Forging 2" W2 with 25lb Little Giant

Sorry,,, slightly OT,, but since you're here ;)
If all you had was a #25'r, what dies would you have? I have drawing (pretty worn) dies and would like to replace them. I look at the combos Sid has, and the flat. Seems like the combo would be pretty small work area, whole die is 2"x4", thus each side, drawing and flat, would be 2"x2". I would like to use my hammer more, like you do in so many ways. Thanks for sharing with us.

JM
 
Holy crap, I already got the video! I just ordered it a couple days ago!!!

Folks, the Little Giant video that Sid has is WELL WORTH the cost. I haven't even gotten through the whole thing and am a very satisfied buyer.

It was professionally shot with very good lighting, and very clear sound. By far the "cleanest" production I've seen in an instructional video. Sid is a natural teacher and is very easy to understand and follow.

Dave, there is a section of the video where Sid goes over what to look for when buying a Little Giant. That alone is worth the $100 price tag. The video is actually a two disc DVD set that covers an entire rebuild on a 25# + a bunch of extras.

With just what I've seen so far, I am already 100 times more confident in the idea of rebuilding my 50# and tuning up my 100# LG.

Guys... BUY SID's DVD!!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
I use Sid's die system. It allows you to change the dies with out removing the key. Very simple. You can do a lot of work with flat dies like Don use with a slight radius on the front side and back. One important thing to remeber when forging a knife under a power hammer is the dies must be aligned. I've found the tooling dies that Sid offers work very well. On a 25# dies all you need to do is figure out the radius you want and take them to your grinder and work them over. 100# dies really give you a work out with this method.

Like folks said before you will not find a better gentleman than Sid and Don.

Dave from Diller
 
Jim, like Dave said, the die system is very good, if you need to chance from flat to drawing. I've used these on Sid's personal 25, (which now belongs to Dave, you got a fine hammer, Man) and really liked them.

If I didn't go with the changable dies, I would get a standard set of flat dies and redius them a bit. You can do so much more with flat dies, over drawing.

Nick, I just realized, I don't have the DVD. I'm going to order one Monday.

Here's a link to LG; http://www.littlegianthammer.com/index.html
 
I have a 25# Canadian GIANT that runs pretty well...but I wonder if I had Sid's video whether it would apply the the CG? It is very very similar to the Little Giant. I would love to really get it going to it's full capability. Thanks
 
Sid states at the start of his video that the approaches and techniques will work on Mechanical hammers of most makes. I recently looked at an old Perfect and alot of what the video cover could be applied to it. Also if in question give Sid a call. He'll be more than happy to help out and don't worry if you get a hold of Keri (Sid's daughter). She knows just as much about power hammers.

Dave from Diller
 
I've watched Sid's video at least 5 times and learn something new every time... definitely worth the price... Darn... I can't wait to get mine mounted on the foundation I just finished... :thumbup: Thanks for a great thread on this !
 
I e-mailed Sid with a die question a while back and he said that the slightly radiused flat dies will pretty much everything a bladesmith needs to do with a 25.
 
Here's a picture of the dies Sid uses these are similar to the ones Don has in his 100#er. Sid refers to these dies as Euro's. They have a slight radius and a flat spot in the middle.

One note on Sid's rebuilding dvd: The picture I posted earlier of Don forging is the same hammer in the video.

Dave from Diller
 

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dsloan said:
Here's a picture of the dies Sid uses these are similar to the ones Don has in his 100#er. Sid refers to these dies as Euro's. They have a slight radius and a flat spot in the middle.

One note on Sid's rebuilding dvd: The picture I posted earlier of Don forging is the same hammer in the video.

Dave from Diller
Click to expand...
IIRC, Charlie Ochs has similar dies on his 50, but they are also radiused on the ends.
 
Yep, Joe. The ends and all edges need a good radius, really rounded off.

Dave, those are good lookin dies. The perfect shape (after a good radiusing) for blade work!
 
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