78sharpshooter

Thanks for the suggestions. I watched Chile forge grow over the years but wondered if the forced air Ribbon burner has recently overtaken any tube venturi burner ever developed

I am considering buying a forge this time since my time is focused on building hydraulic presses. My budget is between $1000 to $1500 or so and wanted to see what members here would recommend in this price range. I need it to be sized for large blade billets and up to 3" round bar billets.

Price will be somewhere around $8K controller included. As for lead time I am not certain but will be posting updates on my webpage. Production will start in 2 to 3 weeks when my supplier completes the High Def Plasma cutting of my 22 dxf files (70+ parts) from 4000+ pounds of USA MADE A572 grade 50 steel plate (I paid ~12.5% more for USA made but that is very important to me so it is well worth it)

Here is a quick video demonstrating the single strike mode. Basically you set the upper and lower limit, and upon pressing a foot button or biting the biteswitch, one cycle of the ram is completed. Again, the lower position is instantly adjustable. Please let me know what you think of this mode or if anything was unclear.

Here is a quick video of the automatic cycling features and setup. Posting here to get feedback so please let me know what you think or if anything was unclear. Thanks!

Yes, I will be completing 3 presses and putting them on the website and emailing the list of people who want to know when they are available. The tonnage may be upped a bit but the working pressure limit of the cylinder is 3000 psi which would put the tonnage around 30, but the engineering specs are at 25 tons with a FOS @ ~2.18 http://www.paragear.com/skydiving/10000115/L1331/CONCEPTUS-BITE-SWITCH-2-5MM-PLUG this is the one I am using but I have some designs of my own that will have a greater operating life using FDA approved flexible filament 3D printed design

Sorry, the crainpress.com domain takes 48 hours to be transferred so it should be live by the end of the day tomorrow. The website has more details of the press and controller that I think most will find interesting. I appreciate any feedback on the website content.

Yes, I designed and built this. I hired mechanical engineers to take my designs and model them and run FEA with adaptive mesh refinement so I could modify and further refine the design before actually building it. I designed the controller, modes, features, and hired a electrical engineer to do the hardware and coding. I knew the controller would be the perfect opportunity to make a mode that might help persons with physical challenges enjoy blacksmithing; the bite switch mode is so incredibly intuitive and very accurate and all you need to do is hold your tongs and bite the switch.

From putting the pencil to paper until the day of completion was about 2.5 years Here is the link to the video with more details

I bought a 40kg two piece with base and motor and 3 sets of dies directly from runfa 2 years ago. 4.4% import tax plus use tax plus broker fees. Do you know how to use a manual mill and lathe?

I first saw a NA ribbon burner on joppaglass website. Here is a link that might also be useful http://www.joppaglass.com/new_ideas/forge/sm_forge_const.html

That looks like a GREAT press! I really want to see the 25 ton and its specs.

Hydraulic, 20+ tons, 1.5"+ per second ram speed, single stage pump, at least 8" between dies, complete through hole on bottom plate, roller base, adjustable flow valve for controlling ram speed, optical ram position sensor for on the fly setting of ram stroke via arduino or similar.

I know of the Uncle Al's press and the Ron Claiborne press but are there other options? Just curious to know what others would suggest in this price range.

From the recent builds I have seen, it seems more are leaning to the single stage pump to keep speed and minimize die contact time thereby keeping the workpiece at forging temps longer. Can you post a vid of this press in action?

I'll be in Portland for a week soon and wanted to see if anyone on the forum could suggest a shop to check out to observe and learn something (hand and powerhammer forging or blade forging) Thx

Ribbon burner is the way to go. Just don't get too powerful of a blower otherwise you'll waste propane trying to get away from an overly oxidizing flame.

Try again with the stated specs and heat the cooking oil to 160 f

I was wondering if anyone can point me to some methods for doing the bevels on a power hammer. I have an 88 lbs power hammer and started getting into knifemaking recently.

Has anyone seen an anvil like this or know what manufacturer it may be from? craigslist link removed

Ribbon burner is without a doubt the best way to go. My experience is that it is much hotter than venturi and you can use the forge in wind that would otherwise cause venturi burners to not operate correctly. The ribbon burner is easier to adjust the heat to the desired level and heats a larger area so you don't have hot spots.

How close was your process to this http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/997744-My-Hamon-Process? I think your hamon looks great and on top of that, everything about the blade shape and lines is great too.

What do you mean by scrapping it? Please dont say you re tossing this blade!!!! You can cheat and coat the hardened portion with nail polish and then re-etch it.

What do you mean by scrapping it? Please dont say you re tossing this blade!!!!

The test pieces were much smaller than the test blade. I have since heated the oil to 160 F and it solved the problem. The plasma cutter has a small heat zone and I could almost touch the test piece after the cut so I dont think that had an effect. I have a new problem with the heat treat oven that I am working on now. I was using nichrome wire on a 120V circuit and it seemed to be working well (oven vertical and the element was mostly free hanging) until the element broke. So I decided to try a kanthal A1 on a 240V and have the oven horizontal and ran about 20 amps through it. Within 1 minute it broke into 4 pieces. I had the element laying on kaolin/zircon coated ceramic wool and it appeared to break where it contacted the kaolin/zircon. I went back to the nichrome and horizontal and the element broke at the contact surface. Either the heat at the contact surface was too high for the element or the kaolin/zircon is causing the element failure. I am going to try putting the new element onto soft firebrick and see if that changes anything or if anyone has suggestions I would be grateful.