Zack S Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I am building a guillotine based off the one by Nick Wheeler at bladeforums.com I want to know what steel I should use. I know i should use different steel for the frame and dies, but what should use? I am building this as a school project and the teacher will be purchasing steel to use I just need to tell him what steel to use. Also I am planing on adding a removable depth gauge like the one in the picture bellow. The general dimensions I got from the pictures are1 inch plate10 inch tall6 inch mouth6 inch across5 inch bottom die10 inch top die dies 4 inches across Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Mild steel for the frame and leaf spring for the dies is my suggestion (or A-36 and 5160 or 9260) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Most of the wear is going to be on the part that gets struck. When properly used the material you are forging will be hot or if doing noferous at least anealed but the struck end takes a pbeating over time. I have used plow lathe, grader blade and mild steel as the guilitene as I have used several types over the years and it all works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Use of mild steel for the frame allows for easy welding as a means of putting it together. If you design it for an easily sourced size of leaf spring it makes for tough and inexpensive dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOblacksmith0530 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Mild steel for the frame and Jerry Hoffman uses 4140 if I remember correctly in the "smithing magician" he used to sell. I bought some die blanks from him at the time and made some dies and heat treated the fullers like 4140 and had no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 my gillotine tool is all made from mild steel including the dies which I super-quenched, they have been working well for me for about 10 years. The struck end of top die will mushroom but that's easy to fix on the belt sander, or use Jr. Strassil's trick of welding about a half inch thick slice of 1/2 round bar to the top of the die and hammer on that, when it gets all mushed up, cut it off and weld on another one. Sure saves the top of the dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I have one with half inch round A36 welded horizontally for top/bottom fullers. It has lasted 10 years without noticable wear. However, if the guillotine is used with right angled dies to make, say, a tenon, then spring steel or 4140 might be in order. Likewise, if a cutting tool, use a respectable steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 when I made my tool I used A36 for all of it, it has held up great have not had to re dress the dies at all. I just picked a stock 1/2"x2 1/2" and built it around it. Made the process simple and keept the cost down. and at that price and having full 20' length on hand if I need to make a replacement die I have plenty of stock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack S Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Thank You. Because I am building this in a Precision Manufacturing class when I am done I am thinking I will upload all of my mechanical drawings for it. And while I am building it I will take pictures of it and upload them on here. I have decided to go with what TomasPowers suggested for my steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I built mine out of mild/A36 and leaf spring and it's lasted some 7-8 years now. The main difference in my guillotine is I placed the dies at a 45* angle to the frame so I can use it either across stock or along it say to fuller a sword blade. Not that I make swords it's just the example I thought of. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VolcanoForge Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I think the one in your photo is Yesteryear's design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I build and sell guillotine tools (and more often than not give them away in Iron In The Hat raffles at meets). I've made a lot of these, and use one many times a week. My advise would be to make your dies out of something like 1/2" by 1 1/2" mild steel. Mild steel dies will work ok for general forging of HOT steel. If you find that they are failing then you are either working too cold or are forging more advanced steels or are forging bigger cross sections than your average hobbyist. My experimentation with all sorts of sizes of die stock, for example 3/4 by 3", is that big dies take a HUGE blow from a big hammer to overcome the inertia of the tool to do a reasonable amount of work. A guillotine tool is for work of less than 3/4" square, upper limit of 1 1/4" square. That is in general the max stock size worked by the modern hobby smith. A die significantly wider than your work will result in wasted effort because your energy will go into overcoming the inertia of the tool rather than forming the work piece. If you are forging a lot of stuff over 1" square then it is more economical to build or buy a power hammer or press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup13rebelsmc Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I build and sell guillotine tools (and more often than not give them away in Iron In The Hat raffles at meets). I've made a lot of these, and use one many times a week. My advise would be to make your dies out of something like 1/2" by 1 1/2" mild steel. Mild steel dies will work ok for general forging of HOT steel. If you find that they are failing then you are either working too cold or are forging more advanced steels or are forging bigger cross sections than your average hobbyist. My experimentation with all sorts of sizes of die stock, for example 3/4 by 3", is that big dies take a HUGE blow from a big hammer to overcome the inertia of the tool to do a reasonable amount of work. A guillotine tool is for work of less than 3/4" square, upper limit of 1 1/4" square. That is in general the max stock size worked by the modern hobby smith. A die significantly wider than your work will result in wasted effort because your energy will go into overcoming the inertia of the tool rather than forming the work piece. If you are forging a lot of stuff over 1" square then it is more economical to build or buy a power hammer or press. How should one contact you about purchasing one of your guillotines? Very nice design! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 It's not hard to build one of your own, ABANA's Hammer's Blow publication publishes designs every few years. Another reason why membership in ABANA is worth it. Basically you need a torch and a welder and a little experience. In my video the ones shown are made with 1 1/2" by 1/2" die stock, 1/2" thick base plates, and 3/8" thick C frame pieces. You should be able to guess at the size of everything else given that scale. Clamp your dies in the assembly with a business card spacer when welding to give sliding fits. Good luck and if you still would rather buy then build send me a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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