ClevelandGuy

Agreed. The pricing on these things isn't high to begin with, and if you figure in the time, material and aggravation spent building your own (unless you like that kind of thing), it's kinda a no-brainer in my opinion.

The Smithin Magician like John B shows is available from on line. The style like Gary Huston shows is available as the G2 from Yesteryear Forge. I like the G2 as you can use it to fuller the length of a piece as well as across the work. So if you want to put a groove down the length of a small blade, you simply turn the work to come in from the side vs the end. Awesome! Thanks for the link, DSW. That's what I was looking for. And I see they offer a sweet bending jig package as well....

Wow, you're right, Gary. That was a great video. And it re-emphasized my desire to get a MIG...I wouldn't want to try those inside welds he performed, using my stick welder. So, I'm assuming that when everyone was talking about modifications to allow 45 degree angles, they were referring to how he notched the side pieces out? The reason I restarted this thread was because, yes, I'd like to buy a SM, but if there's a modification that substantially increases its usability, I'd prefer to go that route, even if it requires fabbing up the pieces myself.

Thanks for the detail, John. It looks like your dies are of two different widths. How do you prevent the thinner ones from tilting? Some kind of spacers inserted alongside them?

Sorry to drag out an old thread, but I'm new to the forum and every link I click says it's not available. Is there something I'm doing wrong here or is there an expiration date on old forum links? Really like to see some of these smithin magician mods. Thanks