BOB T Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I made two sets of dies quite a few years ago for doing tree bark texturing and finally got around to attaching some flat bar to make spring fullers for them. The dies worked pretty good under the treadle hammer I just completed a few weeks ago. Completed one project so far have enclosed a couple pictures of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal Dave Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Nice looking branches. Could you show the dies you made, and how did you attach the small branches to the main branch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I'd also love to see the dies. Nice job on the branches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Where are the Die pics, Bob? We operate on pics, here :) Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pascalou Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 beautiful appearance ! P L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapremac Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Good looking job on the bark texture!! Now lets see those dies....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOB T Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 I will put up some picture's of the dies later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petere76 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Wind dancer, Heat wave today, it was above 0F. I grabbed some pics in the shop of a spring style texture tool. I had to make a bunch of leaves that were to be integrated into grills. The texturing was turning out inconsistent. I made a spring tool for the PH out of the outer spline of a front wheel drive transmission to wheel connection. Like a lot of my tooling I found the raw materials at my favorite repair shop junk pile. Once you cut out the spline, segment it and then flatten it out some so you can accommodate different diameters. You don't need the full circle, just use two comfortable segments. At this point you can also grind and dress the splines so as to create a more natural random form as opposed to a stamped symmetrical pattern. Make sure to taper the ends so you don't create shoulders. The splines are hardened, so mount to a mild steel backing plate or else you will chew up the hammer dies. The leaf blank shown was run through the die set and then hammer finished a little. The square end is so it could be welded into the grill and then dressed to size where it joined a larger branch. The dies made the job a whole lot easier for us. I found that if you go easy on the texturing (don't pound it to death) you will get a more subtle surface finish as opposed to deep (rough) gouging. Photos attached. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Good job on the dies. Peter, I like them a lot!Thanks for the pics :)Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOB T Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Here are some of the pictures of the dies used to do a tree branch. The sizes 1/2" x 2" x 2 1/2" and the other one is 3/4" in thickness. I made him quite a few years ago, I believe I just heated the blocks of and had a wide chisel to cut in the grooves randomly.. As you can see in the picture no real pattern to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Greetings Peter/Bob, Peter... Slick Idea on the use of the hub... Consider it stolen... Bob.... I like the final texture that your dies make... Great work... I have my own sets for small and large bark texturing and find while hot a slight twist in opposite directions makes for a realistic look... Keep up the great work... Forge on and make beautiful things Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOB T Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Sorry, forgot to respond to one of the questions how I attached the small branches. Did some grinding to match the angle of the main branch, use my wire mig to weld them on.. And here's a neat little trick, put one of the cutoff wheels in my Dremel grinder and blended the weld to look like tree bark texture. Be sure keep your welds small and right in the right spot to avoid doing a lot of grinding with the Dermel tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Bill Epps made top and bottom dies and ran weld beads irregularly over them to put texture in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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