[TheForge] steam hammers

Thu Jan 15 08:13:00 2004

    Bob,  Thanks for taking the time to write this up, I enjoyed the lesson.

    Did you have two hammers set up for this procedure? One with an anvil
die for upsetting and the other with a sort of "pit or space below" for the
ring to run into over the mandrel you mention?  I've always wondered how
those two procedures were accomplished.

    I'm also in hopes you don't get cheated out of your life long pension,
I've known too many people that fell victim to that in shut downs and
bancrupcy.  Any chance of taking early retirement and getting what you can -
while you can?..........some folks have walked away in decent shape due to
that option.  You might take up lighter forging work in your own small shop,
as your obviously experienced as to what it takes............   Do you have
a shop you do side work in now?

Ralph

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Cook" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 7:57 PM
Subject: [TheForge] steam hammers


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> Dave and Ralph,
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>      I work at the Stelco plant in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We used to
be called "Hilton Works" but the way corporate restructuring is these days I
think they rename us every 6 months or so;) In its heyday there were upwards
of 13,000 people employed in the plant, but it is now downsized to approx.
4500. We are the unionized work force in town, Local 1005 USWA since 1946,
and the other steel company in town is Dofasco which also employs about 5000
people.
>      Stelco has lost approx.168 million dollars in the past year and there
are rumours that they may file for bankruptcy and shed there "legacy costs"
ie: pensions and benefits, just like they did at Bethlehem Steel, and then
reinvent themselves under yet another name. I can only hope that there is a
pension for me when my time comes.
>      To answer your question about the gear blanks, which were made of
1045 mat'l, sometimes 4140, I must tell you upfront that all sizes are
approximations.
>      Take 6" rd. stock cut 14"lg and upset to 6" high by 12" dia. Punch a
4" hole in the centre and then reheat. Set up a saddle and mandrel under the
hammer and "ring out" the mat'l with blows all around the
outside,constantlly turning it on the mandrel and also turning front to back
to keep it square. It would go out of round and become conical if
adjustments weren't made at each step. This process could take up to 5 or 6
heats and we would finish it to a stopper that would keep the walls a
certain thickness. Ringing it out when very hot would really stretch the
material and doing it when it was cold would really true it up. Occasionally
we would have to put it on a cone mandrel to get it back round but most
times we just did it by eye. We always tried to finish it cold so there was
a minimum of scale left on the piece.
>     All hooks and lifting devices ie: shackles, clevises,and eyebolts were
made from 1020 FKFG steel. That is "fully killed fine grain" steel. That
concludes tonights lesson;)
>  Bob Cook [email protected]
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