Steven Bronstein

There is a loose metal sleeve over the exposed shaft section between the two bushings. I think it is there to allow some safety separation from the spinning shaft. I caulked each end closed and added that vertical pipe to be a penetrating oil resevoir so that oil could flow towards where the shafts enter the bushings.

Got it, sounds like a large weedburner head will be enough heat. I like the idea of on the outside and then dropping dry ice on the shaft. Gazz, that was my thought. I have two 1/2" bolts that I tapped into the center area of the pulley. I thought to lay the machine on its side and attach a lever to the bolts so I can bounce the shaft while heating and cooling. Hope it works. Thanks All

Thanks Frosty, There is so much shaft inside the bushings I wonder how much cold would be transmitted. I would not have thought that 400 deg F would be enough to expand the cast steel and interior bushings. I always assumed that it had to be 1000 deg or more

not babbits, steel bushing. Good idea on the antique forum my concern with using electricity is it could heat the shaft first, expand it and then crack the casting

I have a 100# Fairbanks that went through a fire. It appeared to weather the fire pretty well, unfortunately it was outside (under a tarp) for a year while I rebuilt. The shaft will not turn ( I am not really sure if could be turned then). So now, I am not sure if the shaft rusted/welded itself to the steel bushing. I removed all of the other parts and they all look good with no obvious distortions. even the brass bushings on the pitman look good. I have been dripping PB Blaster into the oil ports for a year and tapping regularly but no luck. The oil does seem to eventually flow away into the oil hole. Since this machine does not have pillow blocks I cannot just lift it off. I am considering buying a 1,000,000 btu weed burner to heat up the whole shaft head assembly. There is a 5" cast steel outer casting holding a 3" diameter steel bushing which the shaft goes through. I am wondering if I make an enclosure/forge around the head with kaowool and use the weedburner to heat the space will I get all of that mass hot enough to expand the parts enough to make a difference. I was opening to heat/cool/oil and repeat until I can get it to move. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance

I have access to a Kuhn KB1 hammer. It is set up with a 3 phase motor. I want to swap out the motor for a single phase one. What other problems should I anticipate? I understand I may need need a new Mag Starter. Anything else for me to worry about? Thanks. Also, are parts still available for the KB1

Thank you all

thanks

I have a number of leg vises that were out in the weather for a long time. They are heavily rusted. Before I started to wire wheel I am wondering if there is an easier/better way to remove heavy rust. I was considering renting a sand blaster....Thanks

I did replace the copper tube and added a loop to the copper. I will try the flex hose. Thanks.

compression fittings from plumbing supply. It appeared to be exactly as what was originally there......

I have 1/2" copper tubing between the pump and my tank on my compressor. I replaced it recently with all new fittings and the copper tubing broke within a few weeks. The point of failure was just outside the compression nut just where the pipe goes into the nut. I replaced and it broke again in the same spot in a week. Any suggestions. I thought to replace with a flexible hydraulic hose but there is a compression fitting on the tank that cannot be replaced with a npt fitting. Any thoughts? Thanks

I have a large production run of plant hangers (100+). This could be an ongoing item. I have tried various methods of painting including hanging on swivels and spray painting with cans and HVLP Guns. I also tried dipping but was never able to get a good result. I am tumbling them in a homemade tumbler as my prep. I am curious if anyone has successfully dipped and/or setup for production powder coating. One of my challenges is a limited amount of space for creating a large enough spray booth which is why dipping has always interested me. I am also trying to avoid more prep beyond tumbling and wiping of the dust. Any thoughts? Thanks.

thanks

I usually use 2-3 inches of kaowool for the tops of my gas forges. I am now making a top using insboard. Since Insboard is denser can I use just 1". I am not concerned so much about saving materials, really just curious about the relative insulating ability. Thanks.

Thanks

I have successfully used folded kaowool for my flat top forges. As per the design suggested on another site, I draped the kaowool over stainless steel rods and hung the rods from the top of the forge. This has worked very well for small forges. I have used them extensively and they last for years. I have to make a larger forge with a 16" x 25" flat top, which will be placed on top of firebricks so the interior volume will be 11" x 20" I have some insboard . It would be somewhat easier to lay the board inside a flat top frame rather than install the folded blanket. Not that much easier but does make for a simpler design. I have never really understood the tradeoffs between wool and board. Could someone please explain this to me. I understand cost is a significant difference. Are there any other factors to be considers. Thanks

When I am in production I will have different tooling on each hammer. When I am in regular mode, I will still move between my Bull Air Hammer which is great for tooling and my Beaudry mechanical for speed of drawing. The work is what drives the need. When I had one hammer I still got a lot done and just had to allow for changing dies. Having an easy way to switch tooling might be a bigger time saver than the extra hammer. I am making this point more to beginners who think that hammer quantity is more important than shop setup and clever tooling. Getting your first hammer is a quantum leap in improved production capacity. After that it becomes more of business question or for the hobbyist maybe more of a want than a need.

I have the same setup. It is funny how the bottom keys are so large and the top so small. I was always concerned about using tool steel thinking I wanted them to move in case the dovetails weren't straight. Didn't want to crack the sow block. I am guessing that since you fitted the key properly it wasn't an issue because you wouldn't have to overdrive them. I will give it a try before messing with the dovetails. Thanks.

Thank you this is really helpful. There are two keys on my sow block. I , at first, thought that one was just a spacer but now see that it is tapered. It appears both of your keys are reasonably stout. I still have the original problem which is that both keys are 1/4" at the thinnest end and start to bend as soon as I try to remove them. This is why I was hoping that ( when I finally manage to get them out) I could reduce the size of the dovetail and increase the thickness of the keys. Any suggestions?

I remember, especially how we had the hammer lifted horizontally in the air so you could drive your truck underneath. Glad it worked out. Thanks for the feedback. I will cut the dovetails so I can use a bigger key, that makes it so much easier. Hope the die steel isn't too hard for machining. Thanks

I have a 50# Fairbanks and I am dealing with a recurring problem that has plagued me over the years. First, the space for the key is 1/4"-5/16". This small a key is prone to bending and mushrooming so removal later can be quite a challenge. I have other hammers where the dovetails are narrower and allow for keys that are 3/8" - 1/2" which is then much easier to deal with. I have never been brave enough to have the dovetails machined smaller to allow for a larger key. Has anyone done this? And would it be a mistake? The second challenge is the sow block allows for the key to be removed because the dovetail plane is perpendicular to the plane of the machine. The hammer dies sit on top of the sow block and you can only access the key when installing the die. To remove , you have to first remove the sow block to access the key for the hammer die removal. I have reason to change hammer dies somewhat regularly and wish there was a better solution. I know I could replace the existing sow block with a dovetailed plate and bolt holes so I could use bolt on hammer dies. I have had trouble with this solution because the bolts do not seem to last very long. I hope someone out there has a better way of dealing with this. Thanks.

So I thought I should report back. From the responses, I got the impression that it was straightforward and really shouldn't be an issue. So...I checked my container of Boiled Linseed Oil. There was a heavy deposit of sludge in the bottom. I am assuming it was old/bad/not useful. I replaced it with new stock, thinned 50/50 with mineral spirits and i can now dip my pieces, blow them out, warm slightly and they are done and look great. Thanks for the collective wisdom. You got me to rethink my steps and go back to first principles. Thank you, I appreciate it.

I am oiling at room temperature. The mix is 50/50 boiled linseed and mineral spirits. I do blow the oil out from the crevices which is a big help. I was hesitant to dilute below 50/50 because I didn’t want to thin too much and lose too much oil protection. I will try warming the piece prior to oiling. I will also try LPS. Is Wd40 not recommended? Thanks so much for the help

I have a production job with lots of floral parts where the oil gets in to corners and I cannot reach it to adequately wipe down so a heavier residue is left behind. I am now using a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and thinner. This is almost good enough but there are still some spots were it still dries a little too thick. I am tempted to just use straight WD-40. Any thoughts? This is just for interior use. Thanks