Impact wrench for twisting damascus recommendations?

L

Leon Husock

Joined
Jul 17, 2019
Messages
320
I keep looking at the cordless impact wrench on Home Depot and thinking "there's no way that can twist an inch thick bar of damascus, right?" Does anyone have experience with this and can give me a specific model? It doesn't have to be cordless, I'm just reluctant to drop $200-300 on something to discover that it doesn't do what I wanted it to.
 
Pipe threading machine works great.

Or:
Build a twister from a low-speed gear reduction motor around 1HP or larger. You want a 3-phase motor, so you could dial in even lower speeds for twisting. Make a shaft adapter with a square end to fit a 3/4" drive or 1" drive socket. Forge the ends of the billet to fit a socket and drive the socket on a few times to get a good fit.
Use a foot switch to start and stop the motor.

I have seen them on eBay with 1" hex socket output shafts. Those could take te end of a hex-forged billet directly.
 
SBuzek said:
They won't, start watching for a used pipe threading machine.
Click to expand...
See, you say that but I've seen guys on Instagram doing it successfully. I got the model of the DeWalt impact wrench one of them uses but it seems like it's out of production which is all I need to think to myself "but what if the one they're making now won't do it"?

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Pipe threading machine works great.

Or:
Build a twister from a low-speed gear reduction motor around 1HP or larger. You want a 3-phase motor, so you could dial in even lower speeds for twisting. Make a shaft adapter with a square end to fit a 3/4" drive or 1" drive socket. Forge the ends of the billet to fit a socket and drive the socket on a few times to get a good fit.
Use a foot switch to start and stop the motor.

I have seen them on eBay with 1" hex socket output shafts. Those could take te end of a hex-forged billet directly.
Click to expand...
I think that's a bit beyond my area of expertise, but a pipe threader is certainly an option. Just costs a bit more
 
Any DeWalt impact that's out of production is weaker than what they have out now. If you wanna see numbers check out torque test channel on YouTube. The new DeWalt power stack 20v are strong as hell. Im pretty much bought into the Milwaukee 18v system but if I was just starting out now I would prolly go yellow. (caterpillar field service tech by trade) My m18 1/2in hi torque is around 800ft/lbs and I Believe the new DeWalt is around 1000. You can get the m18 stuff way cheaper on eBay it's more available.
 
I should mention noise. If you've never been around these hitorque cordless impacts I promise they are louder than anything you've been around as a bladesmith unless you use big power hammers.
 
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