With some imagination and enough die stock, a bunch of very useful die sets can be made. I will fool around and make butcher dies next... Thanks for your support.
I need to size the die holes better to the stock I'm using and also narrow the dies where they meet. I think those changes would make a big difference. Always something to work on and improve... Thanks.
Well, I need to do something for these video! Oftentimes, I'm at a loss for ideas. Only so many tong videos a guy can make. So that's why I like making videos. I can learn as I go and the comment section often has good suggestions. Thanks.
Cool idea. I think it would work if the tenon die was thinner, so that you could round off shorter sections of the circle. Or, find a buddy with a milling machine and have him make round tenon dies, lol. Thanks for the cool vids. I always learn a lot.
You could make square hole dies of various sizes by hot forming with hardened square pattern stock. Or better yet, a 1" square lathe tool prehardened stock placed between the red hot dies ina diamond orientation could enable making many sizes up to 1" by varying depth of indentation! 🔷️🔹️
Anyone who professes to know all there is about working hot steel is probably not telling the truth. It's a constant learning process. Thanks for your support.
I can definitely see where you are headed with this idea. It seems to me that the divot in the dye would need to match the circumference of the eyelet.
That definitely was one of the problems - the die holes need to match the stock I'm using better. That, along with a couple of other small changes, should make these work better. Thanks.
I will adjust these dies some - mainly narrow the dies where they meet. And also size the die holes better to the stock I'm using. Always something to improve... Thanks.
I like your realistic “live and learn” approach, Glen. You commented on your habit of removing swarf with your hand. I keep all steel swarf that hasn’t had coolant and apply it to forge-welding, especially when making up pattern welded billets from small pieces. I see you have magnets, to dampen the anvil’s ring. If I were fortunate to have your anvil’s, Glen, I would set one of the brackets back an inch so that I could have a gap between them occasionally, since I could easily insert a spacer between the angle-iron and the block. Your guillotine is very good and appears to be a single forging, but I imagine you made it yourself?
Glen GS Tongs according to AISI 1050 Steel is a plain carbon steel containing 0.50 wt% of carbon. The heat treatment temperature is 1550° - 1650° F or when it becomes non-magnetic and it is Oil or Water Quenched. And if you want a Rockwell hardness of 52 you temper it at 400° F. I guess what you have done by heating it to "sunset red" and water quenching that only the outer skin has hardened. For 1050 steel alloy the phase transformation occurs at 1330° F (Austenite) and it is recommend that you bring it to 1650° F and bellow that you are still at the ferrite-cementite phase. Metallurgy is not rocket science but it is interesting as well.
AKTrapper This is exactly what I have done, I was making a replacement strap for securing a rod for an actuator to a piece of machinery, so first I used 1-1/4” x 2-1/2” long square stock. Then I used a mill drill for my proper size 1/2” hole, 3/4” wide 1/8” thick flat steel is what I had on hand to make the guide for the rod.(3/8” approximately 10-12 mm) then cut through it with a 1/16th inch cut off wheel. Back to the Mill / Drill, where I centered the slot for the strap and milled out a relief for it to fit in. I also milled off the excess to fit it into my 1” Hardy hole. I used successively larger diameter rods to pound the strap into the hollow till it was done the matted piece as a top mandrel to drive them down. I’ve repurposed it for several other projects and it’s still working after softening the edges from the sharp edges left after milling it has done something very close to what GS has been doing.
I believe you hit the nail on the head. I will narrow the dies where they meet and also ease the edges of the half rounds some. I think these changes will make a big difference. Thanks.
Did you want a more square shape to the over all eye? I can see a completed different die needed for keeping the over all shape round with rounded edges. Maybe even two dies to complete the desired outcome.
I originally wanted the eye to be round in addition to the loop that forms the eye being round. But that isn't possible with these dies as is. The comment section has given me some good ideas. Always something to improve... Thanks.
Would milling it using a rotating table help? That would allow you to have an arc. If you have a few months (I just moved and my mill is in transit across the Pacific), I'd be willing to work with you on it.
I was going to comment that he should grind off the sharp corners of the die. I've also seen people put a sacrificial shim between the two halves when drilling them (the end result being the holes are more oval).
Now that you are mostly round in cross section, could you round out the square on a small cone or bick? If you used a piece of chain as a die to make your die would you have the round cross section and the curve you are looking for?
I see the tip of an anvil bick in background.. after hole is large enough to slip over the horn tip the eye can be expanded to desired size in one heat...No???? Love your videos..
I appreciate you being humble but there's no problem at all. I took your comment as more funny than anything else. I'm not sure I can make whatever you want - just very busy with various things of late. Thanks.
