[TheForge] ABANA Election Results

[Ralph Sproul]

        Larry,  Rob Gunter came up with this slick little dovetailed base
that slide into his little giant while he was doing a large railing that
took literally hundreds of feet of top rail and the balusters to match.  He
and Sid got together and Sid sent this off to a machinist to make the item
for Sid.
        This was in LaCrosse as I was talking to Sid about the "square
sided" die I'd had him custom make for me (as I wasn't having any luck
cutting dovetails at the time).  He was thanking me for writing the add in
the hammer's blow about my spring swage jig I'd developed using the custom
die I'd gotten from Sid ...........and he'd gotten orders and had his
machinist make 20 of them which he quickly sold.  It was nothing more than
making the die with the flat part of the die having flat sides instead of
going with his machinist's theory that tapered sides would protect the
hammer's anvil better.  It really doesn't matter much as the base is still
the same length, it just leaves you the ability to put the Clifton Ralph
clamp cages on the die..........Thank you Clifton.
        At any rate, with this quest for die information I had in LaCrosse
and with Bob Bergman, I instantly saw the dovetail base with the bolt holes
far to the sides as a real winning design.
        Rob and he had come up with a set of generic inserts to go on top of
them that allowed the customer purchasing the "bolt on accessories" to make
collars, railing top cap, etc.  He sold lots of them and it is an excellent
idea.

        I went to my steel supplier and when walking by the cold roll rack I
saw the numbers 4140 written on the end of some 1 1/2 x 2 1/4 bar and asked
about it.  The general manager comes out and says "Ralph, if you have a use
for that stuff - I'll sell you both 12 foot bars for $80 - it was shipped by
mistake from our cold roll supplier and we can't send it back and the
original customer doesn't want that material".
        Needless to say, I scoffed up both bars and can make a top die to
bolt on with just the drilling for the bolt pattern to insert a couple of
allen head cap screws down in the die............and then you weld on a
fuller, a pattern, a texture, or what ever you want to do your next job with
a small piece of steel that you can keep as "another die for your
collection" - that will bolt on anytime you need it.

        They are pretty slick - check them out with Sid, it's an investment
you'll be glad you made.

Ralph

----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Brown" <lp.brown at verizon.net>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 8:24 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] ABANA Election Results


> Ralph
> could you give a little more info on Sid's bolt on lower dies?
> Larry Brown
>
>
> >         When I found Sid's bolt on lower dies so bolt on dies could be
made
> >for 1/10th the cost, and Bob's keyed inserts for the Kick Ass, I then
> >realized the sky was the limit for power hammer tool design and ease.
What
> >a difference when you dont' have to make a dovetail on $80 worth of tool
> >steel to achieve a run of elements for a project.  You just take $10 (if
> >that) worth of flat bar, 4140, or make what you need for a shape and bolt
it
> >to the dies.......... Wow. sure makes your life easier.  The same things
> >came true with slide in press dies and I have a whole new outlook on
making
> >tools.  In fact I make tools for several guys who don't want to be
bothered
> >with it - and they have me do it for them.  That's starting a whole new
way
> >to keep busy in the winter time, and around here you got three months of
> >heavy weather to stay out of - and I'm dam glad to make tools instead of
> >fixing snow plows, front end loaders, and old rusty sand spreaders!!!  I
> >hope I put enough emphasis on that!!!
> >
> >         After the trip to Bob's shop and Lacrosse - I then said to
myself,
> >"there is no way in hell I'd have ever come up with all of this on my
own,
> >and I'm never going to miss another one of these educational
opportunities".
> >
> >
> >Ralph
>
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