[TheForge] Re: Interchangeable LG dies

[Mike Spencer]

I have a limited number of clever hammer attachments, mostly drawn from
other people's suggestions for dies and fixtures but I have one
innovation that I haven't seen elsewhere.

For my 25# Jardine I have a bridge welded up from 1/2" plate [1],
about 4" wide and length nearly equal to the width of the anvil.  It's
just high enough to clear the lower drawing die that's usually in the
hammer.  It sits on the flat surface of the anvil.  A vertical, ca. 1"
square stake is welded to it at one end.  The stake clears the edge of
the anvil, extends downward a few inches and drops into a square
socket.

The socket is welded to a 3/8" x 2" band that is fitted to the anvil
and shrunk in place.  The remains of casting burrs and sprues offer
enough irregularity that the band doesn't slip despite the fact that
the anvil is somewhat conical. [2]

So I can drop the bridge into place, adjust the open die clearance at
the connecting rod yoke and have a broad, flat lower surface.
Surprisingly, the bridge doesn't bounce around or chatter.  There's no
set screw in the socket or other locking device.

[1] I dunno what the plate is but it's not plain m/s.  A piece of
scrap I picked up, it has a spark test suggesting rather high carbon.
I made a firebox liner for my wood range from it and it's holding up
as well as cast iron or better.  The bridge shows no sag.  The
heaviest single job it's done was texturing 40 hand-sized pieces of
3/16 plate all over using a 1/4" dia. fuller top die.

[2] The socket also serves to locate a fixture that holds spring dies.
For that, I have to remove the lower die.  Then the holder sits on the
floor of the dovetail and is held in place by a stake in the socket.
Spring dies can be locked into the holder with a setscrew.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^

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