Am I crazy??

T

thegeek574

Joined
Sep 3, 2010
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Everyone,
I had an idea when I was in the shower. I describe it as power hammer and a press that had an unpowered baby. This is the baby. this is not to scale, but will be about a foot long and 8 inches wide. I am nowhere close to being finished designing this thing, but this is approximately be what it looks like.

FRWN.jpg


FRWNtop.jpg


Basically, it is a wooden base with 2 sets of 2 chunks of angle iron welded together so that the back is about 2 inches wide while the sides are one inch. a chunk of I-beam is cut down to slide in the 2 tracks and then has a small square chunk of 4140 or the like attached to the bottom. this is the striking surface. at the bottom is another chunk of 4140 or something similar that acts an anvil. the bar with the thing sticking up is a place the stock can be clamped with a c clamp or a set of lock grip pliers. How is it operated? With the biggest hammer I can find. right now, that is a 8 pound sledge, but I will change if I find something bigger.

What do you think? I am just conceptualizing, and this is what I was thinking about when I thought about changes I would make to a Godzilla to accommodate wider stock. Thanks all.
Steven
 
So you would be striking the top of the I-beam with the 8lb sledge? Is it spring loaded? I can only see this device dampening any force you put into it. Godzilla works because it concetrates the energy into the fullering radius.... your design would be spreading it out to the flat plates. Unless I am reading it wrong.
 
My first observation is that you would need one hand to hold the work piece and another to hold the 8lb sledge... you won't be doing that for long.
 
@Rick: No, you are right. it isn't spring loaded. I am more looking for a way to make the energy of the sledge more directed, and so I might just eliminate the I-beam and just go with the anvil all the way across. I might also just amke a much more godzilla-like version and stick with a proven concept.

@ jawilder: You are missing the little bar that bolts into the frame. that allows the stock to be clamped with a c-clamp or pair of lock-grips.
 
Geek,
You are over thinking this.
1 - You don't want to clamp the stock in place. It needs to be able to be moved as you fuller the work.
2 - A Godzilla, or a "Smithin' Magician" will work better than your oversize device. You can only draw so much steel by hand. The nearly 4" throat of most fullering jigs is more than enough.
3 - Your device will have too much mas in the upper beam and die, and that will resist the force of the hammer. ( Remember Newton's first law of motion)

If using a sledge and drawing by yourself, try this;
Take a piece of 1" round stock. Forge it into a 90° bend, and then grind/file one arm to fit your hardy hole on the anvil. Bring it back up to heat, drop it in the hardy, and give it a few whacks to seat it flat on the anvil face.
Now you have a bottom fuller that won't move on you. Bring the stock you are fullering up to full heat , about 2200°F, and set it on the bottom fuller. Strike it with either a 6# sledge, or a 4# cross pein. If you use a cross pein, you will be fullering from both sides. If you use the sledge, you will only fuller from the bottom. Move the stock a bit and re-strike as many times as you can on each heat. You will be amazed at how much you can draw a piece of stock out in one heat once you get the process down.
 
bladsmth said:
Geek,
You are over thinking this.
1 - You don't want to clamp the stock in place. It needs to be able to be moved as you fuller the work.
2 - A Godzilla, or a "Smithin' Magician" will work better than your oversize device. You can only draw so much steel by hand. The nearly 4" throat of most fullering jigs is more than enough.
3 - Your device will have too much mas in the upper beam and die, and that will resist the force of the hammer. ( Remember Newton's first law of motion)

If using a sledge and drawing by yourself, try this;
Take a piece of 1" round stock. Forge it into a 90° bend, and then grind/file one arm to fit your hardy hole on the anvil. Bring it back up to heat, drop it in the hardy, and give it a few whacks to seat it flat on the anvil face.
Now you have a bottom fuller that won't move on you. Bring the stock you are fullering up to full heat , about 2200°F, and set it on the bottom fuller. Strike it with either a 6# sledge, or a 4# cross pein. If you use a cross pein, you will be fullering from both sides. If you use the sledge, you will only fuller from the bottom. Move the stock a bit and re-strike as many times as you can on each heat. You will be amazed at how much you can draw a piece of stock out in one heat once you get the process down.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reality check. Over thinking stuff is not something I do very often, but, when I do it, I do it TO THE MAX!!!!!

I have access to a lathe, mill, and a mig welder for free, and very little money access, and so buying something is about as likely as Obama's chihuahua winning the lottery.

As far as the godzilla goes, I was under the impression that it was only capable of handling much smaller stock. I am considering trying to make a version that has adgustible heights, or something else that will be similar but will have a twist.

I think the primary thing I need to work on is an anvil and hammer control. however, a decent forge is a good idea, too. So many things to get, so little money.
 
Nothing wrong with your approach. Sometimes spending years dreaming of stuff pays off when you finally have the money.
I bought cut-offs of 4140 from Pacific Machine and Tool in Portland for my Godzilla. They'd be the place to visit for your steel when you build one.
They have a guillotine build WIP on British blades.
 
Take a look at the link that Brian posted. This is how a "Smithin' Magician" works. If you have access to scrap steel, a milling machine, and a welder, you can easily make one. The body and plates don't need to be any special steel, but if the dies are 5160 or 4140, that will be a plus. Mild steel will work, though, to get you started. To draw steel from larger stock, you will want a good forge, as proper heats are a necessity.

The limit on hand drawing steel is about 2" wide and 1.5" thick. Beyond that the steel has too much surface and mass to deform under the hammer easily.
 
OK. I will be building the little guillotine guy over on British Blades. I am thinking 4140 for the dies, because I have it. As far as the forge goes, I will be working on that soon. I am exploring my options. so far, I know it will be forging focused, but that is about all I know.
 
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