How Many Smiths Have we got on This site????

[Steven9851]

I'm a wanna be also.  Swappin tips and sharing pictures was my idea when I suggested a blacksmithing board.

[nifeman]

Well, I guess I'm a smith too.. Bud Smith (really). On the serious side tho, I'm a member of the Neo-Tribal bladesmiths for about 7 yrs....Bud

[Thumper]

Hey Pitchy, I took another look at your fuller and decided to make myself one, I like your adjustable stop, do you use it much or was it something that looked good at the time?

[Pitchy]

I use it alot, i don`t do a lot of smithing but that is a handy tool.
I use it alot when i make crosses, here this will show ya.

[Roaring Bull]

WOW Pitchy.....my wife would love that!

I like it too by the way!

[Thumper]

Beaytiful cross!! How many sets of fullers do you have for the tool? I'm thinkin' 3 (lg, med,small), sets should cover most stuff.

[Pitchy]

So far i`ve only needed a 1/2 inch fuller, but i don`t do a lot of smithing.
Thanks for all the kind comments.

[Razor]

I'm a wanna be also.  Swappin tips and sharing pictures was my idea when I suggested a blacksmithing board.

...an a darn fine idea it was...

[Pitchy]

Hey Pitchy, I took another look at your fuller and decided to make myself one, I like your adjustable stop, do you use it much or was it something that looked good at the time?

Got pics?
The neat thing about this tool is you can turn it and fuller yourself and get an even groove.

[Thumper]

Hey Pitchy....Got'er Done!!
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine1.jpg
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine2.jpg
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine3.jpg
Took almost as much time to find the right scrap in my pile as it did to make it!! It's all mild steel and you can see I'm already deforming the striking surface. I have some leaf spring stock I'm gonna bend around the top and weld in place, that should solve the problem. I'll get to making an adjustable stop later on. Thanks for the idea, by the way, I'd have sent you a pic of my old one but I cut it apart to make this one before I remembered to.

[FrankG]

Thumper ,how about hard surfacing welding rod  for the striking edge? We used it to build up on worn backhoe bucket edge.

[Pitchy]

Hey Pitchy....Got'er Done!!
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine1.jpg
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine2.jpg
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine3.jpg
Took almost as much time to find the right scrap in my pile as it did to make it!! It's all mild steel and you can see I'm already deforming the striking surface. I have some leaf spring stock I'm gonna bend around the top and weld in place, that should solve the problem. I'll get to making an adjustable stop later on. Thanks for the idea, by the way, I'd have sent you a pic of my old one but I cut it apart to make this one before I remembered to.

Very nice Thumper, good idea on the hardy hole mount will have to add that to mine.

[Thumper]

FrankG, I know they build up farm implements and anvil faces and such with hard facing rod, but I'm not sure it would work as a striking surface cause it might be too brittle (on an anvil, you're supposed to hit what's hot, not the anvil surface, so it's not direct concussion). The other problem is that I only have an O/A rig, nothing electric. Anyhow it's done, I used it on a fire poker today and works perfectly with the leaf spring topper, here's a couple of pic's. I decided to mount it flat rather than bending it over the top cause it gives me a little margin for error should I choke up on my swing LOL!!
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine4.jpg
http://www.fmtc.com/~tfl1x/Guillotine5.jpg
Pitchy, The hardie post is nice cause it'll also mount in your vise if you want to work higher than your anvil top.

[Steven9851]

Is there a way to leave the sides of the tool open and attach a V spring to each side so that top part of the tool would be rasied after each blow?

[Thumper]

Steven, I'm sure you could, but it wouldn't help with the work and it would be just a couple of more thing's that might break, especially if you didn't hit dead center every time! There is a tool called a "spring swage". I'll try to describe it. If you're reducing metal (say 5/8 to 1/2), you make a two sided die of the final size on your drill press buy clamping two pieces of metal together and drilling in the middle of both from one end to the other. Then you weld a "U" shaped piece of spring steel to join them together, keeping the die halves about 1/2 inch apart. Then tack on a hardie to mount in your anvil. When you strike the top die with the hot metal you're reducing between the 2 halves, the die will spring open between blows. For tool making and general blacksmithing questions, I  highly recommend the book "Practical Blacksmithing and Metalworking" 2nd edition by Percy W Blandford. There's tons of good books out there on the subject, but this one was a really helpful reference guide when I was just starting out.