Bob Geldart

Can't see the pictures either! What happened to session 2?

Book your ticket online at least one month before you travel.

You really don't want to make such geographical/political errors once you're on this side of the pond, you could easily fall foul of the locals. Wales is in the UK or GB not England. England is a peninsula on the east of Wales. If you want a guide to the local hills or just want to call in while passing drop me a line.

Thankfully the sales tax calculator was at fault, total price including door to door shipping to the UK was $930.

Now that's just plain spooky, I ordered a 6 x 12 ram, 16 gpm pump and a valve from Surplus Center yesterday. I visited a machinery dealer yesterday and he had a 20 ton C-frame press. The frame was cut from 2" steel and must have weighed about 8 ton. If you go down the C-frame path you'll be doing some serious fabrication. I'll be building a H-frame, a lot easier and a lot stronger.

Can somebody direct me towards heat treatment information for 1055 steel? cheers Bob

Thanks for the advice Steve (and everybody else). I'm using fairly heavy column 210mm x 133mm x 30Kg per metre (8" x 5" x 20lb/ft). Can you suggest a suitable valve from the current Surplus Center catalogue. Would item 9-6765 be suitable?

In answer to the above, I want the press to be capable of applying a pressure of about 30 ton. I want to be able to control this by using a variable pressure relief valve as I won't be needing this pressure for most of my work. I already have some heavy joists and steel plate which I will use to make the frame. I have a 1440 rpm 10HP motor to power the pump. I've just tried to order the parts from Surpluscenter via their online ordering system. They wanted to add $4500 tax to an order valued at $800. I hope that was a mistake!

Thanks for the replys. I assume the 'log splitter' pumps from Surpluscenter are suitable and will probably be the type of pump I use. Why do some people prefer single speed pumps? Most people seem to use valves with open centers, is there any advantage to a valve that maintains pressure in the centre? I can't think of any reason why I'd want to clamp anything with the press but some powerhammers have this feature so somebody must find it useful.

I intend to build a press from parts sourced from Surpluscenter, I'll be using a 6 inch cylinder with a 12 inch stroke. Could somebody who has built their own press suggest which pump and adjustable valve I should buy. cheers Bob

My drills are all ex-industry machines. They've worked hard for sixty years before I bought them and will be working long after I'm dead. You'll find them on eBay for less than the price of a new Chinese machine.

I'll jump on the bandwagon too. Change to Bob Geldart please.

Does the Krusty design use any form of clutch or brakeing?

Below is a link I've copied from a thread on another forum. It links to the website of a photographer who has recently recorded images of the remains of the Sheffield based knife industry. Some interesting old tools can be seen including spring hammers, a rolling mill and some cutler's anvils. Click here

Sounds like recalescence (or decalescence).

Why don't you want to use 'actual sandblasting'?

I think Owen is working away from home this week, I'm sure he will reply as soon as he returns. Bob.

Why not come to Owen's hammerin in March?

And from us at Britishblades too!

Looks like an interesting place, I might be tempted by their tinsmithing and metal spinning courses one day.

is a die filing machine, here's one on the bay of evil: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KELLER-1A-PRECISION-...VQQcmdZViewItem

I use a flypress to aid both punching and fullering:

I don't think 20 mins would give a very deep carburization.

You could try creating the stainless layers by arc welding with stainless rods on both sides of a piece of carbon steel!

There's an interesting spring hammer for sale on eBay (uk) at the moment.