BBP, I had wondered why you had MM put the threaded holes in the dies and now you wonderfully answered that question. Love watching someone talented move metal like that. This was a fun show and can't wait for more!
Toolmaking is almost more interesting than making things with the tools (I'm a software engineer but the principle is the same: if you need to do something twice, make a tool).
That first milling setup was scary since you're holding the part with effectively two narrow strips and your part is split on top of that. Holding a cylinder like that is just as likely as not to let go and ruin your day , plus, with a big facemill which won't readily break like a smaller endmill you're likely to some real damage to yourself or the machine.
You might want to double-check and make sure you didn't lose the temper on the end of your original dies from the heat of the torch when you were welding the cover pieces.
Great project and great video! That would work very well for a project I have going on right now, but I don't have a power hammer yet. I look forward to seeing what you do with these.
I think it might have to do with the hardness of the bit you're using to cut into the steel. If it's a harder bit like a diamond tip, you probably wouldn't need lubrication. It's just a guess though.
