low budget startup

[monk]

i was asked to post a pic of a couple hammers i made years ago. i was too poor to buy real ones. 2 are made from engine valves. 1 was turned on a lathe from hex stock. a piece of drill rod was inserted in the end.

 

[Billzach]

Monk
Your hammers look super good compared to my first vise for holding coins to be carved, my first vise was three wood screws..[ps] my first tool to magnify coins was a lens out of a movie projector mounted on 3 wood dowels with a coat-hanger...

 

[monk]

actually, i've never bothered to purchase real ones. when i do h & C, i still use these beasts !

 

[jlseymour]

Monk,
You'd probably would not like a factory hammer with the love affair you must have with those nice looking workable hammers...
When I started jewelry work the things I had to start with, hand held propane tourch, old washing machine motor for a buffing wheel, and anything I could figger out from what I saw in catalogs that jewelers used...
Builds alot of drive to be better...
Thanks for all the picture sorting and posting, they are so great to study such great work...
Jerry

 

[threefingerdave]

Monk,
those hammers are great
I did finally make one.... i will email a pict to you
thanks Dave

 

[monk]

hay, tri finger- i wanta see one of your coins, or whatever engraving you decided to begin workin on. if you lost my address, it's monk45@verizon.net. i lost yours.

 

[Daniel Houwer]

Great tools Monk!

My best friend wanted a chasing hammer once and I said that we could cast the hammerhead I had in bronze. When we were finished I gave him my steel hammer and kept the bronze one myself. Although I had to solder a few cracks once I still use that hammer with a lot of pleasure and back to memorylane stuff.

I just love making tools myself!

Greetings,

Daniel

 

[monk]

tools

Great tools Monk!

My best friend wanted a chasing hammer once and I said that we could cast the hammerhead I had in bronze. When we were finished I gave him my steel hammer and kept the bronze one myself. Although I had to solder a few cracks once I still use that hammer with a lot of pleasure and back to memorylane stuff.

I just love making tools myself!

Greetings,

Daniel

yeah, in spite of owning a magnablock, there are times i resort to the dumb old bowling ball vise i made years ago. it's powerful ugly, but for certain jobs, it's my go to vise !

 

[Dulltool]

Does anyone have a photo of a bowling ball vise? I kind of have one pictured in my mind on how I would build one..... Just wondering what others would look like.

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[Big-Un]

Man, I should have kept mine from many years ago! When I got my Magna-block, the bowling ball vice was stripped of its machinist's vice and the rest discarded, except for the old rubber tire it sat on....don't know where that is now. Who woulda thunk it would be an antique?

 

[Steve Adams]

Darn it, I could of had a V8's worth of hammers last Winter, instead the scrap metal place got them. Great idea! Steve Adams

 

[jimzim75]

You might just be able to go to a auto wrecker and find them laying around on the ground. It might save
you a few bruise knuckles.

 

[monk]

bowling ball vise

Does anyone have a photo of a bowling ball vise? I kind of have one pictured in my mind on how I would build one..... Just wondering what others would look like.

Thanks,
Dennis

THE bowling ball center is drilled about .5" x 4" deep. the top is milled flat. most anything that suits your fancy can be affixed onto these things. very easy to drill and tap.also shown is a tripod roll around with locking casters for the ball. the ball socket is a 6" dia. pvc fitting for large industrial piping. the lovely red thingy is a dead flat .5" nylon plate with a.5" x 4" shaft attatched. it rides in the hole in the ball. the plate is drilled/tapped when needed to hold flat stuff. all the junk except the casters was obtained free at my local junkyard. ugly, yes cheap, yes

 

[monk]

bowling ball vise

sorry, forgot to add these

 

[threefingerdave]

Home Made Hammer

Here is my version of the home made gravers hammer using Monks idea of a car valve
the hammer face is about 2 inches ...i think it is to large
the smaller hammer is a real one i bought from Brownell's years ago
Thanks to Monk for the great idea
Dave

 

[monk]

dave, at least yours has a real handle.

 

[monk]

for what this is worth- sometimes at my local junkyard there are huge, like 6" or larger dia. perfectly round balls. they may be bearings, cast iron, or maybe balls from ball mills don't know. they have 2 needed properties-very smooth and heavy as a witches' heart. check your local yard for such. if you got these for a good price, and you took a case of beer to a local machinist, who knows ? nex time i see some, i'm gonna grab a few for those who may want one.

 

[Unkl Ian]

Sewage Treatment plants use large steel balls as part of valves,they get replaced occasionally.

A Bowling Ball should be easier to get,and easier to modify.

 

[Billzach]

Monk
Don,t forget about my first vise [ three wood screws ] it,s really cheap to make...[PS] I did use 3 wood screws for a while, but i don,t recommend them to anyone..It was in a time when we had to make do with what we had, i didn,t have a computer when i started carving coins and never heard of a engraving vise, graver, etc..

 

[monk]

bowling balls

Monk
Don,t forget about my first vise [ three wood screws ] it,s really cheap to make...[PS] I did use 3 wood screws for a while, but i don,t recommend them to anyone..It was in a time when we had to make do with what we had, i didn,t have a computer when i started carving coins and never heard of a engraving vise, graver, etc..

thanks for the note about the balls. ther'es one of those treatment plants not 3 miles from that junkyard. ooh, you would have to clean that bugger good with some alcyhol !