matt walker

I have a friend who has access to a few of these OBI presses (different sizes) and is considering doing the conversion and offering them for sale (If there is enough interest). We believe the price will be very reasonable relative to the cost of a fly press. If you would be interested just shoot me an e-mail or a PM (with your phone #) and I can let him know (he isn't big on computers and e-mail) and he will get back to you by phone to work out the details on size and tooling.

Matt

DM check here.
Article By Matt for Knives Illustrated | Experiments In Metal Inc.
Matt

Let's kick this around. What about instead of 4 smaller threads, one big one. Imagine taking say a 2-1/4" shaft and wrapping two pieces of (guessing 1/4" X 1-1/4") steel around it using a rosebud. Experiment with paper to see what width gives you the advance to degree of turn ratio we want. Then take one of the pieces off the shaft. Drill through the remaining flat bar into the shaft, plug weld numerous close places and grind clean. Now we have a big fast screw. Next bore a block to the OD of shaft plus the flat bar. Insert the other bent flat bar we saved from wrapping the shaft, into the bored hole in the block and plug weld through holes drilled before insertion and clean up with a die grinder to make the nut.
Matt

Thanks for the sketch Brian. I like it. A lot of us could build that much better/easier than we could cut the fast 4 lead thread screw and nut.
Matt

Chris, He is in Knoxville. Has stuff in two places. So you will need to contact him. He's a student/teacher so no glass front store with regular hours.
Matt

I think I like your thinking. How about a sketch?
Matt

This guy is close to you I think. Ellis Custom Knifeworks. He has refractory materials, burners, components and kits. You could probably pick up and save shipping. And he is great to deal with.
While you are on his site don't miss the forge gallery.
Matt

I really enjoy audiobooks. Now have sound isolating earphones for the Ipod that allow me to hear even over the PH, press and sandblaster. There are some links on my site to podcast that are free or for donation some are surprisingly good.
Matt

Thanks Stevet, Now I can spray the roll without worrying about ruining a whole new roll of wire. One thing WD40 is good for after all is water displacement. I've found it to be a good cleaner also. Those felt wipers should remove most of it before the wire enters the liner I think.
Matt

Thanks All, JK I like the light bulb idea. Will give it a try. At least until the moisture stabilizes in the shop. Would be easy to just lay a drop light in the wire compartment. Hesitant to spray anything on the wire for fear of contaminating the weld. I do use those small round felt tricks that clip on the wire as it feeds out.
Matt

I've no hands on experience with it. But a friend uses propylene in a forge that wasn't getting quite hot enough for welding and was pleased with it.
Propylene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matt

Recently I had feed problems with my Miller 250. The nearly empty roll of copper coated wire had slight surface rust. A new roll of wire cured the problem. But the question is: Is there anything that could be sprayed on the new roll to avoid a repeat and loss of a new #33 roll of wire? Would WD40 ruin the weld or foul the liner? I've never had this problem before but about a month ago I had wet the dirt floor for compaction and I believe the added moisture was the cause. The dirt is still releasing moisture.
Thanks .. Matt

Wow, Mighty impressive work.
Matt

Thanks for the kind words guys. A friend built my site a couple of years ago. But this is the first time I've ever tried anything like this. Appreciate the feed back because I have a Mac and have no idea what it looks like on other machines and browsers. Were you able to view the movies? Hope to add some good ones soon, now that I know how. Those were just all I had to work with for now.
Matt

Have been working on overhauling my site. This is what I have so far EXPERIMENTS IN METAL INC. thought some might like to have a look. If you have high speed check the movies on the damascus page.
Will be adding more/better photos as I can get them.
Matt

Hammerkid PM sent.
Matt

On Craigslist, Knoxville TN. COAL! and lots of it.
Matt

Take a look here Ellis Custom Knifeworks in the forge gallery.
Lots of photos of mine. It has made a lot of pattern welded steel.
Matt

More than you want to know about charcoal here. Naked Whiz Dot Com
Reviews for cooking, but you might find something interesting.
Matt

Jimbob, depends on what you expect from it. I would hate to be without mine now that I have it but it isn't a replacement for a PH or a press for me. I have found it to be very good at working to final thickness on damascus bars. Under 1/4" it is more efficient than my press and more accurate than the press or hammer. That's great for me when I am making steel for others ordered to specific dimension. It's nice when I am making 1/8" material for stock removal knifemakers. I have even made some 1/16" material. In my application it is a real handy precision finish tool. Photos in galley here and on my site.
Matt

Hardy........?
Matt

Check here http://elliscustomknifeworks.com/. Darren is a friend of mine and a really good person to work with. He builds a quality forge with some neat features at very competive prices, I think.
good luck .. Matt

Lots of choices here http://www.hammersource.com/index.html
Matt

Built as shop 2001. Mostly dirt floor. 30X60.
Matt

Really neat site. Thanks
Matt