[TheForge] Scroll maker/hydraulic hammer

Sat Dec 20 17:39:00 2003

        Reis,  Thanks for posting the information on the Hebo tools.  I
really enjoyed looking thru their web site and many of the tools they have
developed to do iron work gave me good ideas on how to approach some items
in my press, as well as other jigging ideas.
        I've been working on a modular scroll system with plug ins to keep
storing dies and fixtures to a lesser space.  I like the ideas I got to put
these on a gear reducer turnstyle to automate these fixtures a bit more.  To
be able to turn out nice rings, hoops, and ovals will be a nice addition to
making designs come about faster.

        The rep from Glaser was at the last ABANA conference in LaCrosse.  I
got one of his catalogs and really liked their power rolling equipment.
Not that I can afford to purchase them, but I enjoy making my own tools and
tooling.  I think that is also the key if you are into forge - fab work as
well.  If you can make your own tooling - it will make your work a bit
different that the usual stuff made from factory stamped and pressed parts.
        To do the detail on a nice piece of ironwork is really fun, but I
don't see that type of expendable cash around me that often.  When that work
does come, I find it challenging and pleasing to do something beyond my
normal range of work that I do to fit customers budgets 90% of the time.

        I would also like to know more about the hydraulic hammer circuitry.
Who knows what could come from that.  It looks like 1 hit per second with a
200+ lb ram - but from the dies shown below this seems to yield nice coining
quality strikes as a result.
        The large power pack behind the hammer looks to be the 30-40 HP so
there would be some serious oil flowing.  What looks like a gear
reducer?/increaser? coupled to the side of the unit makes me seriously
wonder what is going on behind all those guards, casing, and framework.  :-)
        It sort of has a look of drop hammers used in stamping out sergical
instruments to it......but those hit three times a minute as board hammers
I've seen in action.  There guide systems do yield incredible accuracy and
results on small tools - similar to the detail shown in those dies below the
hammer.  I really enjoyed the owners tour of a shop that made their own
drop/board hammer dies.  Very talented folks to make dies like shown at the
bottom of the page.  They had positives and "hobed" the die the evening we
were there, that yielded the imprint results that then had to be cleaned,
tapered, and fitted to act as forming dies, or striping dies.

Ralph

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ries Niemi" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2003 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Scroll maker/hydraulic hammer


>
> The germans make some serious tools. Hebo is not the only company
> making mechanized blacksmith tools like this- There is another german
> company named Glaser, and a spanish company as well.
> I hope someone will either buy one of the hydraulic hammers, or make
> one, and we can find out how they really work.
> Indital, and several other off the shelf forging supply houses do use
> Hebo style machines. They also handforge some of the parts, but in a
> production shop. There is a company in mexico now that is using a
> combination of these kinds of machines and hand forging to supply a lot
> of pickets and parts to the US.
> Which brings up the question- Is the tool evil? That is, if you can
> just buy a machine that makes good looking scrolls, or perfect twists,
> is it somehow inherently evil because it replaces hand labor?
> Personally, I think the thing that is missing from all the premade
> pickets is good design, which is why I would never buy any of them.
> After you have hand forged a couple of hundred basket twists, as we did
> on a job a couple of years ago, you lose your desire to prove you can
> do it. It becomes more important whether you can buy something that is
> as good as what you can make.  So I am not saying I wouldnt buy premade
> parts, but most of the stuff I have seen commercially made looks wrong
> somehow. It may be copied from european sources, but my guess is it is
> just whatever is easiest to make with the machine, and what you can
> order off the shelf tooling for.
> When computers first came out, I had a lot of graphic designer friends
> who said they would never be as good as hand drawn and laid out work.
> Of course, they were wrong, and many of those same people now use
> computers. Because a tool is only as good as the mind and hands using
> it. A lot of people make the same cheesy looking stuff with Illustrator
> and Photoshop. And a few really good graphic designers make great stuff
> no matter what tools they use, and so they use the best tool for any
> particular job.
> I think the same principal applies to these fancy german ornamental
> iron machines. Several companies are selling mass produced "hand
> forged" items made on these machines, and they dont look very good. But
> the guys who are running the machines are just punching the clock,
> running parts all day.
> Not to blow my own horn, but since I bought my Hebo, I have been doing
> all sorts of stuff with it that is not shown in the catalog, that the
> germans have probably never thought of. The thing is amazing in its
> power and control, and I am just beginning to think of possiblities.
> Plus it allows me to design a piece with 300 identical twists in it,
> and have my 9 year old run them for me in a couple of hours. So I am
> convinced that in the right hands, any tool can produce new and
> interesting work, and in bored and uninspired hands, it will produce
> boring and uninspiring work
>
> ries
>
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