[TheForge] Sow blocks. Why?

[Dick Nietfeld]

I would think a person could also use 2" high dies instead of the typical 3
1/2" to 4".  That alone could give an additional approx. 4" of tooling
space.

Dick

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ralph Sproul
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 7:37 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Sow blocks. Why?


	Roger, I could see if you did not have a brake on the hammer and it
constantly coasted which some little giants tend to do - that might be
somewhat of an issue with taking out the tall stock your working on.  Most
hammers don't tend to coast at high speed though, they just tend to idle by
and be more of an annoyance more than a safety issue - but the addition of a
brake is just about mandatory for controled forging with a little giant
.......or maybe I should say when your using jigs, fixtures, and low profile
tooling.
	Just using a set of open dies doesn't really matter if you don't
mind a hammer that coasts after releasing the treadle - but I like one that
stops......less surprises that way.

Ralph

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Roger R Degner
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 10:23 PM
To: 'Sponsored by ABANA'
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Sow blocks. Why?


I was always told the removable sow block was designed that if something
happened to the dovetail i.e. the dies broke out it was an easier fix just
to take out the block and replace.

Was told never to remove the block and place the dies down below because
when the large piece you are forging is out of the hammer and you would
continue to hit it could severely damage the hammer as is bend and brake
valuable pieces.

But then I have been told a lot of things that weren't true both good and
bad sometimes I listen and sometimes not.

On another topic any blacksmith events in the US this winter/spring other
than UMBA in Feb and March, Northern MN in April and BAM and UMBA in May

Roger R Degner



--

Hello all,

Well, I have a 50 lb LG with a removable sow block.  The height of the sow
is 6".  It looks like the dovetail slots at the bottom of the sow are the
same as that of the bottom die.

It seems to me that removing the sow block would give a person an extra 6"
of height for tooling and stock between the dies.  It's not that this setup
would allow one to forge larger stock that the hammer is physically capable
of (about 2" for my 50 pounder).  It's that one would simply have more room
for the tooling above the stock.  So, for example, a person could forge 3-4"
pipe into round balls or really big cattail fronds...

My question to members of theForge is:  Is this kind of work the kind of
thing the removable sow block was designed?  Perhaps the question might
be: What is the purpose or reason for the manufacturer to modify the
original hammer design to add the removable sow block?  Probably would have
been a good question for Fred Kaylor, alas.

If this approach is possible, there is a whole other level of use for this
type of hammer than I have been aware of.  Until now, I have been thinking
that the hammer was limited to the use of low-profile tooling between flat
dies.


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