Forging press or Tire hammer??
- Thread starter Godspeed
- Start date
Doug Lester
Well-Known Member
Also give some consideration to where you will be using them. If noise and vibration are going to be a problem the definitely go with the press. Hammers, depending on the weight and design, can be noisy and shake the pictures off the wall. They can also damage the foundation if not properly bedded. One guy, now he had a BIG honking industrial unit, needed a five foot thick foundation isolated from the rest of the foundation in his barn. You undoubtedly won't have anything near that size but noise and vibration is something that you will have to take into account with a mechanical hammer. I've even read that a treadle hammer can make a lot of noise and shake things up.
Doug
Doug
McClellan Made Blades
Well-Known Member
I can speak from experience that my Tire Hammer, does make a lot of noise, but so will any mechanical hammer, the Clay Spencer designed
Tire Hammer has a 50lb hammer, so yagotta know it's going to hit hard and I mean REALY HARD!! But, so far and thank GOD!!! Mine has not done any damage to my concrete slab, I did and you will have to anchor it down to the slab. If not it, will tip over the fist time you use it! I got some anchor bolts from Lowes, they were a bit different than any I'd seen, they weren't cheap!!! I want to say 7 or 8 bucks a piece, maybe more and I had to have 4 of them! I just remember that, to me, they were expensive! One time purchase and I wanted it done right, so I got them, they have worked exceptionally well. If I was to let mine run wide open and it will hit about 240 times a minute, whatever I had under the hammer would most likely be demolished! Forging is about finese, not hitting harder and harder, even when I'm working (what little I've done so far) on a thick Damascus billet, I won't let it run wide open, hot steel would be bouncing all over the place!! Granted I still have a lot to learn, when using it, but so far it has done very well. It is NOT a Little Giant! So don't compare them, it will do a lot lof work for you.
If I was trying to decide which to get now, of the 2, Tire Hammer, or Press? Hmmm, easy decison for me,........the PRESS WINS!!!!
If Damascus is what you are wanting to make, a press is by far the best route to go, you'll have better welds all the way around, you can work bigger billets, so less cutting and welding, I guess from my view point right now, it's kinda skewed. I can honestly say if I had the cash which way I'd go, after having a tire hammer, I feel like the best route to go for Damascus, would be the Press. Now with saying that, it has to be the right kind of press, I know some will say, 20 tons is enough, some no less than 30 tons, I don't have an opinion about that, what I do have an opinion about is that it work the way it has to, so that you can get a lot of drawing out on 1 heat. It has to be a Double Acting Cylinder, that responds to the levers quickly. A good example of that is on Kyle Royer's YouTube video of him making a damascus fighter (I think), he made some wicked sick Damascus pattern, he shows you how he makes his Damascus,...in DETAIL! His Press is all business! I think his Dad made it for him, It doesn't look fancy at all, probably made from scrap materials, would be my guess. It is an awesome press and the one I will gauge the press I either build or buy!
Hope this helps, I think my opinion on which one is best, might be a little biased. I think it comes down to what you are planning on dusing it for, if Damascus is what you are wanting to do, then it's press all the way. If you're wanting to do more forging then I'd say the Tire Hammer, is the way to go. Building them yourself, with an ability to scrounge the scrapyard, you might be able to do both, with a little (meaning a lot!) of paitence. When you see the parts you need at the scrap yard, get them when you find them, if you can. Don't think, "Oh they'll have them when ever I can get back here", no they won't, China dictates the world scrap steel prices, and when they get on a building blitz the price for even scrap steel gets high, or should I say higher, I have seen my local scrap yard sell everything they had, in a 2 week time frame.
Good Luck on your decision, either way would you mind doing a WIP, especially of it is the press!?!? Having that kind of knowledge is priceless, well, it is if you don't have it! Rex
Tire Hammer has a 50lb hammer, so yagotta know it's going to hit hard and I mean REALY HARD!! But, so far and thank GOD!!! Mine has not done any damage to my concrete slab, I did and you will have to anchor it down to the slab. If not it, will tip over the fist time you use it! I got some anchor bolts from Lowes, they were a bit different than any I'd seen, they weren't cheap!!! I want to say 7 or 8 bucks a piece, maybe more and I had to have 4 of them! I just remember that, to me, they were expensive! One time purchase and I wanted it done right, so I got them, they have worked exceptionally well. If I was to let mine run wide open and it will hit about 240 times a minute, whatever I had under the hammer would most likely be demolished! Forging is about finese, not hitting harder and harder, even when I'm working (what little I've done so far) on a thick Damascus billet, I won't let it run wide open, hot steel would be bouncing all over the place!! Granted I still have a lot to learn, when using it, but so far it has done very well. It is NOT a Little Giant! So don't compare them, it will do a lot lof work for you.
If I was trying to decide which to get now, of the 2, Tire Hammer, or Press? Hmmm, easy decison for me,........the PRESS WINS!!!!
If Damascus is what you are wanting to make, a press is by far the best route to go, you'll have better welds all the way around, you can work bigger billets, so less cutting and welding, I guess from my view point right now, it's kinda skewed. I can honestly say if I had the cash which way I'd go, after having a tire hammer, I feel like the best route to go for Damascus, would be the Press. Now with saying that, it has to be the right kind of press, I know some will say, 20 tons is enough, some no less than 30 tons, I don't have an opinion about that, what I do have an opinion about is that it work the way it has to, so that you can get a lot of drawing out on 1 heat. It has to be a Double Acting Cylinder, that responds to the levers quickly. A good example of that is on Kyle Royer's YouTube video of him making a damascus fighter (I think), he made some wicked sick Damascus pattern, he shows you how he makes his Damascus,...in DETAIL! His Press is all business! I think his Dad made it for him, It doesn't look fancy at all, probably made from scrap materials, would be my guess. It is an awesome press and the one I will gauge the press I either build or buy!
Hope this helps, I think my opinion on which one is best, might be a little biased. I think it comes down to what you are planning on dusing it for, if Damascus is what you are wanting to do, then it's press all the way. If you're wanting to do more forging then I'd say the Tire Hammer, is the way to go. Building them yourself, with an ability to scrounge the scrapyard, you might be able to do both, with a little (meaning a lot!) of paitence. When you see the parts you need at the scrap yard, get them when you find them, if you can. Don't think, "Oh they'll have them when ever I can get back here", no they won't, China dictates the world scrap steel prices, and when they get on a building blitz the price for even scrap steel gets high, or should I say higher, I have seen my local scrap yard sell everything they had, in a 2 week time frame.
Good Luck on your decision, either way would you mind doing a WIP, especially of it is the press!?!? Having that kind of knowledge is priceless, well, it is if you don't have it! Rex
Boatbuilder
Well-Known Member
Press
backtines
Well-Known Member
I Know Ive talked about it before but Im in the process of building my own press . I chip away at it when I have the chance, but I started out with buy a 20ton press from Harbor Freight . Its speced out for 20 tons so I figured that would be a good starting point . I bought a 20 ton piston from HF and Im in the process of powering it with an ele pump. Too much to talk about without getting into detail but I figured If I was to build a frame , the frame would cost about 200 dollars in steel if I were to buy it . So I started out with a foundation that I didnt have to build , now after beefing it up, mounting my valve and pump , Im hoping that a 20 ton press should be good . Ill get some pics up after Im all done . I guess I had to start somewhere.
Roy Miller
Well-Known Member
I spent a lot of time building a pretty good trip hammer, then I got a DVD of Ed making damascus with his press. Now my hammer gathers dust while I use the press I copied from Ed's.
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
My opinion is that my Press is my "precision", and my Power Hammer is "my speed". I can do things with each, that I cannot do with the other. The key to either is the QUALITY of the machine......that covers a lot of aspects, but when it's all said an done, if it's about creating/forging Damascus, a press has many advantages over a Power Hammer.
I've had many folks ask me "If you had to do without one or the other (press or power hammer) which would it be?" I've had both for so long, it would be hard to be without either....but if it came right down to it, the press gets a lot more run time in my shop then the Power hammer.
I've had many folks ask me "If you had to do without one or the other (press or power hammer) which would it be?" I've had both for so long, it would be hard to be without either....but if it came right down to it, the press gets a lot more run time in my shop then the Power hammer.
McClellan Made Blades
Well-Known Member
JB,
If I can remember to, I will take pics of mine, I just have to remember!
Rex
If I can remember to, I will take pics of mine, I just have to remember!
Rex
