lawman

would like to see a picture of that.

Got the book.........actually already had it and didn't realize it. The videos. http://www.bluemoonpress.org/index.php/in-addition/videos-dvds/power-hammer-techniques-set-of-2-discs.html This what your talkin about.Their a little pricy. Are these the ones that the video is poor quality but content is really good? Think I read about these before. Lawman

Maybe............ B)

Might have to check that out. My hammer cart is getting pretty full of tongs, hammers, and hardys. It ain't big enough. I got Harbor Freight Casters on it right now. If I go any bigger i will stop by Tru Value and check it out.

That would be nice......unfortunately not really an option for me if I want it to be useful. If I ever get to where I can set up a dedicated area for the blacksmith shop i will probably take your advice. Till then I just make it as heavy as possible.

Oh....yea that sux. need to send the neighbors a message!

very nice........I like the Idea, is it pretty stable when you are beating on it like it owes you money.

Got one. Thats how I move my anvil around. Was going to put wheels on the anvil stand but just didn't like the way that turned out so they had to go.

That is really nice, I like the way that looks. I might have to copy a few things about your idea.

:blink: OK....my bad.....I see your point...... If I could rephrase the original post I would. I am definitely not working out of a cardboard box here guys. I like what I got and I ain't complaining about none of it. If thats the way I came across then Im sorry. That being said I still got to move my stuff into the open to be able to use it and would love to get some good Ideas from the guys that have been doing this a lot longer than me. ;) Thats a cool Idea....I'd say I didn't have enough room for a pallet jack to move around but apparently that comes off as sniveling .............. hahaha. Thanks for sharing. Lawman

Um.......pretty close... :huh: .... I live in it. Thats awesome. I can't wait to play with mine when it gets here.

HaHa........not moaning. Thats the carport. I had to pull the cars out of the way so I could work. I got space but I got a lot of crap stuffed in that space. :D

Not exactly a blacksmithing project...mostly fabrication....but its hot some forged touches and will have more before it is done. Its still a work in progress but it is coming along a few beers at a time. What do you guys think? Not sure why all the pics are sideways. That not the way they were uploaded and I can't seem to straighten em up Lawman

I was just wondering how many of you guys have made your smithing stuff portable. I dont have a ton of space so I kinda have to "scientifically" stack it in the shop and then drag it out when I need it. Post up some pictures, I would like to get Ideas of how other people have dealt with the issue.

This is my homemade coal forge and my son playing with it. plus what he ended up masking.

At this point hobby stuff pretty well sums it up , although i could see myself trying to make a few hammers " very few" and a bunch of tongs. Realistically i will probably work 1" ........ Mostly 5/8 and below. Working steel this size will probably cover 95% of what i will want to do in the future. I know the 50 is more than suffecient for such work..... No doubt in my mind. Its the 5% that has me wondering. I fully expect that having a powerhammer in the shop is going to open up a ton of new possibilities and will change the way i look at things. What im struggling with is for what a new hammer costs i want to cover as many bases as i can. I know that no one tool is going to cover everything that i might want to do, but i certainly ain't planning on buying another one any time soon. So the real question is am I willing to shell out an extra $2k for something that im not sure i really even need.

Thanks John, I should probably just stay with what I got. But if I talk my self into the 75 i'll let you know.

No need to be sorry, and your right, if the man told me that a 50# is what I needed then it seems a little silly to question it. I assure you it would not have taken much for him to talk me out of an extra $2K. I appreciate the fact that he recommended the smaller hammer based on what I told him I was going to do and not trying to sell me something bigger than what I will likely need. From My perspective on this one.......no news is probably the most re-assuring response possible. If I had gotten a "Don't buy the little guy" response I would just be kicking myself for the next 5 months.......... This is better all around........... :D Lawman

Hmmmm....OK, :huh: I'll take the lack of response to this one as there are not a whole lot of these in circulation among the guys that watch the forum every day. I suppose that makes sense, since Mr. Larson is not really a high volume producer in the first place and I would venture a guess that the 75# and up are probably sold more often than the 50#. No problem there. I'll take quality over quantity any day of the week. No matter.......I will just draw my own conclusion based on my own experience when it arrives. Since I have never used a 75# or bigger......and probably never will.......I doubt I will know what I'm missing anyway. I'll just smash iron with what I get when I get it and take some pictures and video along the way. B) Lawman

Hey Guys, I am targeting this at the guys that actually own one of these hammers. I just ordered one and I hope to have it by the end of the summer. Based on what I can see myself forging I think that this hammer will serve me well. Being as I don't have a power hammer now it will be a huge improvement. My question for the guys that have them is do you regret buying it :huh: ........more to the point..... do you regret not getting a bigger one. I know that it human nature to always want a bigger, more impressive tool. I myself really wanted to get the 75#, but after talking to John Larson he pretty well convinced me that based on the extra cost, size of my air compressor, my forging needs, and my shop space that the 50# was a really good fit. I'm sure that It will be perfect for my present needs but I can't help but wonder what other users have experienced. I didn't get the opportunity to test drive the hammer, I'm a long way from the East coast, but based on the spotless reviews of both the machines and the man that builds them I fell very comfortable with the purchase of an Iron Kiss hammer , Just still can't help but wonder if I picked the right horse even if the next horse in the stable was an extra $2k. I suppose I can take that $2k and build myself a forging press and solve my anxioty about someday maybe wanting to work bigger stock. Maybe I will. I think I have seen every video of Iron Kiss hammers on the internet. It would be nice if there was some more video of the 50 chewing on a bigger chunk of iron. Lawman

now thats helpful....... I think I can use that. Thanks

thanks for the advice........i'll try that

Hi guys, This is my first post on here. Had a question that I have not found a really good answer to from searching, though I'm sure its been covered many times. For some reason my computer doesn't play well with this site on searching. Anyway........I have been setting up my shop for a while and decided that I finally needed a power hammer. The shop is pretty well stocked, I got most of the stuff I need / want. Nimba Titan anvil, post vise, good assortment of tongs and hammers, Bending jigs, gas and coal forges, welding machines .....the whole 9 yards. I just ordered a new Iron Kiss 50 to add to the assortment and hopefully I will have it by the end of the summer. I am a Hobby guy. I make Knives, fire pokers, steak flippers......trinket stuff really. I have at this point not really sold any of the things that I make but I have a lot of friends that got some pretty cool stuff made out of twisted up iron. I enjoy it and the stress relief it brings and could see myself doing it a little on the side. A power hammer will make that way easier taking something that would take me a couple of hours down to 15 or 20 min. To the reason I started this thread. This is my first power hammer, so I have limited power hammer knowledge and very little tooling set up for it. I ordered my new hammer with a set of combination dies, a set of flat dies with holes drilled thru them for bolt on attachments, and a Hardy saddle. asside from that I don't plan on buying anything else. Im going to make it. I was going to start off with a round back flatter, a cut off tool, a couple of tong making tools and then some spring swages. After that I will just make a tool as the need arises. My question is what type of material should these be made out of? I am assuming that I can make stuff like the flatter out of a piece of spring steel, maybe even mild steel bar stock. But for cutting tools under a power hammer is pieces of an old car spring Ok for that or do I need to use tool steel, maybe a old lawn mower blade. I have a good Idea how to make every thing that I have come up with so far just not sure on the material selection. I am not opposed to buying tool steel bar stock when it is necessary but for the relativly light forging that I see myself doing I'm not sure it is needed. I like the Idea of making stuff from recycled material when it is feasable. Forgive me if the question seems simple to some. I don't consider myself a beginner but have had very little opprotunity to interact with other smiths. What I know I mostly taught myself. Experience has taught me that I have on occation taught myself the wrong things, and in this area I know my knowledge is lacking. Thanks for the input. Lawman