Iron Kiss Hammer

J

jimmyseymour

Joined
Dec 31, 2003
Messages
335
As promised here are a few more pictures of my new hammer. I'm still waiting for a fork lift to get it off the shipping crate. I'm tempted to fire it up on the crate just to see it move but I would hate to have it fall over or something because of impatience. After getting it plumbed up the only thing I can see myself doing to this is to order different dies. I need to order flat ones and some toolmaker dies. I wish it came with a tech manual. But I'm sure a phone call to Mr. Larson will answer any of my questions. Here are the pictures.

As it arrived. When the trucking company called me I told them it couldn't take delivery until a fork lift was rented and they assured me that the lift gate would work. I had to change couriers at the last minute because they told me they couldn't delivery the hammer on a lift gate, now I was getting a different story. When the driver showed up he asked me where my forklift was at and I thought oh boy here we go. He laughed and said he was messing with me and knew I needed to lift gate. The hammer was no problem for the lift gate.

This is how it arrived.





After cutting away the saran wrap their were no major dings or scratches from shipment and everything appeared intact. I'm sure it would be hard to damage one of these but I'm sure a shipping company could find a way too.

Here's the hammer in its spot. My treadle hammer looks so small next to it.



The air hook ups.



and the dies.



The other side.



If any of you are coming to the SHOT show and want to check it out in person your welcome in my shop. When I went to look for one before buying no one in the southwest had one I could look at before buying.
 
Man, that's frick'n sweet Jimmy!!! :eek: :cool: :D

That's a heck of a shop space you're set up in too!!! It's harder for me to keep track of folks that I haven't spent a little bit of face to face time with, but I thought I remembered you working out of a quonset type building...? How long have you been in this space?

Did you retire from your other job to pursue knives full time? Sorry, I hate to sound nosy...:o I'm just very impressed and envious of what you've got going on there!!! :)


That hammer is just flat-out fantastic. John does some amazing work.


Thanks for sharing Jimmy!!! :)
 
The videos on YouTube are really impressive. The reciprocating and single hit adjustability are really sweet. Is this a common feature on power hammers?
 
NickWheeler said:
Man, that's frick'n sweet Jimmy!!! :eek: :cool: :D

That's a heck of a shop space you're set up in too!!! It's harder for me to keep track of folks that I haven't spent a little bit of face to face time with, but I thought I remembered you working out of a quonset type building...? How long have you been in this space?

Did you retire from your other job to pursue knives full time? Sorry, I hate to sound nosy...:o I'm just very impressed and envious of what you've got going on there!!! :)


That hammer is just flat-out fantastic. John does some amazing work.


Thanks for sharing Jimmy!!! :)
Click to expand...

My old shop used to be out of a Quonset type building. It was pretty small. I decided to give up on the power industry after the fourth year in a row I couldn't test for JS because the plants needs kept getting in the way. Around December to March we work 12 hour days 7 days a week until our outage was done. Sometimes it would last till April or June. I paid for most of my equipment during that time, but got burned out. Quite a few years I would pull over 800 hours of overtime, and about 100 in double time. The paychecks were nice but I had no life.

I tried to make knives part-time when I lived in Texas, but an untimely death in the family, coupled with loss of employment made me move to Vegas for a job and sell everything I had there. After seven years of working out here I rebuilt what I lost and am starting a new shop here.

Deciding I wanted to work for myself I wrote a business plan for a knife making and sharpening business since that is what I really want to do. Well the making part anyway. Attended every SCORE meeting I could. After the plan was in place I quit my job and cashed out my stock and moved into an industrial facility so I could get the equipment I needed to run this as a business and not a hobby. The next big expenditures will be for a website and Facebook page and sharpening equipment for scissor and shears. I have a lot of camera equipment from the film-making group I belong to so I expect to put out a few YouTube videos as well.

I don't expect the business to take off and be profitable for sometime. Even though I have the equipment I have to put in the time, develop my skills, network, market, promote, and start making sales. So I may have to take on some part-time work soon until the ball starts rolling. The burglary when I first moved in destroyed my cushion I had built in and really hurt me. Before the burglary I had enough cash to work three or four years with no sales and just build up a reputation and quality. Now I may have to work a part time job soon. I expect the knife sharpening gig to be my source of immediate income for awhile until the knife making takes off, or I'm broke and working in power plants again.

Chuck from Alpha Knife supply stopped by my shop a few months back. He was in the area and saw the hydraulic press from the garage door being rolled up. I was still in the process of getting things set up and didn't have anything to show, but I thought it was cool that someone would just see the press and stop in for a visit that was in the knife industry. I never expected that and thought it was pretty cool.

So that's my story at the moment. Written in sand and subject to change at high tide.
 
I'm not all going into the forging and hammering business, but I sure am impressed with a machine I don't know anything about. I'm also impressed with your attitude. I hung o0n to that when I started as a part time maker. My desire was to be able to make a certain quality of folding knife. I think I reached that point a few years back but can't seem to overcome the feeling the is still a long trail ahead of to follow. I wish you the best , johnnyseymour and lots of success to go with that! Frank
 
Hairdresser shear sharpening is such a speciality, it you do it well it may be a very good way to start.
 
12345678910 said:
Hairdresser shear sharpening is such a speciality, it you do it well it may be a very good way to start.
Click to expand...

It is. I found a fellow in California that makes specialized equipment and give lessons. I contacted him but haven't heard back from him. Besides the sharpener would make a great addition to do flats on large bowie knives.
 
Wow, that's awesome Jimmy. :cool:

I really feel like I was being snoopy now that you poured your heart out for all to see like that, but I sure appreciate your story and your willingness to share. :)

Now that you wrote that out, I remember you posting something awhile back about buying some new tools after a stint of 400!!! hours of OT. :eek:


Funny story about Chuck! I wonder what he was doing driving around that area... LOL The Bybee family are great people!!! I've known them for about 15 years.


I did a similar thing when I was in Sitka, Alaska, 16 years ago. I was riding into town with a friend (she spent summers there) and something caught my eye in this garage. I asked her if a knife maker lived there- she looked at me like I was nuts, "Why the heck would you ask me that??? :confused: Random!!! :p"

So when I walked past there the next day I stopped by to see. Turns out the guy's name was Gary Gouker and he had been a part time maker, but hadn't made a knife in years. He asked what made it look like a knife shop... I didn't know! LOL

Maybe it's one of those essentially worthless weird abilities of the ADD brain... to spot a knife makers shop at a 40 mph glimpse! ;) :D



Thanks Jimmy. :)
 
The tools are first rate, but I noticed this too and I'm jealous

Stainless sheeting on the walls.
Beautiful

did you have a source on sheeting at scrap prices ?



IMG_0243-Copy_zps3f167b83.jpg
 
The stainless was from a local sheet metal supplier. I did that to keep the land lord and fire department happy in the hot work area and dirty area. At first I thought it would be cool until I realized I had to hang it. After hanging the first couple I was cussing like a sailor again doing the rest. I ordered just enough to pass inspection with the intent of doing all the wall's so it looked good. After hanging only what was necessary I said never again. If in the future a land lord wants that done I'll tell him as soon as he is finished doing it, to let me know otherwise I'll just take my business elsewhere. But that's life in Vegas.

It's like 22 gauge and came out to about a 100 dollars a sheet, delivered.
 
Last edited:
NickWheeler said:
Wow, that's awesome Jimmy. :cool:

I really feel like I was being snoopy now that you poured your heart out for all to see like that, but I sure appreciate your story and your willingness to share. :)

Now that you wrote that out, I remember you posting something awhile back about buying some new tools after a stint of 400!!! hours of OT. :eek:


Funny story about Chuck! I wonder what he was doing driving around that area... LOL The Bybee family are great people!!! I've known them for about 15 years.


I did a similar thing when I was in Sitka, Alaska, 16 years ago. I was riding into town with a friend (she spent summers there) and something caught my eye in this garage. I asked her if a knife maker lived there- she looked at me like I was nuts, "Why the heck would you ask me that??? :confused: Random!!! :p"

So when I walked past there the next day I stopped by to see. Turns out the guy's name was Gary Gouker and he had been a part time maker, but hadn't made a knife in years. He asked what made it look like a knife shop... I didn't know! LOL

Maybe it's one of those essentially worthless weird abilities of the ADD brain... to spot a knife makers shop at a 40 mph glimpse! ;) :D



Thanks Jimmy. :)
Click to expand...

You just gave me an excuse to rant and I took it. Chuck seemed like a great guy. You can imagine my surprise to see someone walk in wearing a kilt saying they were a knife maker too.

My neighbors are famous rifle makers, they've done some reality TV shows and such and he was taking a rifle building course with them. I've bought a few rifles from them and taken a few rifle course's as well from them, so when this place was the cheapest out of all the industrial space's I visited, and the only one with natural gas, it was a no brainer for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top