Canister Damascus

PACKAGE IS HERE!!!! Now to unpack and see what it's all about
:)
 
I can tell from those casters what the cart you have is like. Strong. We recently bought several 6 foot tall wire shelving units of the same stuff, and those were the upgraded casters. Nice stuff, bears a lot of weight and moves well.

I'm excited to see/read of this press in action for you.

I got stink eye from Missus Normally Enabler fitzo when I started jawing, "You know, I could move one of those in and out of the garage...," and that's as far as I got. "And who is going to hammer out blades?" "Fine."

Yeap, I know those days are gone but an old boy can still dream, nay? Have fun. It's a great journey, thrilling at times, frustrating at times, and always, always something new to learn. Have a blast, sir!
 
OK, here's the press setup on the cart. That cart works MUCH better than I was expecting when I opened the box. It's rated at 1,000 lb but I don't see how. The posts are 1" diameter, while a similar cart I purchased from Sam's has 1-1/2" posts, and the wire of the shelfs are all the same size. It does NEED a decent flat plate bolted to the wire shelf for the press to bolt to.

Press.jpg


Remember I was concerned about ability to get press into backyard where the anvil is setup with my work tables? Not a problem - little more hassle to roll press out than is the forge, but not a real problem. Here they are setup with forge heating up.

Press-forge.jpg


Here's an old truck axle I had laying around, it's about an inch diameter. This is one press with the drawing die. I think it would have pinched it into had I tried. While it won't do what a 25 ton press does, I think it's going to be ok for what I want.

Pressed-Rod.jpg


Sorry, no videos yet - got to get some help to make videos. It takes both hands to run the press. So far I'm doing ok with the hand control rather than foot control. We'll see how it goes as time goes by.
 
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I'm impressed with that squish. You're gonna ruin some stuff with that, just like the rest of us. Enjoy your journey!

That is a nice-looking forge, too. Is that blower variable speed or gated?
 
The blower is has the normal gate over the blower inlet, but I've also got a variable speed control that works pretty good. Just never use it since I'm not trying to use forge in the lower temp ranges. Mostly only in forging temp of 1800 to 2,000F, and welding of 2100F to 2200F range. Sometimes pushing 2250F range with SS San Mai

Here's a better view of that rod showing how thin it squished with one press. Yea, I'm gonna need some kisser blocks {g}
Press-Rod.jpg
 
Isn't that what the press is for?

I thought about beveling dies. My problem is stamina. I can't hold a hammer any more. 3-4 blows driving 20penny through a 2x4 and the hammer literally falls out of my hand. And it's hard to imagine doing forge work without needing hammer work. :(

Just an old man, dreaming of regaining things lost. I still won't totally rule it out, though. Gotta hope, nay? :)
 
OK, here's the press setup on the cart. That cart works MUCH better than I was expecting when I opened the box. It's rated at 1,000 lb but I don't see how. The posts are 1" diameter, while a similar cart I purchased from Sam's has 1-1/2" posts, and the wire of the shelfs are all the same size. It does NEED a decent flat plate bolted to the wire shelf for the press to bolt to.

Press.jpg


Remember I was concerned about ability to get press into backyard where the anvil is setup with my work tables? Not a problem - little more hassle to roll press out than is the forge, but not a real problem. Here they are setup with forge heating up.

Press-forge.jpg


Here's an old truck axle I had laying around, it's about an inch diameter. This is one press with the drawing die. I think it would have pinched it into had I tried. While it won't do what a 25 ton press does, I think it's going to be ok for what I want.

Pressed-Rod.jpg


Sorry, no videos yet - got to get some help to make videos. It takes both hands to run the press. So far I'm doing ok with the hand control rather than foot control. We'll see how it goes as time goes by.

I told you it had more power than one thinks. Since you mounted it down acting how far is it from the bottom die to the ground? I am thinking about getting that cart.
 
Top of the bottom die is 34" from the floor with the table set at highest level on cart. The top shelf can be set lower as needed.
 
Since this thread started with me asking about canister Damascus. Here's my first attempt at Canister and following Ed's (and other folks) directions. I used a 1-1/4" square tube with 1/8" walls about 4 (5?) inches long. Welded ends up and went from there. I think it turned out pretty good for a first time.

I "think" I understand what we're seeing. See the "islands" of solid brighter just above the patterns? I think that is the meteorite that is 6% nickel making it etch really bright. The patterns are the bits of Damascus I cut up and dropped in. The solid dull grey is the 1084 powder to fill the empty places. I "think" that's the case anyway. All in all, I think we did a successful canister weld. I do have a bad spot on the other side where I think a meteorite is that didn't weld good leaving an inclusion. All in all, I'm happy with my first attempt at canister. Once the weld sets good that "solid" feel is pretty obvious.

I "really" need to work on getting a pattern, but this Canister was just an attempt to see if I could get it to weld. I started with 1-1/4" OD square tube with 1/8" walls and about 4" long. I cleaned a few scrapes of Damasic I had, cut up into small pieces and dropped into canister. Put 3 smallish pieces of Campo meteorite in the upper section, welded it all up good and put into forge. I didn't rust inside of square tube, white out, or anything. I allowed the canister to weld solid as one billet. Then ground over 1/8" of outside off to be sure I got all the mild steel. This is the result.
canister-2.jpg
 
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