Critigue This tool please

[Borntoolate]

I have remade this tool now for the third time.   I would be interested in anyones thoughts.    It's all mild steel except the contact points which are about 1/2" coil spring.    Do you think the spring part will last?    Pics of others similar tools would be good.    I find I use this one rather frequently.    The last one had very thin metal as the spring part and tended to crack and bend at the weld to the coil spring.    I made this one stiffer and added upside down u-shaped guide to keep it aligned.   Haven't really used it yet.   Thoughts?

 

 

[Geoff Keyes]

I prefer something like this

 

 

This one is made from pieces of heavy (1/2") truck spring, heated and flattened, but not heat treated.  You could make it out of heavy mild with rounds of tool steel of the right profile welded to the leaves.

 

I use this one all the time, I even built one for my demo setup that has a smaller hardy hole.

 

Geoff

 

 

[SoCal Dave]

When I look at the tool, I wonder if the working end is to close to the hardy hole.  Moving it down the face towards the other end might lessen the effects of the hammer blows.    Also, you might weld on a bar across the top die to hit and save some of the damage to the hammered end.  I like the idea of the U shape piece to keep it in line.  

[VaughnT]

It will certainly work, and it looks good, as well.  Making a tool that functions and is pretty... well, that's a good sign.

 

Ideally, you want the working end directly over the waist of the anvil.  This "sweet spot" gives you the most mass under the hammer and that translates to better work out of the tools.  Those types of spring swages always break at the spring.  Mild steel is flexible, but it only lasts through so much before it snaps.  Even if it's been annealed and normalized after the initial forging, the constant flexing of the spring portion wears it down after awhile.  It might take you years to get to that point, so don't fret over it.  Just something to keep in mind so you don't think it's something you did wrong.

 

Kudos, hoss, for a job well done.