NeatGuy

Actually pneumatic upsetters are more or less a jackhammer with an extended stroke.

This is an IR34 with square head bolt dies. It will forge about 1 1/2 or so. The IR40 will forge over 2" using the same method.

I preferred to scrap it rather than listen to the endless litany of stupid platitudes about how much they are worth. $1500 was not over the top.

I didn't want to trade, and they were for sale for the better part of a year.

After trying to find a home for my last IR40 pneumatic upsetterm I am done looking at it and it is on a new journey to the scrap yard, along with a LG power hammer and some misc blacksmith junk.

I have such a machine for sale if you are still interested. It comes complete with some dies and two heads.

"That’s not entirely true. If you want to go into rivet production that would be great but for a few here and there are alternatives mentioned all over IFI. " - It does not just make rivets.

I watched some dude make a rivet on youtube in about five heats. I would rather buy them than waste time doing that. I suppose it would be ok if you had one rivet to make but how often do you need just one?

If you want to make rivets you need an upsetting machine and a pneumatic rivet gun and bucking to set them. I can make a five gallon bucket of 1" rivets in about twenty minutes (Assuming they are all cut to size first). 

I use platens every day and there is not substitute for a real platen, they are flat, heavy, and very versatile. They are worth every penny, buy 6x8 if you can find them, square holes are best but round holes seem to be more robust. Put leveling feet on the legs so you can work with a level.

I am hopping to get another 4 in the next 2 years.

I use a small devilbiss oxygen generator attached to venturi forge burner. The oxygen generator does not supply enough o2 to run a rosebud or the burner directly but it does augment the supply of o2 entering the burner. It does not get as hot as a rosebud but it is hotter than the burner without it and is definitely more economical.

brad

Here is a scan of Scientific American I own. '>

brad

Where are you? I'm sure some folks on here would be happy to volunteer to help preserve as much of the equipment as possible.

hmmm my profile has my location but it does not show below my avatar.

Thanks Jim:

I already have a platen in my shop and could not be with out it, but these 4 will go to my place of work. I would like to see your hydraulic ram setup for the platens. I have tried to get the motor and the line shaft but the were two difficult to get safely.

brad

To me this is a very historic site but there seems to little call for the ship building industry so like many people before them they have sold to a developer. The owner does value the history so he allowed me to collect all these tools.

There are NO new tools on this site. They still used the steam engine to drag the barges into dry dock up to a year ago. The photographic opportunities are great. The employees room in the oakum shed had calender and pinups the earliest I could find was from 1952. All the helmets and work boots etc were hanging on the walls waiting for the men to return.

Here are some more pics of some the equipment in place:

brad

I had a chance to acquire the tools from the blacksmith shop from a loacal ship yard. The owner told me that it had not been used since the sixties and could not remember the last time some one opened the doors. His family has owned the shipyard since 1923.

I ended up with the following:

150# (I think) Dupont power hammer.

a 6 in leg vice.

a 200+# anvil.

4 - 5'x5' platen tables.

an Ingersol Rand IR34 upsetting machine with about 50 dies.

11 - pneumatic riveting hammers and dies.

a 14" shaper vice for my shaper.

a pile of tongs.

two large hydraulic power packs.

several buckets of 3/4, 7/8 1" and 1 1/8" rivets.

There is also an endless supply of wrought iron chain.

Does anyone have know what the upsetting machine would be worth?

brad

wow ... Nice job modeling that with Autocad. That would be a task to model with Solidworks so I can not imagine how long that would take with Autocad.

brad

I got run it before John owned it :) it is a sweet hammer.

brad

I think you posted that this a Canadian Giant as in Jardine? if it is they are quite a bit different than a Little Giant. You will have to repair as spares are unlikely.

I second the skylights although mine do not open. There are three skylights in my shop, which face south, and I find the amount and quality of light perfect for blacksmithing. They are definitely worth the expense.

brad

Try reliving the corners a bit with a hammer, a file or grinder before twisting it. I find twisting cold with relived corners can sometimes eliminate the cracks. It might be worth the effort instead of chucking the stock in the scrap bin.

brad

This is a good job for a mechanical nibbler like a Trumpf or a Pullmax. They are much easier to control and have more predictable results.

This is not the example I was looking for if I find it I will post it. It was made from 18 ga with a Pullmax  P5.

I now have a much larger machine (a Trumpf cn900) which could easily handle 1/4.

brad

LastRonin: That is a little presumptuous. Are you sure that I have no experience? I am not sure that we have met. I measured ~400amps at 2 volts. While the current potential is high there is not enough voltage to overcome a humans (normally)high resistance if that were the case two D sized batteries would be lethal.

Thomas: I have not worked out the cost but where I live electricity is reasonably cheap at least it is cheaper than propane. I have several old welders I was going to look at the transformers but so far I have been looking at a transformer from a large industrial battery charger they are simpler and easier to rewind. I think that induction heaters use a lot of power as well and they seem to be cost effective.

One final note about safety: I had an old Lepel 1.5kw Induction heater, it was not like modern self tuning solid state systems, when the setting did not match the coil a VERY large spark would jump between the coil leads. I would guess that it was many thousands of volts I feel that would be a shocking experience if you were placing a piece of stock into the coil at the wrong time.

I have since found this video

This guy has a much larger transformer.

brad

Hmmm I was not suggesting that one use vice grips as a method of making the electrical connection. To make this a viable heating method there would need to be a good clamping system and a switch that would initiate the heating process, perhaps with a  timer, or current sensor, etc. Obviously there needs to be some work on something like this. I like to see how others may run with it or share their ideas and opinions. I have often found myself starting a gas forge or a torch to take a short heat on the end of a bar(s) I think there is potential for this heating method here.

brad

With the high cost of propane lately, and the high initial cost of an induction; heater electrical resistance heating may be a good alternative.

In the past I have seen people heating rivets with a spot welder when a user here (andrewwillis) posted a method to make a power supply to make a spot welder It got me thinking.

It uses a rewound transformer from a microwave oven, they can be ganged in parallel to produce more current and, thus, greater capacity. It cost me nothing to build and was completed in about twenty minutes.

They produce heat between the power attachments so they can be very local. Maybe for upseting or twisting, etc.

In the video I am heating a piece of 1/4 rod about 4" long.

I have been looking for a larger transformer to scale up the abilities.

Hydrovane compressors are not screw compressors, you need a tank with the hydrovane. It boils down to how much air you need I have a 50 hp Palatek and 30 hp Gardner Denver(GD) screw compressors although we have an accumulator tank either compressor can supply air to the shop without it.

Recently a bearing went on the GD I was quoted a price of $1500 to fix it. We are the second owners but we have a very complete service record for the life of the compressor and the last time the pump was rebuit was 1990. The rebuild price is not bad considering the duty cycle of the machine. I think that even a screw compressor in rough shape can be brought up to speed with a good rebuild.

I have heard that hydrovane compressors have a very long life but I can not confirm that.

brad

Here is a video: