toolish

Here is a video of my trough forge and jumpy castle blower set up. Works well for me and can be made longer when needed. Only drama I find is ash build up after about 3-4 hours of forging

Yeah thanks mate, I was only planning on using it for smaller work at this time anyways so the 10 ton should be ok.

Just obtained a motor from a broken dryer so I almost have my parts list checked off now lol

Its going to be a long project. Thanks for the input.

how many ton splitter was it? bit worried about it being under powered.

Bit rich for my blood at this stage lol

I have the ability to scrounge materials and parts for a very good price. If your not in a rush and keep your ear to the ground you can usually come up with some good stuff.

Well good enough for the home use for me anyways. Obviously not the same level that you would want if you were in business doing this type of thing.

Half the fun for me is the building, scrounging and reuse of items to make sharp and pointy things lol

Thanks for the input guys, I like the look of that 20 ton one, I am a little worried about the 10 ton being too weak. Been a bit slow on this build, had other knives and projects going.

Still collecting bits, To avoid any hose and pump issues I was going to keep the current set up and just try and power the hand pump by a motor. Got an old dryer that I think may do the trick.

It's a long work in progress still hunting down parts for a good price ;-)

yeah i was originally looking at doing a powered hydraulic pump. However nothing at the right price has come up at this stage.

The hand pumped one comes in around 50 bucks, so the price is right. Little bit worried that I may need 20 ton and the speed of operation.

Was hoping motorising the hand pump operation with a fly wheel contraption would help the speed out.

Was looking to make my own hydraulic press. Been looking around and found a few different designs. Been keeping an eye out for what is available.

Have locate what I think is a 10 ton hydraulic hand pump ram, which is used to bend damaged car bodies back out and that type of thing. The ram is about 2 foot long.

My intention was to use this ram, build a solid frame around it with some thick H beam and make some interchangeable dies for it.

Was going to keep it hand operated for a while, then if happy with it, look at driving the hand pump with a motor and flywheel which I would look at making foot pedal operated.

Just wondering if there was anything obviously wrong with this concept or any where you guys think i may go wrong with this ram/ pump setup pictured. I was going to use it to help make pattern welded things, smaller hammer and tools, generally will only be used for light work in the garage.

Thanks 

Yep Im thinking about visiting Park hills currently, they really look fantastic, Very wood grain type of patterns

Wow....Looks like you really went all out on this one. Did you go that far on the layer count for the sake of getting more then one million? The layers look that fine that from the picture it is hard to see that it even has layers.

You really do some awesome work on Japanese style blades.

Looks like it is coming along nicely, always wanted to do a peacock, my plan was to use the temper colours for the eyes on the feathers.

Thanks for the advice on the controller, I found some random one off the ebay that said it handled a fair bit of current. Used it for a bit now and find after 10 min of grinding the controller is still cool but the regulator bridge gets a little hot. But still good for now, just think i wont sit there grinding for half hour straight. Had about an hour of use so far and I am happy with it, just got to do the platen thing for flatter grinding.

was thinking about that but the intake on the motor is on the left away from dust with the little fan blowing it out on the right were dust is. thats the hope anyways. still thinking about adding a platen to it. might have to weld up something bendy

Wow it sounds like some of you guys really put it all on the line to get anvils.

I like anvils and all and yes I would travel a good distance to get one. BUT if I felt there was a reasonable chance that I was going to get hog tied and mugged I think I would be looking for a different way to find an anvil.

Although as VaughnT said anvils seem like an odd thing to run a scam on. Hear a lot of people doing them with boats, as people seem to really like them and will accept odd reasons for a couple of thousand dollars off.

Think it is a bit of the old rule: If it seems to good to be true, it usually is. :)

Mines broken but it was the only way I was going to get a 300# (minus a bit) for $160.

The lack of hardey hole is annoying however another $50 and I have a leg vice to solve the issue.

That one looks good, Id grab it. If you dont want it I am sure another noob will want it

was really interested to see the pic of the knife but I get error 404 on my phone and it won't load on pc. was thinking that barb wire normally comes with a gal coating which could cause issues.
maybe you could use razor wire, might have more carbon for making sharp things

I finally cracked it with my old linisher that I made, had too many moving parts, which created too much movement and loss of tracking, One one needed to much repair so I built a new one, used the same base and tracking wheel though.
Scored a treadmill motor from the side of the road with no electrics, Had to wire in a bridge rectifier from Jay Car to change the AC power from the wall to the DC power required. Had way to much power with out turning it down to I used a voltage regulator to put on some resistance to slow the motor right down, currently using a vacuum cleaner controller to do this will have another one coming in the mail soon that should add more resistance.
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Gave it a spin on a 5160 blade and it chewed the metal off very quick with a 40 grit belt.
Total cost of this build was $5 for a spring and $20 for the extra electrical components needed.
Hope this help anyone who is thinking about making one, as I couldnt find too much instruction on this type of build.

I have had a look through most of the lessons and they are good.

I should do more handle work, however I am usually not 100% happy with the blade and usually move onto another project before I get to doing a nice handle.

I ended up sticking a knob kind of bit of wood on the end of it so it had some sort of handle, far from flash though.

Handle making is an aspect that I do not gain much enjoyment from and try to avoid it as much as possible with different designs

Thanks for the comments, Went and got some Hydrochloric Acid (Muriatic acid) cheap stuff at least.

Rather strong stuff, gives off some gas that's not cool, But it done a better etch in around 10-15 Min.

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I have a tendency to not finish a knife most of the time as I find something I would change or am not happy with. This particular piece I was not expecting to make anything useful so there was no plan for it. now I know I can forge weld Ill actually plan something (like a full metal letter opener or bottle opener)

I am also rather poor at wood work. never really know what to do with rat tails that would work for a handle, thinking ill extend the tail more next time and curl it into a handle. 

On to my next knife which I intend on finishing as it is to be a working knife, Ill put it up in a few weeks when closer to being done. 

thanks I might give it a go sounds easier to obtain, do you use it straight or water it down. can't imagine it would take long.
think ill try stacking 3 layers up and crushing it all in one for better pattern.

Been having issues with forge welding for a while, either not hot enough or I melt it off, finally worked out i needed a deeper fire pt and which layer on the fire to forge weld in. Used a coke forge to do it in with some borax as flux.

Started with a nice used chunky motorcycle chain, cut about 15cm off, heated and  flattened it. Folded it 3 times and then drew it out into a small blade.

Used a good 15-20 welding heats to do it in a a pile of flux, was hard to get out all of the air gaps in the billet, but I think I did alright, only one little crack from a small bit of failed weld in the whole blade, so once again i am happy for a first go.

Had a little play with etching it up,only had lemon juice and vinegar to play with, few hours in the juice seemed to go alright, not the pattern I was expecting.

Unfortunately the picture really doesn't show the pattern at all.

Been hunting ferric chloride, but most people over here stopped selling it due to environmental issues.

All in all it was a good learning experience and I ended up with something functional. Ill prob just slam a small wooden handle onto the end of it and keep in my "reference section" of things I have made .

Looking to try some cable next, just waiting to see if the supplier still has any left.

haha, yeah got to wonder how talk like a pirate day got going lol.

Guess you can never have too many power hammers lol and even if you dont use it I am sure in a few years time you could still sell it on again.

Everyone likes new toys in the work shop, your toys just seem a lot bigger then mine ;)

Haha, nice, cant have enough power hammers I guess. You still got room up there to put it?

How far you have to go to tow it back?

They look like some really nice arrow heads. I would also like to know the process you used to make them, as I have only ever found how to makes on bodkin heads any never anything as fancy as these sharp looking guys.

Yep, i am slowly learning the big radius peens are much easier to use and make less dents.

Most of my hammers have since had some filing, grinding then sanding to make them nice and smooth. Love a shinny smooth Peen.

Love a straight peen even more

The balance between fancy handle work and fancy knife work is great.

All the fancy work you did really fits into the overall look of the knife. Top job, I am sure the user will be happy.