[TheForge] Sow blocks. Why?

[Tod Estes]

Hi everyone,

I may be wrong. I often am. I have an older little giant 25# made in 1913
this one did not have a sow block. It was shipped to Kremlin,OK to the
shop My Grandpa worked in. Mostly it sharpend plows. It has a nice chunk
missing on the front of the bottom die. Grandpa remembered the chunk that
was missing said it just popped out when one of the guys at the shop was
sharpening a plow. They still used it till they closed the shop down. I
did talk to Sid about this and he said that it a common problem with the
early design and was changed when the sow block was put on. He did say
that the if someone really was aggressive with driving in a wedge to hold
the bottom die tight then it could bust too. I think this was what
prompted the change to the sow block design. Some folks band and weld the
piece back on. Sid did say that he can take the old hammer that I have and
put a sow block on it by bandsawing off a secton and fitting a sow block
to it. The bottom casting is hollow but a nice amount at the top is solid.
 Right now it is in lots of pieces and I am still gathering up courage to
rebabbit it. I will proably use it whith the chunk missing for a bit cause
the bottom die is still solid.
> 	The sow block from my understanding was added as an easier method to
> machine it than a full housing.  Granted the housing would still need to
> be
> machined in the first place - but the removable sow would be easier to set
> up for repairs, clean up, truing if the dovetails got damaged or worn.
>
> 	Height specific tooling was one of the topics I covered.  It was
> difficult
> to do some of the things I demoed in Minnesota on a little giant as
> compared
> to the air hammers I've got in the shop due to a larger open die space.  I
> had remade a few of the tools I took to show the "possibilities" - but
> explained if there were more room - things could go smoother and easier
> with
> some of the fixtures and jigs I showed.
>
> 	Rome Hutchings was sitting there while I explained this then said   "SO,
> if
> I've got a little giant with a removable sow block your telling me all
> this
> tooling is a piece of cake to set up under those dies"   My reply was "my
> point exactly".  He also has a removable sow block unlike the hammer we
> used
> at the demo where I'd made some "shorter" tooling to show what was
> possible.
>
> 	Removing the sow block isn't going to do anything except maybe give you
> some practice in getting a stuck key out - the rest of the hammer is going
> to respond just as it did - only you've got more open die space - so if
> you
> gain another six inches - you can work on a piece of 4 inch flat bar on
> edge
> with a tool above it.......where you'd get away with a 1 1/2" with a tool
> withoug the block removed.  Making your work fall in the striking zone of
> a
> little giant is all you need to do - spacers, different tooling, lowering
> the pivot link, etc.
> 	My whole point of the demo in Minnesota was that your imagination is the
> limits to the tooling you can build for a power hammer (as well as all the
> other tools, jigs, and fixtures that could be applied to torching,
> railings,
> welding, tool making, fastening to rock, and the other topics I covered).
>
> 	Expanding your level of use with jigs and fixtures with a removable sow
> is
> a great way to expand hammer use, and I also showed how some of these jigs
> &
> fixtures worked with the low profile tools such as the clamp cages with
> locator pins with a fuller above for making bridge washers, ovaled plates,
> sculpture bases.......or heavy "feet".
>
> 	Having more open die space lets you expand your horizons a bit more with
> your power hammer.......... or at least that's the way I look at it.
>
> Ralph
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Rick Korinek
> Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 12:27 PM
> To: 'Sponsored by ABANA'
> Subject: [TheForge] Sow blocks. Why?
>
>
> Hello all,
>
> I have been thinking about the height limitations between the dies of
> Little
> Giant power hammers since seeing Ralph Sproul's demo in Minnesota last
> Fall.
> Ralph, and perhaps others have made air hammers with longer throws to
> allow
> for the use of more diverse tooling with flat dies.
>
> 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.
>
> Most interested in your thoughts,
>
> -Rick Korinek
>
> Ps.  It was great to see you in MN, Ralph.
>
>
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Tod Estes
Oologah Smithy
Oologah,Oklahoma. (Home of Will Rogers.)
Saltfork Craftsmen ABA, ABANA
Time enough for sleep in the grave.

"Prometheus: I took from man expectancy of death.
Chorus: What medicine found'st thou for this
        malady?
Prometheus: I planted blind hope in the heart of
           him.
Chorus: A mighty boon thou gavest there to man.
Prometheus: Moreover, I conferred the gift of fire
Chorus: And have frail mortals now the flame-
        bright fire.
Prometheus: yes, and shall master many arts
            thereby."