October 15, 201312 yr I got an ultra jig from Yesteryear Forge at Quad State this year. This past weekend was the first chance that I've had to use it. It is quite an impressive tool. I also fired up the large forge for the first time. The first thing I made was some s-hooks and then an s-hook chain, like they had at their booth at Quad State. Then I made 8 bottle openers, 7 passed QA/QC. I'm sure with a slight rework the last will perform as well. To this point I have nothing but great things to say about the ultra jig. I've only just scratched the surface of what the tool is capable of, but I can see that I will be getting a lot of use out of it in the near future. Unfortunately 4 of the bottle openers already went to family members, now I will have to think of something else to make them for Christmas. I'm thinking of matching refrigerator magnets. . I have to give a nod to Thomas Powers, the s-hook chain is recycled election sign frames.
October 16, 201312 yr That is awesome. The S-hooks are all forged perfectly and precision is outstanding. Is there a technique on making forged shapes to be exactly the same?
October 16, 201312 yr Cutting the stock to exactly the same size and using the same jig helps a whole lot
October 17, 201312 yr Author I cut all of the pieces to length, tried to taper them roughly the same, turn the points the same, and the bent them around the same jig. I tried to view it as a manufacturing process, rather than completing each link separately. Thanks for the comments. Like I said I totally copied it from someone else, so I had an idea of what the end product would look like.
October 17, 201312 yr I've been looking at the ultra jig for a while. I'll have to save up for such a purchase, but I'm glad to see that someone is using it as well. Please keep us informed on how well it works for you.
October 22, 201312 yr Great work on those perfectly and uniformly shaped hooks. You are off to a great start. Can't wait to see more.
October 23, 201312 yr I like the bottle openers! Rather like that chimney you've got too. Ingenious. Andy
October 23, 201312 yr Author Thank you. I made the chimney for a champion 401 forge. We've since used it on a couple of larger forges. It's no where near perfect, but it keeps the majority of smoke going up and away. It also really helps with heat in the summer. Luckily the far shot hides the wire joinery used to hold it together.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.