JNewman

My normal supplier for small quantities of anything high Carbon is Industrial Material Center in Stoney Creek (now part of Hamilton). They are good for smaller quantities and even short pieces of heavy mild steel. I know of several machine shops that use them as their steel stockroom. If I used to need a small length of heavy bar I would go to another supplier and find a piece of secondary steel close to what I needed. I have found it is often cheaper and takes less time to buy exactly what I need from Industrial. The better price I received from Vanguard Steel in Missisauga, they are a bigger supplier and I am sure they have a minimum order of at least a few hundred dollars. If you are comeing down this way and want a couple of lengths let me know and I will add it to my order when I get the go ahead from my cutomer. One lesson I learned when dealing with the larger suppliers is to make sure you get a quote. About two years ago I ordered about 10 lengths of 3/4" 4140 from EMJ and thought these guys are much cheaper than my local supplier so I tacked on to the order a couple of lengths each of some sizes of mild steel that I was using for misc projects. When the bill came in the misc. mild steel was significantly more expensive than buying it form my local supplier.

Thanks Charlotte, I just spoke to them they have it in drill rod only as well. They are going to quote me a price and I think it will probably be much cheaper. I got a second price on the drill rod from another supplier that is 45 min. from here. $26 per pc. Just shows that it's worth shopping around for steel when buying any quantity.

Does anyone know of a Source of W1 round that is not drill rod? I am finishing up some samples that I am pretty sure I am going to get the job. I am going to need either 40' of 1 1/8" round or if I cannot get that I need 50' of 1" round. I hate buying ground 3' pieces because it is so expensive buying it that way. My local steel supplier has quoted me about $66 per pc. I am shopping around for a better price on that but I would prefer getting 10' lengths of hot rolled. I would take a larger diameter if the price was significantly cheaper.

It may sound like a pattern but I looked at it and it is not a pattern. If it were a pattern the hardy hole would not go through it there would be a coreprint there. There would also be draft on it which would be visible on the top face as well it should be split if it were a pattern.

I would say it is time to start over again. All is not lost though, you learned attempting the first. I don't know what the shaft was made of but it may have some extra carbon. I just bought 10' of 3/4" round yesterday and it was only $10. When you are making your lollypop use the pein on your hammer to draw the width out faster to keep it round. Obviously a swage block makes making a ladle shape must easier (Shameless plug). But you can use the hardy hole to sink into as long as the top corners are well rounded. You can also use a block of wood to sink into, hardwood works better but use what you can get.

I think that part of the misunderstanding with this thread is a difference between business and hobby. In business if you need something now you go buy it. I have much different spending practices at home than at work, not to say I am wastefull at the shop but if I need to spend money now I do, even if it means I cannot take a paycheque home. I am guessing Grant would be much more hesitant to spend a couple of hundred thousand on a new boat, and if he did he would not be bragging about that here. Of course now that I said that he is going to tell us about his new boat.

You mentioned something similar in another post and I did have some luck with it, I was just hoping there was an easier way. I did it the other way though and put the tip down, I did have it yank the the tongs out of my hands the one time but I let them go rather than let it hurt me. It did allow me to get things back centered though. I will have to try it tip up and hit it harder. The one thing I have been learning is even though the bigger hammer has all the extra power it is often faster not to use it all and work slower but keep everything lined up. Big fat disclaimer understood, big hammers, presses and table saws are unforgiving machines.

Look in your local yellow pages under lubricants, industrial. I bought about 15 gallons of quench oil a few years ago which I am still using, it was quite a bit cheaper than buying motor oil. I never priced veggy oil. After a few years I think the Veggy oil may have gone rancid.

Grant tell us lots more on prices please. Maybe it will get some of these guys to raise their prices and make us all more money.

I know I need to work on that. I go home some days with forearms more tired than if I had been using them to hammer. I have had things wrenched a litttle trying to get tapers back on center. Appart from the easiest thing which is to start them centered any tips on getting them back in line.

I think that is the sort of thing Solidworks customer support should be able to help you with.

Part of what I was trying to get along in my first post is a thing that looks so crude, driving a wedge in to hold down the die only works properly when it is fit very accurately.

I am not a big fan of trusting glue to hold a hammer head on. I have a Hofi type hammer made by Tom Clark. About a year ago the glue over the end of the handle fell out and the handle came a little loose. I think there was a steel wedge in there under the glue if not I made one, I tapped it in a little further and have not had any problem since. The problem with only using glue is that if it fails proper wedging fails slowly, when glue joints fail they tend to happen all at once.

Do not put a screw in the end !!!!!!!!!!!!! You need take the steel wedge out and make sure the handle fits snug so there is not a lot of slop. You may have to trim the handle so the head goes on further to acheive this. If there is not already a slot cut in the end of the handle saw cut one aligned with the hammer head. Drive a WOODEN wedge into the slot. Now drive in one or two steel wedges perpendicular to the wooden wedge. Trim the wedges and handle flush. Do not get the handles soaking wet this swells the wood crushes the fibers in the wood then when they dry they will be loose.

Here is a is a quick and dirty tool I made to center up and square up the shanks to the chisel on these chisels I am making. I don't need the tool for most of the chisels but some of them end up off center or bent at the base of the shank. The first couple that were out I used my swage with some loose shims to center the chisel on the split line of the swage but after 25lb of swage bouncing off the die I figured I needed a safer way. If I had a huge quantity of these to make I would have made a spring swage with the top and bottom the right thickness but most of the time this tool doesn't leave a flat and if it does it is a very small one.

I hadn't thought of a pin even though there is a slot for one in the back of the bottom die. I can borrow a mag drill from my next door neighbor but I will have to send the sow block out for the machining, I think it is too tall and possibly too heavy for my little Excello Mill. I wasn't using lube on the bottom key before, because the when I first used the hammer I did lube the key and it came loose a couple of times. But the new top key that I made and blued in works great with grease on it. Now that the sow block key fits better I figured it would be fine and will hopefully help with removal.

You are welcome to join OABA we have a number of members who are in Qu

I have recently had a problem with the sow block on my hammer moving. I have been making chisels that get welded on the end of a pipe. Imagine a wedge 3" wide 1 1/2 thick on the heavy end, tapering to a feather edge over 5" with a 1" shank on the heavy end. I am making these from 3" round 4340, so I am hitting pretty hard especially on the taper tool after I have the taper roughed out. What is supprising is I would expect all that hard pounding using a taper tool on the bottom die would push the sow block back. However the sow block has moved forwards about 1/4-3/8" twice on me in the last few days. This is a real PITA to fix because I have to remove my treadle guard/tool tray and then beat on a punch to drive the key out. With the sow block moving forward (key drives in from the back) I would expect the key to have loosened up with the block moving, but it is really hard to get out, ten or so blows with a 12lb sledge before it STARTS to move. After it moved the second time today I took a good look at the key. It looked like it was binding a little on the big end because of upsetting on the end. I ground that off and then fitted it with bluing, it could be a better fit but I think I am going to make a new longer key at some point so I can drive it in and out with no punch. I added an extra shim and now that its a better fit I greased it and drove it in. Hopefully this will fix my problem. I have another dozen chisels to make next week so I will find out if it does.

Thanks Roger, I would like to pick up a some of those older Clifton Ralph videos that you have recently converted.

I have used various shaped scrapers for cleaning up aluminum matchplates, cast aluminum patterns, cast aluminum vaccum tools and cast aluminum styrofoam moulds. Die grinders with flap wheels and Socat disks work a lot faster where you can get them in but there are still lots of places you cannot get the rotary tools. The shapes I have used the most are a woodworking chisel sharpened almost square and a round file with a bit of a bevel ground on the end. both of thes are pushed and basically used like a single tooth file.

Roger will you have UMBA DVDs there?

If you can have a look in the back of the book "Werk Und Werkzeug Des Kunstschmeids" by Otto Schmirler. It has a Oliver hammer that uses a compression spring. I have heard that this was what the origional ABANA treadle hammer was based on. The spring is set up similar to Hollis's suggestion. There is a long pipe that the sping is inside fastened to the frame, inside the spring runs a long piece of round bar which is fastened to the arm. The book while expensive is an excellent reference as well, my copy is in German English and French. You can also do what I did when I could only find long compression springs. I took a torch and heated a small spot on the spring and bent it up to form a link. I then just let it air cool. The two springs I used were still working after ten years when I sold it recently. I used to repair T-bar springs this way when I worked in the ski business and they stood up as well as the new ones.

Thanks guys. I spoke to a smith today who hot dips most of his outdoor work he mentioned that he had this done on some work because it could not go in the galv tank. He mentioned a rough finish as well and that it hid detail more than the hot dip. The whole reason I was interested in the spray was to have less detail hiding. I don't think either of the galve shops around here paint as well but I will check. Subbing out the paint is something I will do if I can. There are some small body shops around my shop that I will go visit if the job is a go. I don't want to go powder coat for all the reasons above. Most of the guys I know who's work I admire who have had outdoor railings powder coated have later regretted it.

I am in the process of quoting a high end railing. I was looking through the book Forged Architechtural Ironwork, by Peter Parkinson. He talks about getting a zinc spray on work, the way he describes this it sounds like spray welding. It apparently leaves a smoother finish than hot dip galvanizing. I have friends who hot dip a fair amount and I know they spend a lot of time cleaning up galvanizing before paint. I am having a hard time finding someone who can do this work so I can get a quote and do the job if I get it. Should I be trying shops that do spray welding for metal buildup? Does anyone have a source in Ontario? Has anyone on here used this process?

I have found they do work well for cleaning wood out of abrasives. But what I have found works as well is using compressed air. Hold the nozzle about an inch away from the sandpaper and blast away while the machine is running. Obviously glasses and if you have no dust collection a respirator are neccesary.