Combo dies: hard on ram guides?

[KYBOY]

We dont have any combo dies..Generally just use flat dies with tools..Ive thought several times of making on set of flat dies into a combo die as it would make it very easy on Lisa forging out hawk blades..You know, use the drawing side to flare out the blade and the flat to true it up? But Ive always heard that combo dies eventually wear on the ram guides as it puts more pressure to one side of the guide..Anyone comment on this? Any truth that you have seen first hand? What have you heard?

[peacock]

It depends on the hammer you have. I hink they are pretty hard on Little Giant guides, But no problem on a heavy duty hammer like a Bradley. I use them on my Sa Mak air hammer all the time.

[KYBOY]

A #50 LG..Im a bit worried about suing combo dies with it to be honest..

[John Thompson]

I'd just e-mail or call Sid or Keri and get the answer first hand. http://www.littlegianthammer.com/contact.html

John

[CurlyGeorge]

Not sure about the LG but I use a set of combo dies on my tire hammer all the time. Right now that's all that I have. So far, they haven't given me any trouble. On your LG, I think that I'd take John's advice and contact them about it, just to be safe. :)

[macbruce]

Technically you should always use the center of flat dies as well but that quite often ain't how it is......Working to one side or the other is a necessary function of open die forging hammers. The judder that happens when you work a piece off center or miss alignment causes greater wear can be mitigated by keeping the guide bearings well adjusted.....Ya gotta break some eggs to make an omelette....... ;)

[ThomasPowers]

When you worry more about wear than production it may be time to review your equipment and usage. Will the dies save you more time and effort than even having to maintain the guides?

[KYBOY]

Im not worried about maintaining the dies, its the ram guides Im concerned with..Dies are easy to fix.. If it only slightly wears and is easily corrected or lessened then Im not concerned..I was wondering if it caused prolific wear...I have seen it cause problems on a tire hammer before but then his guides were not as heavy as many tire hammers are..
When you scrimp/save and go without to buy something you learn to take care of it...Its hard for me to take chances with something I cant replace..

[macbruce]

Combo dies do cause more wear on the guides because you're never really centered and that is acceptable. Tire hammers are pretty funky compared to most hammers and the guides if allowed to get too 'loosey goosey' I reckon severe wear will likely result. I've seen plenty or hammers that are too loose and mentioned it to their operators a time or two and they blow it off more often than not....... :mellow:

[petere76]

Curley,

In re. your combo die set up on the tire hammer. Did you make two new dies upperlower or buy them? I was thinking of doing that for my own tire hammer. Care to share the details?

I made and use a small fuller type die on the flat that moves iron well enough but it is not very agressive (low rise). The combo dies I have seemn on the self contained hammers (Glazier, Striker etc) work very efficently but those hammers are a lot tighter than the typical TH set up.

Thanks,
Peter

[KYBOY]

The guides on our hammer are good and tight anyway..It had new guides machined by a pro that replaced the originals..Its an early hammer with wrap around guides..if the wear in minimal Im not concerned..

[r smith]

When you worry more about wear than production it may be time to review your equipment and usage. Will the dies save you more time and effort than even having to maintain the dies?

Did you mean "having to maintain your machine"?

[CurlyGeorge]

Peter, I'll try to get some good pic of my dies, today, and post them for you. I made them myself. :)

[Dillon Sculpture]

I agree with keeping your material in the middle of the die. Besides you really cut down your working area. I like a subtle crown all the way across that allows for drawing and a finishing surface still keeping enough room for tooling.

[JNewman]

I have a set of dies that I ground a nice big radius on the front and back, They are still flat dies but do draw quicker and allow for less choppy blending.

[CurlyGeorge]

Hey Peter. Here are a few pics of the combo dies that I made for my tire hammer. The top die bolts in place, while the bottom die fits into a slide that has a locking pin to hold it in place. The dimensions of the dies are: flat die, 2" wide and 2 1/2" front to back. The half round is a 1 1/2" round that I split down the center and is 2" long. I then sanded it off so that the face of the flat and half round were flush. I welded the pieces to a square piece of 4" X 4" X 1/2" plate. They work great. :)

[Dave Hammer]

Just make a saddle for your current die setup and and use a spring swage (fullering) with it. It only takes a few seconds to add or remove it.

[KYBOY]

Thats what we have been using..This poor ol' fuller has been fixed about half a dozen times,LOL

[petere76]

Thanks Curley and company for the ideas.

Peter

[macbruce]

Thats what we have been using..This poor ol' fuller has been fixed about half a dozen times,LOL

That poor old PH spring fuller has seen better days, aside from being easy to make and pop in and out they're noisy as h, inacurate and break whenever murphy thinks it's the worst possible time....Other than that they're a treat to work with...... :D .......I like hand held spring fullers just fine.

[KYBOY]

Thats my biggest grips with spring fullers..Noisy, innaccurate and they dang sure will break when you least need them too..I know it sounds stupid but that dang " ka-chank, ka-chank,ka-chank" sound they make drives me crazy :wacko:

[macbruce]

Thats my biggest grips with spring fullers..Noisy, innaccurate and they dang sure will break when you least need them too..I know it sounds stupid but that dang " ka-chank, ka-chank,ka-chank" sound they make drives me crazy :wacko:

I worked in my friends shop, David Norrie, for a spell and he was texturing maybe 4'' round in his 5B Nazel fitted with a spring fuller while I was there and the KA-CLACKS were nation wide, we're talkin earplugs and headphones......... :blink: