Im just curious, how often do you guys reface your hammer dies? You know, true them back flat?

When they need it. It really depends on what I am forging. Stainless steel is very hard on dies. If you are using a swage it can mark up the die if scale gets trapped under it. I will generally take a light cut with a fly cutter in my milling machine. It seems every six months to a year. But its all relative to my work volume, the tooling I am running and the hardness of the material being forged.

Well its been a bit over a year since we did ours(didnt have to take much off)..Id say 90% of the forging is on larger very hard steel(high carbon and tool steels)..Also using spring tools..The dies are 4140 if im remembering right..

Doo doo happens, that is if I damage them it's best to do a re dress asap. Alot of my dies are mystery metal and not all flat by any means.....Having to re mill flat dies because they're out of true is rare.

I use my mill not because I have to but because I have one.

I use my mill not because I have to but because I have one.

I think most dings,blems and small stuff can be re dressed easily with a flap wheel which leaves a nice semi polish and it's easy. Mills, surface grinders and shapers are great for cutting em back to true, in fact it's the only way but how often does that actually happen?

I think most dings,blems and small stuff can be re dressed easily with a flap wheel which leaves a nice semi polish and it's easy. Mills, surface grinders and shapers are great for cutting em back to true, in fact it's the only way but how often does that actually happen?

I think it depends on your inclination. I don't like hand grinders much they shoot dust everywhere that you then breath in and get all over your clothing. So there you are with gloves, ear plugs, a mask and safety glasses. I only use them when they are the best tool for the job that will produce the best results. Not because it is easiest thing to grab because its the everything tool. Also abrasives cost money a carbide cutter can remove a lot of material and be resharpened many times. If you know how you can produce very nice surfaces with them. With a mill I am turning a crank with just safety glasses staying clean producing a truly flat surface. But that is my opinion and I admit what I do may not appeal to or be an option for others.

When there is so much wear in the dies that you can pass your brass rule through from front to back including the joint. No really just when the wear starts to make it hard to keep strips straight, and jobs start to get hard to hold too size. Usually when there is about 3/16 wear between the blocks.

If somebody sneaked in my shop and replaced the old dies in my L.G. 100 I would be lost! I know where the saddle is and use it to keep a taper straight by moving the work to the side of the saddle, turning the bend straight . Flat, perfectly matching dies would be a hinderance. Just my .02 cents.

If somebody sneaked in my shop and replaced the old dies in my L.G. 100 I would be lost! I know where the saddle is and use it to keep a taper straight by moving the work to the side of the saddle, turning the bend straight . Flat, perfectly matching dies would be a hinderance. Just my .02 cents.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it...... ;)

Yes. when you do know what you are going worn dies are really good for straightening that taper, just go over to the side a bit and pull that side longer, however not all of our work is tapering, when you have to forge a parrallel shaft then those tapered dies are gonna work against you. The nice machined face doesnt last very long any way in our shop. What is a real pain though is when one of the guys decides to use the welder to fill in some of the divits, but does'nt tell anyone, but I can normally find where that weld is when I go the machine them though. Normally find the weld in the first cut I take.

Phil

I'm not old enough nor have had a power hammer long enough to need to dress the dies. The 25lb LG I have now has 2 extra sets of dies so I would guess I'll never dress the hammer dies. If you really feel the need to do it, do so, otherwise enjoy the fact you have a power hammer and aren't wearing out your arm.

I dress mine when the get dinged up enough to affect the quality of what I'm forging. Most of my work is flat bar that needs smooth, uniform finish. If I misuse tooling under the hammer I can put dimples or pits in the top die pretty quickly.

Patrick