blacksmith's prime motivation?