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Dr. Sarver ran his off a phase converter. I believe he said you could get away with a 20 h.p. for the 25 kw. You could go check out the archives at the NWBA site, lot of info. He also posted a DIY wand not too far back. Sooo happy LLL is picking up the ball on this one. I was thinking about getting a backup, now its back to scheming about a bigger one.

Yay.

To do these, I roll a tight scroll. Then I put a punch in the vise, business side up. I use a smallish round flat faced tool. Heat the scroll and register the work at the start of the scroll but one revolution in, and using the peen of your hammer gently hammer the scroll down. Move along to the inside of the scroll. This beats hammering into a depression, you can really control your final form. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the lesson, what a cool technique. I can't wait to give it a go.

If you're ever back down near Buena Vista, shoot me a message and come visit! I'm outside Salida.

Point(S) taken. No one uppering here. I really like the original piece. Anyway, here's the work in progress. I have been gearing up for some summer shows and have been developing these "stars", three or four different designs to be made in a series of ten (for the wall). It's an overused motif but I like the repetition and potential for play/exploration the form presents. Rocking out a pile of tapers on 3/4 bar never gets old. The piece in the photo probably wont make the cut into production but she's pretty nifty. The center is going to get a little copper medallion. Frosty - about the stealing secrets bit, there's always that isn't there? Be lying if I said sometimes that doesn't come into play when sharing. Not in this case though... The first photo is another incarnation of the same type of tooling.

Ya know, I kinda cropped that one on purpose, didn't want to be accused of "hijacking" or "one-upping" or any of that... I don't really get the whole etiquette or tone thing, I just figure if you have something useful to drive the conversation forward give it up. But some get salty so we try... Its all about the technique anyway so there you go. Having a raised vein is so sweet and there is so much you can do to embellish. In the piece above i simply chiseled a line and put little fuller marks in the sides. Simple. Most of the time we drive a tool into the material and create an impression, having something pop out of the metal is attractive.

Good score. There's a great demo video for sale on the umba site (http://umbaonline.ning.com/page/dvd-library-1) where Ralph Sproul goes into great detail about the dos and don'ts of oxy acetylyne. It's # RD 102. You get a lot of other Sproul wisdom too, power hammer stuff, shop layout and efficiency, more... "Know the rules" is his mantra in regards to the torch. It's a well spent seven bucks. Those things can and have killed many experienced metalworkers.

Upsetting is tough and there is no good way to do it easily so good job for giving it a go. If you are trying to get extra mass on the end of a bar for a ball you might do well to quench the very end of the piece before you start whaling away on it, this will prevent mushrooming. Another good way to start an upset is with a steep taper at the end of the bar. Seems counter intuitive but once again you combat the fact that the material wants to really spread where impacted. If you are just interested in the ball thing and not the technique of upsetting there are better ways.

Those are some stylie scrolls there Tim. I have been playing with those types of dies a bunch this winter. The raised vein is really cool, I like any technique that leaves material where I can get at it later. Things usually tend to go towards the organic.

Damascening. Some good links in the wiki article.

Here is a pic of my comal. Seems like every meal around here comes with tortillas and picante (in mexico, they just call it food). Some day I am going to make a tortilla press attachment for the fly press. Where I live in So. Colorado there's good chile's and a nice variety of beans. You can hardly go anywhere in late summer without somebody on the side of the road with a big propane tumbler filled with anaheim's. A big smoker is also on the to do list. Just got back from Sante Fe complete with a visit to the Turley School. If a guy wanted to learn forging and a a bonus follow his belly around that's the place, what a foodie town. Thanks Frank, your place has mucho fuerza.

The biggest thing to me would be the amount of usage the machine has seen. They do wear out. If it's been ridden hard it had better be cheap. Personally I don't really like dealing with an air compressor, although I do have one. If you are good at maintenance (draining, leaky lines,oiling,etc), Compressed air is a great thing to have around.

Thanks Joe! I started reading that book last night. The intro is really insightful. Great stuff.

This should be well within the capabilities of your setup given proper prep, preheat and skill. Do you have anyone that can give you a lesson? Then it's all practice. Oxy fuel welding is awesome, but slow. The upside is that if you can weld with gas the electric processes come easy.

I do now. Thanks

No, but this was. My take is to be safe, but not scared if you decide that you are up to the task. And get good help. The kind of guy that cant help but stick his head under the car when you're wrenching. That's my bro Pat in the photo. He loves this job. His two girls were born in a kiddie pool on his deck. HA. See, now you know how to do stuff. Nothing beats the ability to perform. Doesn't mean you have to if there's an easier way. The bottom line seems to be "Do I have $750 to spend on getting this moved?". Often times it's no. We all know that feeling. My earlier post was a little inflammatory. I think both sides to this are valid, a guy just has to pick one for him or herself. I'll hang with any metal guy who will have me. :D

Sculpture. No mystery meat. Less staring at the screen.

A few of mine. Dr. Karl's science phone in. He's a cool guy, and you get to listen to a bunch of aussie accents. http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/podcast.htm Here's a new one I've been liking. "99% invisible". Talks about design and the things in life that are in the background but somebody put a lot of thought into creating. http://99percentinvisible.org/

Chalk me up for "give it a go". Too much coddling in the world, into the ring with the lions! I just moved mine with a 1986 Dodge Prospector, some I beams, a pinch bar, some various straps and come alongs and whatever else was lying around. If yer drawing neat little scheming sketches you are probably up to the task. I'd rather hang with you than a guy that hired the rigger. Dealing with two tons all spread out like that gives me great respect for my hydraulic press. Remember, don't stick your fingers where you wouldn't put your most special parts.

Looks sketchy. Be nice to see a pic of the plumbing.

Well man, seems to me you'll likely build a real nice machine whichever way you travel. An air hammer will have way more control. Why would you spend all that time and sacrifice something so important?

Heber, huh? Sweet spot. That's on the good side of Alta. How's the snow?

Word. Not sure why people actually believe what they read on the interweb, or the newspaper. Skepticism is mandatory or else you're part of the problem. Suweeet press!

Texturing is easy, straightening is hard. Anything over 7' long gets really hard. Some kind of press will really help with the truing up. I would figure it out, do the work, and not support the cookie cutter supply houses.