Grinder kit ups and downs

Smurf masher said:
I'm going to test the anvil when I grind all the multiple layers of old paint off the surface then do a hardness test. If it still has a hard steel top layer and I can smooth it out, I'll leave it at that. If it's not no steel left at all I may well try your weld the top up approach. I can weld, but I last did it 20 years ago! So I'll defo be practicing a bit on scrap before I dive back in, but I wasn't bad before, my dad was a good teacher and showed me how to change the pattern of stick movement if going up or down or left or right to ensure you didn't burn too long in one spot, but still keep the pool molten. I've still got a pretty steady hand so I should be OK when I get back on it.

I was planning of welding up a steel box and filling it with sand to dampen the anvil. As for the soft start, is that VFDs only or can the motor type be part of that as well? I saw a range of low torque startup motors?

As for hammers.. I'm holding off. I bought a cheap modern one, and the plan is to make my own with that one and the flypress.
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I'll revisit your question about motors tomorrow. I'm getting over a cold right now and it's all in my head right now. Sinus pressure and whatnot. Bleh.

Anywho, even cheap (Harbor Freight or equivelent) hammers can work well. Strip the lacquer finish off the wooden handles, char the wood with a blowtorch, then liberally apply boiled linseed oil while wood is still hot. I reapply oil every few months. I don't bother wiping off the excess. As a blacksmith, boil linseed oil is your friend. It's an excellent finish for steel (very tough and rust resistant) and makes your hammer handles a lot tougher (more tough? Tougher? Words is hard).

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52 Ford said:
I'll revisit your question about motors tomorrow. I'm getting over a cold right now and it's all in my head right now. Sinus pressure and whatnot. Bleh.

Anywho, even cheap (Harbor Freight or equivelent) hammers can work well. Strip the lacquer finish off the wooden handles, char the wood with a blowtorch, then liberally apply boiled linseed oil while wood is still hot. I reapply oil every few months. I don't bother wiping off the excess. As a blacksmith, boil linseed oil is your friend. It's an excellent finish for steel (very tough and rust resistant) and makes your hammer handles a lot tougher (more tough? Tougher? Words is hard).

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Thank you. No rush on answering my techy questions! I appreciate your insight, no matter how long it takes for you to put it down! Get well soon.
 
Smurf masher said:
Thank you. No rush on answering my techy questions! I appreciate your insight, no matter how long it takes for you to put it down! Get well soon.
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Thanks! I'm feeling WAY better than I did a few days ago.

As for soft start motors, you don't need a VFD to soft start a motor. You can also get dedicated soft starters. Instead of trying to explain how they work, here's a Wiki link :) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_soft_starter

For a belt grinder or something like that, you really shouldn't need a soft starter. Not much mass there. Soft starters are good when you have a lot of mass go get turning.

I walked out to the shop and took a picture of a couple hammers to show the handle finish I'm talking about. That's a 2 pound Heller ball pein, a 4Lb rounding hammer (think it came from Lowe's), and I'm not sure who made the cross/straight pein hammer, it's a 1-1/2 pounder, though.

The 4lb rounding hammer is by far my most used forging hammer. You can't really tell from the picture, but I ground one face to have a pretty significant radius to it and the other is nearly flat. The edges are all rounded, though.

The finish on those handles is just boiled linseed oil after charring the wood. The shine on them is from use. You can see that I don't use that cross pein hammer often. I usually use a larger one. Even that one doesn't see much use.
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52 Ford said:
Thanks! I'm feeling WAY better than I did a few days ago.

As for soft start motors, you don't need a VFD to soft start a motor. You can also get dedicated soft starters. Instead of trying to explain how they work, here's a Wiki link :) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_soft_starter

For a belt grinder or something like that, you really shouldn't need a soft starter. Not much mass there. Soft starters are good when you have a lot of mass go get turning.

I walked out to the shop and took a picture of a couple hammers to show the handle finish I'm talking about. That's a 2 pound Heller ball pein, a 4Lb rounding hammer (think it came from Lowe's), and I'm not sure who made the cross/straight pein hammer, it's a 1-1/2 pounder, though.

The 4lb rounding hammer is by far my most used forging hammer. You can't really tell from the picture, but I ground one face to have a pretty significant radius to it and the other is nearly flat. The edges are all rounded, though.

The finish on those handles is just boiled linseed oil after charring the wood. The shine on them is from use. You can see that I don't use that cross pein hammer often. I usually use a larger one. Even that one doesn't see much use.
05374f1bb3f9737c65c5093c75c01396.jpg


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Glad you are feeling better. I wasn't sure about buying a pein hammer, as I always associated it with car body work. But good to know it works for blacksmithing as well. That round head looks like a great hammer. and thank you again for the techincal advice!

I've got one of these. Plan is to make a dog head hammer using it and the flypress, and a variety of other tools/hammers/dias/tongs/etc with it.

1655387113373.png
 
Smurf masher said:
Glad you are feeling better. I wasn't sure about buying a pein hammer, as I always associated it with car body work. But good to know it works for blacksmithing as well. That round head looks like a great hammer. and thank you again for the techincal advice!

I've got one of these. Plan is to make a dog head hammer using it and the flypress, and a variety of other tools/hammers/dias/tongs/etc with it.

View attachment 81051
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A 12 ounce ball pein gets a LOT of use in my shop. I recommend you get a couple different sizes of them. The 12 ounce gets used for mostly bench work. Tapping in pins, riveting, etc.

It's worth checking Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, etc for old hammers. Doesn't matter if they have handles or not. You can buy hickory handles based on head weight.

You can never have too many hammers, tongs, chisels, etc.

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You mentioned auto-body work. Sorta funny. I was working with 26 gauge steel at the anvil yesterday and a chasing hammer would've been ideal. Big flat face for flattening sheet metal... ended up just using a big ballpein.

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52 Ford said:
A 12 ounce ball pein gets a LOT of use in my shop. I recommend you get a couple different sizes of them. The 12 ounce gets used for mostly bench work. Tapping in pins, riveting, etc.

It's worth checking Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, etc for old hammers. Doesn't matter if they have handles or not. You can buy hickory handles based on head weight.

You can never have too many hammers, tongs, chisels, etc.

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I'll order one!
 
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