monstermetal

I can tell you that the insurance company frowns on welding in a attached garage.. I was told that any welding must be done in a structure that is separated from the house by no less than 20 feet..... I think you would find that most insurance agents would have no idea what a forge is or what the dangers are... Tough spot to be in...

my guess is they had a socket or hex head that stuck well proud of the table top, after they got them tight they cut them off close before surfacing the top, I would assume on a planer... but maybe blanchard ground? I think the second top was put on by the manufacture... the bottom table looks like it has never been used, however its got a crack that runs between the two outside T slots... On the underside of the bottom table at that location some extra mass and a couple of 30" long threaded rods holding it together.... my guess is that during finishing the crack appeared and it was easier to cast and bolt down a "flat" table rather than start all over... But who knows... I would think for a fab table as long as its on a solid base you would never have to worry about it...

awww thanks

Will it work? Its possible for sure... One thing you'll have to be aware of is the copper will reduce greatly, much more so than the steel. I have done a bit of copper/steel and brass/steel mokume If you start with a 1/4" copper strand you might end up with a 1/16 thats visable after bonding... I'll send along a photo of a 5 peice stack ... it started as 1/4" steel on bottom then 3/8 copper then 1/4" steel then 3/8 brass then topped with 1/4 steel... You can see the copper is now thinner than the steel even though it started out 50% thicker... The brass is about 10 thousands thick (lower melting point.. most of it migrated ) What its going to take is tonnage... To weld the steel and still diffusion bond the copper your going to have to weld at a very low heat ( copper melts at 1990 degree's) which means lots of pressure and time... The way diffusion bonding works is a function of time, temperature and pressure... The three are inversely proportional... if any one is lowered the other two must go up.... lower the temp and it takes more time and pressure.... And your not talking just a little.... I would guess a safe bet would be 100-150 tons and you could make a homogeneous billet at 1800 deg ... but you'll have to have a real good pyrometer

Cool..... I just learned you can zoom in Yeah those are going to be slick Grant... You got someone in mind to be your "test" shop? Dave Lisch maybe?

Ok... it was a bugger... all I got done today. But I got the tops apart.... Here are some pics of using a hollow cylinder to pull drilled and taped pins, rolling the table (which was a bit sketchy to do by myself) and the bolts with the nuts welded on.... And finally both tops...

I'll second that.... I own a lot of OCP tongs and tools and the collection is ever increasing. I would venture to say half of the tongs I actually use where made by Grant.. He makes a usable, solid pair of tongs and a reasonable price.. I have found it even cost effective to buy extras and fit them as needed to odd stock.. I enjoy making tongs but I cant very well charge a customer shop rate if I need a set on his job to build them...

are the shiny spots just end mill touch spots for decoration? hard to tell if they are actually a hole or not...

Id say you "nailed" it

There are some pics of parts of it on my website in the bicycles and motorcycles page Handcrafted iron, iron works, Blacksmith, ornamental iron, wrought iron; Monster Metal- "Monster make pretty"

the bolts go down through the top.... the pic where it looks like nothing is there but a faint chalk circle... thats a bolt location this end shot is to dark to really show the two layers well... the bottom table has the ways and the spot where the rack would have gone... the top table looks similar to a cast iron inspection table from the bottom.. it has support ridges cast into it and is reinforced at the T slots and pin locations.... I had thought about welding a nut on there as well... my fear is spawling the cast iron around the bolt hole or maybe getting a little off and pulling a chunk of cast out.... the bolt heads are pretty hard to make out... I have the table upside down down and let some penetrating oil soak in from the bottom.... those little rings on the top are dams i put on there to hold some oil and try and soak from the top...

So by the Serial number is a 50lb hammer... and I would think K-7339 would have to be a real new machine (last one built was 8876) .. Anyone have an idea about what year 7339 would have been built? Also does anyone else have one with a clutch like that? looks like the engagement area is pretty small... makes me wonder what type of clutch material it uses.. I wouldn't think it was enough surface area for leather... Nice big two groove V belt drive though.... Nice turnbuckle motor adjustment... It looks to me like the upper die is a nice big flat but the lower is a taper towards the front of the machine... for chisel or hammer bits? Also what do you make of the center ram guide bolts being so long? Sure looks nice though...

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Three Golden Tong Rings, two swage blocks for forming and an anvil on a big ole stump!

Wow... that is a big planer... There was a planer table on a auction here a month or so ago... not the whole machine, just the table.. It was 25' long and 5 feet wide and a foot thick. It would have been a really sweet table but I dont think the floor in my shop would support it... must weigh 50,000lbs? 40,000 at least I cant figure out why this table has two tops.... the "under" top is the one with the bolt grab pockets and the upper table has the pin holes... both have T slots.... At first I thought they must have damaged the lower table and so had a new table cast and bolted it to the top.. But it seems like the bottom table is in good shape, best I can tell from reaching around in the pockets and feeling for spawl.. The blanchard ground the top table with the bolt heads sticking out.. so I am going to have to get creative to remove the bolts holding them together... what I think I am going to try is drilling and taping a left hand thread 1/2" into the top of the bolt and then using it to try and turn them out... Anyway if I can get them apart I will have two 3' X 12' tables rather than one so I think it is worth the effort....

Simple Grant.... I would call you....

Shoot me an email Jesse..... I can take care of that...

Breaking the T slot table is my biggest fear. Prior to coming into it I had planed on using the platen table for my hydraulic bending. The one thing I really dislike about the platen is its 8' X 8'.... the center of the table is pretty much worthless. If I owned my own shop I would cut a hole in the floor and pour a little pit for it so it was flush... Then maybe you could really do something on it... I think the T slot tables sound really neat but they might not be as versatile as I think.. What I really need is a bigger shop... so I could leave all of the tables where I can get to them...

Im thinking that for bending it might actually be better than the acorn table. On the platen table its always a struggle to get the spacing right, and the "peg's" seem to cant in the square hole so the sides of the pegs are not parallel... What I was thinking on the T slot table is use one of those 1 1/4 pin locations as the "dog" pin and then have a plate that bolts across two T slots with the bend pin in it... so by sliding the plate long ways on the table you could make the hole from 2" to 2' wide quickly... Now to do multiple bend pegs would get a bit tricky.. but same deal.. you could use two long round sleeves over bolts in the same T slot and get them as close or as far apart as you wanted... The T slots are for like 7/8 bolts so a 5" high post should still be pretty rigid... One of the things I really want to try is make a hydraulic bending table using fixtures on the T slots... I have dozens of 10,000 PSI cylinders ranging from 5 to 50 ton and 7 diffrent pumps.. Three electric, one air and two hand operated..... For doing big iron It would be really great to be able to push in one section, leave it pinched and move to another spot and push... My fear there is breaking the cast iron... the two tops together weigh about 8,000 lbs... but the cross section at the bottom of the T slot grove on the top table is only about a 1 1/4 thick... you get a couple of 30 ton cylinders trying to push the table in half it might just go "pop" It should take a lot of load long ways... just not across the short side..

Well there is a "star" anvil listed in Richards book.. However the photo shows a 5 pointed star on the side of the anvil, not a six point start with a dot or O.... It appears to be cast and maybe be 10 stone (140 lbs) ? Its not 10 hundred weight obviously.... Only other thing will regard to weight would be 10 KG which would make it 22lbs and it looks bigger than that

They are 7/8 X 7 1/2 bolts.. I'll have to dig one out to get a dead on measurement... And yeah I get that to keep the price down and the options open you have to have a "base" and let the user adapt and improvise... How about this?... Just drill and tap a couple of 7/8 NF holes low in the away side of the anvil... maybe 3" center to center... that way a guy could cut some chunks of round bar and drill the holes off center to make cams, making a adjustable bending fixture that could be removed if it was in the way... I would think you could generate enough holding power with a 7/8 fine thread they would stay put... The holes could also be used for mounting what ever else the smith came up with... My mind is geared to think in "one off's" not production.. I hate to build more than a dozen of anything... I find all the joy in figuring out how to do it and developing the process... If I can sell more than a dozen I'll sub out the production to you:)

Hey Grant... I was thinking all those bolts I have that are too long for the base bolts.. What if you took a chunk of 7/8 X 1 1/4 DOM or Shelby... or even drill a chunk of round bar.. and made spacers to take up the extra... All the spacer on the side away from the smith.... you could put them at uneven intervals along the bottom so you had various widths and use them as bending dog/forks.... Of course it would mean you couldn't have a angle flange on the bottom for mounting on that side. or would have to modify it for "bending" clearance

I dont know that this is really a poem... but I dont know what else to call it either... Anyway last spring when I was on vacation i jotted this down and liked it, so I thought I would share... The Blacksmith The lowly blacksmith Seen through history as a slave to his craft Pounding away endlessly in a hot, dark hovel Dressed in attire and wielding implements that make every movement seem laborus and excruciating to the ignorant observer That onlooker may see a endless, joyless toil- Blow after Blow See nothing but the effort and expense of his tireless work But to the Blacksmith the reality of his work is clear He does not do the dull work of a dim mind But rather the work of the gods themselves He is deep in trance like thought The result of each blow anticipated long before the hammer raised The vision of his completed work fixed vividly in his minds eye Each facet and dimension a reality long before his blows make it so Transforming the ugly, valueless ore of the land into the tools of progress, the treasures of mankind or simply the unseen artistry of the maker The Blacksmith. Powerful and mighty - within his mind lies the endless possibility to wrought into existence the very fabric of society. Humble, for he knows to gloat of the power could somehow demean it His pride directed at the refinement of the craft Shown as the ever increasing, but never complete understanding Efforts are but to impart more value within each blow, To express his understanding of quality and process To further his craft, not out of ego, but because to do so brings fourth beauty As creator he has a choice To fashion a cold and ugly implement devoid of quality Or to forge his heart and soul into the very iron Create the unmistakable yet undefinable difference that gives it value Far beyond that of underlying form Larry.... Written on the beach in Mexico 2-20-2009:p

I have a conundrum that I am hoping you all can help me with. I have a pair of cast iron T slot tables that came from a big planer They are 3' X 12' and one has 1 1/4 locating pin holes, the other these cool slots you poke a 1" sq nut (i think its 1 5/8 edge to edge) through then pull to the side and it locks in a box so you can tighten from the top with no wrench on the bottom.. I plan is to put them next to each other with a 2 foot gap.. so I would have a 8' X 12' work area with a walk way down the center..... These would set next to my 6' X 12' X 2" thick fab table with 2 foot between them.. so I could basicly have a single flat plane that was 16' X 12' and be able to get out to the middle... Anyway in order to do this I will have to get rid of my 8' X 8' platen (acorn style) table... I currently do quite a bit of bending on the platen table but it makes a poor general work surface because its full of holes... I think I could build bending fixtures that would bolt in the T slot table and do much the same work on there.... I really am excited about the possiblilitys of the T slot table, Im just not sure I can give up my Platen table.... I dont have to sell the platen, but it would have to go out side If I kept it.... Anyone have any insite into why either option might be better than the other? Anyone use a big T slot table? Do you like/dislike it?

Sure I understand that too. I have a fellow I do lots of little things for. I always tell him no charge. And always find a $20 stuck in the jaws of my vise

Yep.. I have done the same thing only with a heavy tube... and then cut off the can part of the damacus once welded ( if you dont want it in the pattern. Of course I am doing it under a big power hammer (250lb) so the heavy wall tube does not affect my ability to get a good weld