John Larson

Thanks for the splendid video, forgemaster.

Will, that is really good news.

Now that we're back I'm hoping to see some very cool advances by the usual suspects. It has been so hot and humid in the mid-Atlantic it is very hard work to be in the shop. I've sent a 150 off to Austin Texas and a 100 of to Ashville North Carolina. I'm working on a 150. All these with my standard valve system.

Wonderful footage.

Handcrafted Metal, Inc.

The machine shipped to Austin TX today. Hurray!!!

Atta way to go the Matt. Also, I enjoyed your facebook postings of your trip to Manhattan.

This machine ships on Friday. Have an order for another just like it. Also orders for a 75 and a 100. What happened to my summer of freedom?

Here are a couple pictures of the completed machine.

take a look at jcl10000 on youtube.

After a two day detour with a home improvement contractor, I now have the plumbing in the 150 completed and the machine was reciprocating last night. I now have to work on die mounting stuff and the treadle assembly.

The cabinet is mounted. The back channel was predrilled and tapped for the spool valve, for the throttle valve brackets, and for the bracket for the Humphrey valve. The 1x10x30 top plate is mounted.

Completed the cabinet frame and will mount it tomorrow.

Completed the 150's anvil today. The front face's weld beads were sanded to the surface. The edges were bevelled for the top billet. The top is 6"tall, 12" wide, 18" long and welded in place as well as bolted to the tower. All was cleaned up--the spatter blocker does indeed keep the little pebbles from sticking, but then it has to be cleaned off with solvent. The price of using solid core wire is spatter and all the things done to cope with it. I also installed the plates that are welded to the bottom of the anvil and bolted to the base plate. Again cleaning and painting was done. Now to the cabinet construction.

This anvil looks real nice. Swayback is curvature in the top plate, caused by the foundation of wrought iron beneath the steel plate giving downward and widening outward. A totally hot anvil could be hydraulic pressed back into shape, with attention paid to narrowing the wrought iron base to reclaim the stock needed to raise the steel plate. It is usually better to just dress the top plate's edges and live with the sway back.

Grant's machine was a 75 at 20:1. Very nice unit that is possibly my most demanded unit. Absolutely superb control and snap. Knife guys love it because they can draw out their Damascus billets and can do the heavy crunching with a hydraulic press. Press power cannot be matched per dollar, but they are always a tad slow and even an experienced pro draws out better under any hammer than under a press IMHO. Today I built much of the stepped anvil for the 150 and will complete that tomorrow. The bottom block is 22 high, 18 wide, and 18 long. I bevelled the three 6" billets and welded them together. Required my best forklift skills to manipulate the block.

4,750 lbs

I have started my second heavy duty 150 this year, the first one delivered in February. By using 10" channel rather than 9" stuff, and using an 18" long cabinet rather than 16", I can use an 8-7/8" facet diameter on the octagonally shaped hammer heads and thereby use the longest S-7 dies made by Brian Russell in Arlington, TN. Those will also fit in the standard 150's 7-7/8 hammer head's dovetail slot, but the 8-7/8" also allows for custom wider and even longer dies. The anvil is shaped from three billets capped with a fourth billet. Back in 2002 I built 150s with 12" channel and an anvil 12.75" wide and 18" long. The new HD 150 and the old 150s are 20:1 machines when the base plate is added to the anvil weight. I recently bought and rebuilt an old 150 into octagon configuration with all the new features, then sold it. I no longer want to build machines bigger than 150 because my fork lift grunts too much and so do I. The parts strain every machine in the shop, and I've got big stuff. Someday I want to tour the shops in Europe to study their machinery.

I have seen one copper tube shaped as a wavy pattern as viewed from on top and totally flat as viewed from the side. This was used to heat a piece laid on a fire brick with about a 3/4 inch air gap between the brick and the tube bottom. It may have been Grant's picture/video. That idea comes as close to general purpose as I have seen. It is on my to do list. I believe that my advice for a test drive before buying is sensible. Had I done so in the presence of an experienced user I would have purchased a far more powerful unit. I still would have acquired an induction heater and by being much bigger I would now use it a lot more. Every heating method known to blacksmiths has pluses and minuses. I use coal and propane and also an electric tempering oven with higher temperatures possible for heat soaking. Die makers use computer controlled electric ovens to achieve temperature vs time profiles needed for metals such as S-7. For what it is worth, urban environments are difficult for smithing because of effects on people close by. That is why QUIET processes such as induction heaters, fly presses, and hydraulic presses are needed. Complaining neighbors can really dampen enthusiasm.

I own a single phase 220 volt induction heater acquired from the late Grant Sarver. It useful when the work piece and the copper tubing coil are properly matched. I've formed an opinion that induction heaters are very good for heating a sequence of the same thing. Everything I've studied and certainly everything I've done with mine support this notion. When the air gap between the coil and the work piece gets too large heating efficiency is poor. That is why it is difficult to use an induction heater for general purpose work where the coils and work pieces vary substantially. That is why I urged Harris to observe a unit in action with an informed demonstrator. He will either think his projects work or don't work with induction heating.

Harris, please seek a good demonstration of an induction heater before laying out your money. They are not as versatile as you might be thinking.

I have watched professionals use hydraulic presses and, of course, power hammers. An hydraulic press can be built according to careful plans available widely. Power hammers are more difficult to build and get right; most any smith can do the fabrication, but getting the drive mechanism for the hammer head is easier said than done. The hydraulic press you can build has far more squishing power than the hammer you can build on the same budget. Because of that I'd start with the press to handle things that are too tedious and difficult to hammer by hand at the anvil. You can always do finer work with hammer and anvil. You can draw tapers and such with an hydraulic press, but they won't be the really smooth ones you can do on a power hammer. With a press, make sure you make where your dies meet the metal very visible without having to bend over to look at your squishing progress. Just my 2 cents.

You have done a very nice job and can be justifiably proud.

In the for what it is worth department, I've had to put the steam hammer project in the back of the shop because two fresh orders have worked on without delay. I'll get back to it.

Matt, this is fabulous news. When I get my schedule in order I intend to come and visit you and your new monster. Hope you rented a big forklift. :)