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Hammerfall, that is a neat hammer you have there. More information please! Is it Australian made? Have you restored it from vintage? How does it perform.? It's nice to see a hammer that looks light enough not to need mass foundations and a crane to shift it. 

Where in Aus are you?

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He is in Kansas, the other Oz, like Dorthy I don't think we are in Kansas anymore... It looks to be a later style Little Giant with plowshare dies if I'm not mistaken...;-) Couldn't read the maker, that pattern was made by several different companies over the years: LG, Moloch, Meyer bros, ECT..

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It is an early Little Giant 25lb model from 1910. I made a weekend pilgrimage up to Nebraska to purchase it from Sid Suedmeier. His restoration work is amazing. It has drawing dies in it currently. I don't have it running yet, as I ran out of time last night building the base. It will be operational later this week. For those ou you that have never met him, Sid is a really amazing guy. I'll post some pics of his 500lb LG later.

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1 hour ago, Hammerfall said:

It is an early Little Giant 25lb model from 1910. I made a weekend pilgrimage up to Nebraska to purchase it from Sid Suedmeier. His restoration work is amazing. It has drawing dies in it currently. I don't have it running yet, as I ran out of time last night building the base. It will be operational later this week. For those ou you that have never met him, Sid is a really amazing guy. I'll post some pics of his 500lb LG later.

WERE do you guys get your dies from or do you make them im getting ready to build a hydrolic press and im havin a hard time finding dies.

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3 hours ago, bubba682 said:

WERE do you guys get your dies from or do you make them im getting ready to build a hydrolic press and im havin a hard time finding dies.

Good Morning,

Hydraulic Press Dies can be made from Mild Steel. Find someone in your area that supplies Steel and purchase some of their 'Drops' (the pieces that fall on the floor after cutting). Power Hammer dies can be made from Mild Steel, T-1 (is used for making Excavator Buckets), 4130, 4340 or anything that is available. Hydraulic Press Dies do not need to be Heat Treated. It is better for them to be soft and not create Bullets if the break apart. Some Smith's have tried to use Bearings for Dies, with Tragic results!!  What does Grant have around the FireHouse?

K.I.S.S.

Neil

 

 

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I make dies for my 50# LG from 4140 I buy for scrap from a machine shop that makes pins for heavy equipment. I made dovetail anvil and hammer bolt plates and weld my various dies to bolt on plates that match. 

I believe you can buy these too, I probably should have mine want to shake loose after a while and I haven't tracked down what I did wrong to correct the problem I just have to keep a close eye on the top dieplate.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Im just startin to gather up gear for makin the press i was going to use mild steel if all else failed and now i am  thxs for the advise i dont get up to the Firehouse all that often last time i was there was about 8 monthas ago lookin for hardies.

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Mild works just fine it may just wear out a couple decades sooner is all. I used 4140 because it's available for reasonable and I get to talk to the guys in the machine shop. The pin stock I get is for coupler pins for quick change loader and excavator buckets. Bye the way, I bought the drops rather than worn out pins. I MUCH prefer new stock when I can get it, it's gooder. ;)

Frosty The Lucky.

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I agree with yas there Frosty i built my hammer out of scrap metal this press will be all new steel and painted im back n forth on design between an h press or out of a single peice of 1 '' plate for the frame either way its goin to have a small foot print and it'll be on wheels.

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So this is my workshop at the moment it is an 8 x 4 shed and I work in one half with the garden tools at the other. I have to lift my forge out on to a small patio I built. It isn't ideal but it keeps everything safe and dry. 

Soon I should be moving house which has a garage that I will be  using as my workshop it should be really good to get a lot more room.

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Getting ready to move shop. 

Presently it sits in one half of building. 

Going to move it to back half and turn vacated half into shop for wife's painting/crafts to be sold. 

Will keep progress posted. Plan on putting a 48" door where the window is with a monrail above and adding a 13x12' outdoor work area.

main question. Sand for floor?

or concrete 

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57 minutes ago, 58er said:

main question. Sand for floor?

or concrete 

I find a stamped earth floor more comfortable to stand on all day.

But...the advantages of having a levelled concrete slab for laying out projects, generally keeping tidy and easy to put stuff on wheels or a pallet truck to shift it around, trump packed earth any day.

You can always leave a patch between the hearth and anvil un-concreted but you would be better off with well designed boots!

Alan

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Sand has the disadvantage that some kinds make a lot of (abrasive) dust. Some will also slowly shift by your stepping on them. My long term goal is to put in a wooden floor over my sand. (No solid wood does not catch fire easily)  

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5 hours ago, gote said:

(No solid wood does not catch fire easily)  

Solid wood is also more comfortable to stand on than concrete. If you do drop something hot and it starts to smolder, the smoke will give it away and you can drip some water on it from your slack tub.

Remember, the floors in Samuel Yellin's shop were all wood.

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I have a nice 8" thick concrete slab in my shop and don't worry about dropping things so long as they're not large enough to cause the floor to start spalling.

Wood is an excellent floor especially if walking on concrete bothers you. You can mix a saturated solution of borax in water, wet it down, let it dry and reapply till you start to see white crystals in the wood. That's as much borax as the wood will hold Borax is a marvelous flame retardant and fire extinguisher. 

I'm not a fan of dirt, sand, gravel, etc. floors in a shop, it's not stable enough for my taste though oiled and hard packed clay is as hard as concrete it can still get sloppy when wet. I prefer my floors stay where I put them but that's my taste. YMMV.

Frosty The Lucky.

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