Chris P

Nice score on the steel.. I can't speak to the power hammer questions, but I'd love to hear the answers as I'm planning on building one myself. FWIW, I'd say the best way to cut the steel would have been a mobile oxy/acetylene outfit... If it is hardened its just going to dull out a normal band saw or hack saw blade...

I'll have to look into the gpm. The motor is 1 1/2hp... It has two pumps, but I think its one pump for each cylinder. I'll take a closer look to see if it says the gpm. Thanks for your help everyone. I'm researching heated platen molding presses now ;). I hope I don't have to revamp it too much, but if nothing else it should be a good base to work from.

I bought a decent hydraulic press yesterday and I'm trying to find a little information on it. The only identifying marks I've found on the press itself is a tag that says "Jett Press." The lettering is kind of pealing off and there may have been more, nothing I can see. If anyone has any info on this press or what it might have been used for that would be really helpful. It may be modified to fit my needs, but I'm always curious about machines and their history. Some interesting things of note: The press has removable heating rods in the pressing platforms, I assume to keep them from acting as a heat sink. It also has two control panels one with a timer for 0-60 seconds (probably for the cycling controlled by the switch below). The switch is labeled "clamp cycle" "manual" and "transfer cycle." I'm not sure what this means exactly. Any light anyone could shed on this would be great... Thanks a lot for any help. FWIW, I can't find any info on "jett press" on Google... Here are some pics stolen from the CL ad:

Well, she is home. Good god that was a lot of weight for the little ranger :). The pine tree I used for the unloading didn't complain though :).

Thanks for the feed back. I've been keeping an eye on CL for a bit now hoping something would turn up. I've thought about building one for a while, but the time just isn't there atm.. Any guess on the weight? I'm only mildly concerned that it might be too heavy for my 1/2 ton ranger.... There is a chance I can borrow an f350.

I was thinking pretty much the same thing.. Now there is the question of how much it weighs and how much I want to abuse my little ranger....

Hi all, I found this press on CL (http://hartford.craigslist.org/tls/3041834577.html) and I'm heading over to see it tomorrow. For the price It seems well worth it, although I figure I'll probably upgrade or replace some stuff. I was hoping to get a more experienced eye's opinion on it, just to make sure I'm not deluding myself. Thanks :).

Gun racks don't work here in Massachusetts.. Kind of a legal issue.

Just wondering if there was anyone out there doing custom smithing for automotive accessories. I've been thinking about a few things I could make from my '79 IH scout, was starting to wonder if there might be a niche market there.. Just a thought anyway.

I'm glad I read this thread, as I'm in process of setting up a full time shop of my own. Its not going to be exclusive blacksmithing, I'll be doing manual machining as well (FWIW, I don't like CNCs, even if I had the money for them, I probably wouldn't go that route)... But ATM I'm about to get thrown off unemployment and have very little in the way of capital to really set up shop. What I do have is my forge, anvil, hammers, lathe and the funds to pick up a cheap bridgeport and rent a small shop (probably from family)... About the best thing I have going for me is that I have almost no personal bills and have become quite adept at living "simply"... Thanks for the motivational thread, now if I can just get the people around me to stop "trying to protect me" and start helping me, maybe things will get moving .

You know what really sucks... (Just to add my own little rant...) On the farm where I "help out" there is tons of old scrap steel, the guy (my boss) there won't give/sell it to me because he doesn't think I can use it (XXX). Instead he has some scrappers coming in this week to clean it all up..... Then he tells me how hard it would be to make a living off of blacksmithing.. I've worked for almost free in his machine shop for about 4 years (most of that time was 50+ hour weeks...) and I can't even get some cheap steel to help with my expenses... I guess I'll just follow the scrappies to the yard and buy it back... Sorry guys.... now back to your regularly scheduled thread....

Sorry, I have to ask, your propane is $1 a gallon? Who is your supplier? I usually go to a propane filling station (local hardware store or fuel company)... I'm paying more like $4 a gallon and would love to cut my costs back .

Excellent work.

I do actually. Relatively so anyway. I put in a question to the seller about the rust on the face. Thanks for pointing this out.

Sorry, was kind of in a rush when I wrote that. Perhaps I should have just asked for the specs on his tire hammer. I just assumed that info would have carried along with the answer.

In that case, what size spring would you recommend on a tire hammer setup?

At the moment, I can't fit or see a reason for more than one.. but god knows that's never stopped me before. ATM I'm parting the scrap together to see what else I need to acquire from outside sources. I'm debating on the Rusty style or the little giant tire style... I'm leaning toward the Rusty just because I have a few sets of leaf springs lying about. Thanks for the replies guys. Pretty much what I figured, I just kinda needed someone to blame when the wife finds out what I'm doing, lol .

How much does/would a power hammer help on the business end of blacksmithing? Does it up the production rate? Does that allow you to lower your prices? Or does it just save on bodily wear and tare? I was debating on picking up a second anvil, and figure I could probably make a PH for a little more than the anvil would cost. Just not sure which, if either, would be more cost effective. Thanks.

I've also heard it said that some people believe that the higher the price the higher the quality and therefore, by selling cheap you are enticing the "wrong" side of the market. The side that tries to low ball you and wants to save a buck more than buy high quality. Personally, I think you set a fair price for your work. Assign an hourly rate for your shop and the piece costs what it costs. Obviously, when quoting a job you could underestimate, and you have to take a hit, but, thats all part of it. Now, I'm not out to make a fortune, and I have a pretty low cost of living, I'm happy just to be surviving. So, I might charge less than the quality demands... I guess it just has to fluctuate with the economy. As someone else here has said, this trade is based on a disposable income. The less of that there is, the harder its going to be to sell.

While I'm not in favor of undercutting or working for dirt cheap, it seems like a necessity to at least establish a reputation. I could be wrong about this, but it seems like until you've established yourself, you need to lure people in with lower or "more competitive" prices. Still, the pieces in these pics are beautiful. It seems a shame to think it would be worth so little.

Ahhh, but who said I was sane? . Thanks for the help guys, I'll give it another try and see how it goes.

I'm sorry if I should be posting this in the problems section. But I was wondering what the best way to make a tight wrap would be? I'm using 1 1/4 by 1/4 inch stock and I'm trying to wrap it around a 3/8 bolt. It seems like every time I heat up too much so the stock wants to bend near the middle of the heat, instead of at the fulcrum point. The goal is to get the end of the stock slightly tucked up in the bend, creating a 3/8 circle. I'll try to snap a pic of what I'm trying for later today.

Its about a 180# Hill anvil. I'm not sure how popular they are or if anyone is familiar with them. Thats a good tip on making it parallel. Thanks for the replies.

Now that I have an anvil in good condition, I was thinking about trying to recondition my old one. would anyone know what a safe amount to mill off the face of a Hill anvil would be, if any? I was thinking if I could lose 30 to 50 thousandths, I might be able to draw file it to a nice finish. But, I'm not sure how much I'd really need to lose or how thick the face is. Thanks.

I stand corrected, blame it on the 4 hours of sleep last night, its 47221. Near as I can tell there is not even a hint of an "A" before it.