CKillgore

Being mostly a bladesmith nowadays, I am partial to the round chambers with a burner coming in at a tangent. Also, if all you are doing is blades, you really don't need that big of a chamber. I've switched to doing about 95% of my blade forging in a small vertical forge with ~5" heat across. I find this works better for me than heating up the whole blade every heat. That said, I've also got a bigger horizontal for when that is needed.

So I would definitely lean towards the Ellis forge. Now... unless something has changed, he ships you the forge shell with enough ceramic fiber blanket to line it and some satanite to coat the blanket (also some bubble alumina for the floor). But it is not already installed or cut. And if you choose the forced air burner, it does not include a blower. So there will be some extra DIY work on the ellis one and it may not include all the cost if you intend to go with the forced air burner.

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I am going to go ahead and order some all-thread. If it doesn't work out for whatever reason, I may try Jim's idea!

Cody

Hey guys,

I've got a new style 100lb. LG hammer. I am trying to build a guard for the spring and wanted to attach the guard to the 3 long bolts going through the ram guide. Unfortunately, there is not enough bolt there to get the guard piece on it. 

Is there any reason not to replace them with threaded rod? I have a metal lathe and the capability to turn my own bolts but it seems like all thread would be an easier solution.

Thanks,

Cody

I bought a foot long piece of 5" square 4140. It cost me about $100 to have it professionally heat treated and they got it up to 55 HRC.

I hardly ever watch HGTV but for some reason it was on today and that show came on. I was surprised to see a blacksmith on it.

This is the lady blacksmith's website:

http://www.carleyeisenberg.com/

Well my shop is a bit of a mess right now as I'm doing some re-organizing, but...

A couple things I use I-beams for...

1. I dropped my gas forge down in one. It's a pretty decent platform for building attachments to your forge off of. You can see a simple work rest that slides back and forth on the beam that I made. Sorry about the blurry image. Just realized it.

2. They make nice horizontal quench tanks for heat treating tools or knives. I just welded some plates on the end and filled em up with oil.

I believe it is actually made in Turkey. Not that it matters. It was actually a gift. I probably would not have bought it if was my money. I am very happy with it though. It is a great vice.

I think I'm the only one crazy enough to have bought it.  -_-

It is very nice! Not as heavy as I thought it would be. I had spent a good deal of money on an antique one. Everything seemed to work fine but it just would not grip the material that well. Could not figure it out. Just decided to buy that one and not worry about it. It grips very very well  :D

DSW,

That is a wealth of information! I really appreciate the time you took to type that out. That clears up a lot of stuff for me. 

Thankyou very much!

Cody

Okay. I guess the only hesitation with the vibrator is I know it is gonna be a good bit more expensive than putting in the superplasticizer. The only place that rents stuff in town overcharges for everything.

I'll think about it though. It may be the best solution.

Thanks guys.

I don't want to go too far off-topic here but I have a question for you guys that have dealt with concrete with superplasticizer in it.

I'm getting ready to pour the foundation for my 100lb. LG and I wanted to add Super P to the mix to help it get around the thicket of rebar I have built. The problem is that I'm going to end up with quite a bit of extra concrete from the truck. I've been wanting to build a little sidewalk between the driveway and the shop so I don't have to tromp through the mud to get out to it. I thought maybe I could use the excess and go ahead and form up the sidewalk.

My question is this: Will the superplasticizer make it too hard to make a sidewalk out of? It is a little slope up to the shop and I'm just having visions of trying to screed the concrete up and it just oozing right back down.

One thing I still don't understand is how to properly tension the spring. I would probably need to make a separate thread for that.

Right now, the dies are touching and I was told I would need to adjust it where there is 1-2" of clearance with the hammer at the 6 o'clock position. I guess there is some kind of balance between how much to tension the spring vs how much to move the whole assembly up on the pitman?

Is there any rule of thumb as to how much tension to put on the spring of a 100lb LG? I was told if it's too loose, the ram will go up and hit the spring. Too tight, and the spring could explode.

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I had been spraying some mink oil lube in there as a penetrant to get it free and moving. It was a bit seized up when I first tried to turn it. I'm planning on switching to bar and chain oil once I actually get the thing in the shop and running. 

Now I'm thinking I will add some Duralube to it as well. How much do you add Frosty? Also, good to know on the chainsaw. I've been hunting for figured woods and burls and chainsawing them up. I'll have to try the duralube for that as well  :D

That sounds like some sound advice swededfiddle. I'll go huntin for a magnetic dial indicator.

Just remember the oil/grease for the bearings.  Do the bronze bearings have a grease fitting and way to pump in the lube?  Usually with these hammers, too much oil is just about enough.  I oil my hammer ever time I walk past it, even if I am not using it.  Oil is cheap compared to the work to fix things.

I went to double check. I have been spraying some oil up in there but haven't gotten a ladder to go look in and see what it looks like. There are some holes in there. Kind of hard to see in the picture but they are there! I will be sure to put excess amounts of oil  :)

Have the iron castings been machined to take the bronze bearings? Are they pinned or screwed to the bore?

If you ever take the caps off please take some photos. 

I really have no idea if they are machined or not. If I do take the caps off, I'll let you know  :D

Bronze bearings are generally considered a step up. If they are in good shape why would you want to change them out?

Well, I don't know a whole lot about these machines and did not know if they work as well as the original babbitt ones. They do appear to be in good shape so I will leave them alone!

Thankyou for the reply!

Hello again guys,

Well my foundation for the 100lb LG is coming along. I have the hammer still on the trailer as I'm waiting to get the foundation ready to get someone with a forklift over here. One thing I noticed was that there were no shims under the main bearing caps. I was thinking I would be pouring new babbitt bearings. 

Well, I started to clean off the gunk on the outside of it and found something unexpected...

It appears to be brass or bronze main bearings instead of babbitt. I haven't been able to make the shaft slop up and down by hand but I haven't been able to really run it since it's on the trailer still. Will brass work okay for this?  Should I leave these bearings in place or try my hand at pouring new ones?? It was being used before I got it.

Thanks

Thanks for all the advice guys! This is very helpful.

I was planning on casting these bolts in the concrete to begin with. Is there a reason that most of your are saying to drill holes in the concrete afterwards?

Hey guys,

I am purchasing a 100lb LG and have been looking over the foundation plans on the site. I'm trying to get a hole cut in my existing concrete slab ahead of time and have the bolts, etc i need for when I go pick it up. The plans show 7/8" bolts something like 3 feet into the ground. Do you guys usually just use some all thread rod or do I need a certain grade bolt? Does it matter? I can't seem to find any 7/8" bolts that are that long. Does anyone have a source for something like that?

Thanks!
Cody

Hey guys. My uncle acquired this piece of machinery and I'm trying to figure out what exactly it is. It looks like a mill but I'm not sure what that little cutter blade is for. I have never used a mill before and am trying to figure out if it's something I want to try to buy from him. Any help on value and what it is actually for would be great. When he said mill, I was expecting a drill press chuck up there but don't see one.

 

Also, I know Brian does sell them because I asked about it. They are $250 (same price as spending a day with him). I am hoping I'll be able to spend a few days with him within the next year.

Cody

Thanks for the reply. I'm starting to think that may be the only way to know for sure.

Hello all,

I have been considering parkerizing (manganese phosphating) one of my knives for a family member. They wanted a little bit of rust prevention on their knife and I wanted to see how parkerizing held up etc. I'm staring at it now trying to decide how to go about doing it. It would seem to me it would be best if I was able to parkerize the whole knife, handle attached, so that I don't have to worry about sanding off the parkerized finish. I had read somewhere that if you had some sort of plastic handle, perhaps micarta or something similar, you don't have to worry about it in the parkerizing solution. The handle I would like to use is Stabilized big leaf maple burl and would rather not ruin a nice piece of wood to experimentation. I was hoping someone might know the answer to whether or not it will ruin a stabilized piece of wood.

After I posted, I'm thinking this might should have gone in the finish and polish area.

Thanks!

Cody

in the logs for our knife chats,,,listed  in knifemaking in the forums...We have shown a lot of tools used in blade making,,both stock removal and forging,,,,,

If you do as most bladesmiths do and draw material,,,Like if you use round stock for blades,,,you will learn fast to use that anvil horn. that is also in the lessons.

A quick google shows that 4130 will harden to 52 RC scale,,,I know at least one Anvil maker I spoke with in the past treated his anvils to that number.

Mention it just in case that steel turns out a little softer than you wish.

Yeah it is a bit softer than I had hoped. I'm not sure I could heat treat something that big. I don't think I would have a fast enough quench for it. I'll probably see if there is a heat treater nearby that could do it if it is reasonably inexpensive. I know it is quick to draw on the horn but I just haven't gotten used to that. Most of the time when I'm trying to draw something quick I use the edge of my hammer face at an angle. I dress my edges really rounded for that reason. I have read through several of the logs and I am still processing through them =P. They are a great resource.  Thanks

It looks as though you have a very nice setup.Looking forward to seeing your work.

Thanks! I'll definitely post some pics when I have something worthy.

Howdy from EAST TEXAS!!  I would stronly suggest that you get yourself to the ABS school just north of Hope ARK.  2 weeks in their class will knock off YEARS of trial and error on your own. Good luck. BTW, nice looking set up. Where in N. LA are you located?

Hey there =). Yeah I've really been wanting to take a class. So far, I have just been leeching everything from the forums and various books. I'm in Ruston, Louisiana which is about 70 miles east of Shreveport.