[TheForge] New Style Lil Giant Dies

Sun Dec 1 12:54:01 2002

Hi Ralph,

I bought the bottom die for the spring tooling you describe but I must admit
I feel the temptation to try using it for texturing cold sheetmetal and
drawing.  I've thought about oversizing the bottom die top plate and welding
tabs on for shear resistance.

I do notice the hammer imparts a slight forward and right impulse to the
work it hits.  The die alignement looks good - maybe my ram guide needs some
more clobbering with a sledge.  But I hate to take all that time away from
using it!

Ed

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ralph Sproul" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 6:45 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] New Style Lil Giant Dies

>         Ed,  Sid got together on this bolt on die system with Rob Gunter
> after Rob had worked a job doing hundreds of feet of rail and iron work at
a
> job with great results with this style die.  Talking with Rob at the ABANA
> conference he said the bolts never loosened up while he worked the dies
> (success for two years use as I heard it).
>         I've never had any problems with my air hammer dies loosening
bolts
> either........so I'd say it isn't a problem.   Your working hot steel(or
> should be) and the dies are welded to thick mounting plates that will take
> forever to stretch out that plate enough to cause a side shear on the
> mounting bolts.  With blocks of 4140 and in Sid's case they are
> hardened.......your upper dies are the sacrificial points for sure, as the
> hardened dovetail isn't going to suffer any.  The hammer strikes straight
up
> and down and I don't see where any side shear is going to come into play
to
> ruin, damage, or loosen those bolts.
>         The other point is to consider what these dies were designed for
in
> the first place. If you want to draw out 7/8" round stock all day, I'd
> suggest you lock in a set of drawing dies or at least combo dies that are
> one piece.  The lower dovetail block was a concept to work rail cap,
collar
> stock, and reshaping stock to use for a particular
application.........it's
> more of a quick swage tool of sorts, more than a permanent die for
drawing.
> The beauty of the idea is if you ruin what you made for a limited run, you
> don't need $100 worth of tool steel to make another blank, you throw
> something together to use to get the job done.
>         I have one of these lower die blocks and have made a couple top
dies
> for limited use - the bolts haven't loosened, but then again - I didn't
try
> to make a set of drawing heads to bolt on it either.
>         If you are really worried about dies loosening bolts - cut a full
> lower die to take a 2" square insert that is 1" tall and you can dovetail
> and key into the lower block.  This will allow alignment and a more
positive
> holding situation than bolts.........but that's just if your looking for
> something better when this system fails(if it does).  This works sort of
> like a permanent spring swaging system for a hammer..........again, not
> intended for drawing or flat die work.
>
> Ralph
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ed F" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 12:07 AM
> Subject: [TheForge] New Style Lil Giant Dies
>
>
> > I just installed a new 2 piece bottom die on my 50# Little Giant.  I
> bought
> > it from Sid.  But I just asked for the bottom part and made my own top
> > piece.  But I'm just leery about it being held on by only (2) 3/8"
bolts.
> > Seems like they could shear right off with some fatigue.
> >
> > Does someone out there have the top part from sid?  I'm wondering if it
> > locks together in some way so the bolts aren't depended upon.
> >
> > Ed
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> > theforge mail list group photo site is
> > http://www.photoaccess.com
> > Login:  [email protected]
> > password:  anvil
> > ___________
> >
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  [email protected]
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
>