Road Trip - Photos Added

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

ilmarinen - MODERATOR
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Yesterday, 6/13/18, I pulled out at 5AM for Baltimore, drove five hours up and five hours back to pick up a grinder … well, not just any grinder, but a TW-90.

Like most of us, I have wanted a TW-90. It is on my "list", but there are a lot of other things I need ahead of it. It was a long way down the list, to be exact … maybe someday if I win the lottery.

A fellow on this forum had purchased it new, but life and other things got in the way, and he isn't going to be setting up his shop. It was still on the shipping base, and had never been plugged in. He had all the various arms and accessories, too.
He graciously offered it to me for a small fraction of the cost as a thank you for helping him when he got started and for helping others.

I took some photos, and will add them later.

Jut wanted to say - "Thank You" to the kind gentleman.
 
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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Yesterday I pulled out at 5AM for Baltimore, drove five hours up and five hours back to pick up a grinder … well, not just any grinder, but a TW-90.

Like most of us, I have wanted a TW-90. It is on my "list", but there are a lot of other things I need ahead of it. It was a long way down the list, to be exact … maybe someday if I win the lottery.

A fellow on this forum had purchased it new, but life and other things got in the way, and he isn't going to be setting up his shop. It was still on the shipping base, and had never been plugged in. He had all the various arms and accessories, too.
He graciously offered it to me for a small fraction of the cost as a thank you for helping him when he got started and for helping others.

I took some photos, and will add them later.

Jut wanted to say - "Thank You" to the kind gentleman.
Click to expand...
Good for you! Please be sure to tell the forum members how the TW90 performs at grinding. Thanks, Larry
 
Still waiting on those picts :)
 
So how are those picts coming along.

We want to see your score
 
I have my daughter-in-law's husband, Steve, is coming over Sunday for a forging lesson and we will do some test grinding and take photos. Steve is a really smart shipbuilding engineer type and is learning bladesmithing. I gave him my old anvil and will probably give him my Bader when the TW-90 is all set up.

I put the grinder on a heavy duty Polypropylene shop cart rated at 800 pounds. The 24X36" shipping board the grinder came on is an exact fit for the cart top tray. The smaller board was cut into three pieces to be spacers to lift the grinder base to almost even with the cart top lip. The grinder was then bolted through the boards and cart top. This allows stuff to be set on the cart top with no worry of rolling/falling off, but keeps the grinder clear of the edge when rotating to horizontal. The accessories and a whole lot of other stuff will go on the bottom shelf.

The cart can be rolled out into an open area of the smithy for heavy grinding that creates lots of sparks (and perhaps for titanium grinding).

I am working up a self contained dust collection system that will also reside under the cart, as well as designing wet grinding capacity.

I found a neat rolling display rack behind a store that was closed that may work great as a belt rack to accompany the cart.

The cart top has so much extra room, I may consider putting a sharpening grinder I built on the other side.
 
Oh I was asking about your comment "I took some photos, and will add them later."

Throw those one up for us to check out.
 
I can see the gentleman's point of view - you have done so much for so many members of this forum, freely sharing your knowledge. Well-deserved.
 
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. Good karma also for the fellow who gave you the deal.
 
that is a great looking machine!
 
It really looks like a beast mounted on the big cart.

I am starting to lean toward mounting a good bit of equipment on carts, as they can be moved where needed, can be secured to a bench with a couple quick-clamps, and can be stored out of the way (even in a different building) when not in use. Floor space and bench top space are the biggest problem in most every shop, and anything that opens up more space is probably a good thing.
Many pieces of equipment could be mounted two or three to a cart. For example, I could put the mini-mil, and a tabletop drill press on one cart. All the tooling and such would be stored under it on the shelves and in boxes. Since I only use those now and then, there is no reason for them to take up valuable bench top space. Same for quench tanks, band saws, sharpening stations, etc.
 
IMG_20180701_154646.jpg IMG_20180701_204335.jpg IMG_20180701_203640.jpg IMG_20180701_203335.jpg IMG_20180701_203538.jpg OK, On July 1st I got out to the smithy with my son-in-law Steve. He is champimg at the bit to learn bladesmithing. I had given him a stainless Atlas forge, and he brought it over for me to show him how to set it up and use it.

First, I am really impressed with The Atlas forges. They work great and atre plug-and-play. Heating was quite even once soaked, and it ran without a flutter for over an hour.

Now, as to the TW-90, it is mounted on a large shop cart. I will also put another sharpening grinder on the top. There is lots of room for stuff to be stored below, and the lip around the top keeps things from falling off.

In the photos you can see how well it grinds. I was amazed at how quite it is, too. We were able to talk without raising our voices. I could barely hear it running at medium (50%) speed. As far as power goes - I doubt I could stall it if I tried.
It runs without any vibration, and a lightweight plastic round tube we set on the arm at 100% speed just sat there.

In one shot you can see a good example of how the sparks on high carbon steel explode in the air.

IMG_20180701_154646.jpg IMG_20180701_154646.jpg IMG_20180701_204335.jpg
 
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IMG_20180701_203142.jpg IMG_20180701_203030.jpg IMG_20180701_202921.jpg IMG_20180701_202828.jpg Now for some photos of steeve making his first knife. We took the bar of 1084 that Charles provides with his Atlas forges and make a basic drop point utility knife/hunter.
Steve had a ball forging the blade and it took no more than 30 minutes to get it shaped. A few minutes of straightening and lessons on adjusting problems and it was ready to grind. He Really did a good job.

Steve did 90% of the grinding work with me showing him how to hold things and how to "walk" the grind in the direction wanted. He was a fast learner and we had the blade ground out in an hour or so. It was clean and flat and needed only minor straightening.

On to HT - After a crash course in the metallurgy of HT we were ready for hardening the blade. I did most of this as it was mainly a teaching event. We re-shot the main steps of heating and quenching.

The blade was sent home for tempering ... along with a second crash course in the metallurgy of tempering. He will come back next week for clean up and attaching a curly maple handle.

BTW, that is Steve smiling ... or as close to a smile as he gets.

IMG_20180701_203142.jpg IMG_20180701_203142.jpg IMG_20180701_203030.jpg The next step after that will be making a sheath.
 
I wrote some software to mathematically flatten 3d surfaces along with marking lines drawn on them to generate 2d patterns so ship builders can cut out the steel plates and have guides when using the presses to press the ship hull plates. I also wrote some code to help generate the cardboard templates the press operators use when bending the plates. If you never seen a press operator spend 6+ hours meticulously pressing out and fitting the plates, it is absolutely skillful and tedius work. Whatever Steve's role is in the ship building process, i am sure he has a leg up on any one starting out as far as moving metal goes!
 
That is a great looking grinder you SIL is very lucky to be using it for his first knife.
 
Congrats Stacy! The TW-90 is an epic machine. Mine has been in daily use for almost 3 years and has never missed a beat.
I forgot how nice they look before all the dirt. :D
 
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