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[USS_Cuttlefish]

Hi,

I am USS_Cuttlefish and I am interested in all sorts of things like blacksmithing and aluminum smelting.
I am wanting to make a guillotine tool to fit in my anvil's hardy hole and after looking around at what other people have made I came up with a design to fit what I want. I have a model of it to submit to your opinions. The dies will fit in the top and bottom slots.



Thanks,

USS_Cuttlefish

[Jon]

Hi USS_Cuttlefish - welcome to HomemadeTools.net

Nice username

I'll send out a notice about this build to our blacksmithing folks, and we'll see if we can get you some feedback about your design.

[Lonebull17]

Hi,

I am USS_Cuttlefish and I am interested in all sorts of things like blacksmithing and aluminum smelting.
I am wanting to make a guillotine tool to fit in my anvil's hardy hole and after looking around at what other people have made I came up with a design to fit what I want. I have a model of it to submit to your opinions. The dies will fit in the top and bottom slots.



Thanks,

USS_Cuttlefish

My first question is what do you plan to use it for? Something as simple as a Smithing Magician can be put together and meet many of the needs of the tool. If that style does not work because you need space to feed more steel that's understandable and downside of the design. The wider you make the C shape frame keep in mind the stronger the frame has to be. Each hit from the hammer transfers a lot of force into your frame each will shorten its life and even the smallest bend in your frame will misaligne the cut your wanting to do

[Geoff Keyes]

USS_Cuttlefish,

That design will work, but.... You need to make it more robust than you think. .5" or .750 for the frame, and you may want to add gussets to keep it from twisting. I would use 4140 or 4340 for the tooling, full hard it will be about 52 Rc, which is plenty hard for forging hot steel.

You may also want to make some kind of hold down, tooling like this bounces when stuck. A spring clamp, or a wedge underneath the heel of the anvil will be a big help. Don't wedge down into the hardy hole, you can break the heel off that way.. Another way to go would be a stand alone tool that sits on it's own block or post. I'm thinking a piece of pipe in a 5 gallon bucket, filled with concrete. The tool would have a shank that went into the post with a wedge or a bolt through it.

Geoff

[USS_Cuttlefish]

USS_Cuttlefish,

That design will work, but.... You need to make it more robust than you think. .5" or .750 for the frame, and you may want to add gussets to keep it from twisting. I would use 4140 or 4340 for the tooling, full hard it will be about 52 Rc, which is plenty hard for forging hot steel.

You may also want to make some kind of hold down, tooling like this bounces when stuck. A spring clamp, or a wedge underneath the heel of the anvil will be a big help. Don't wedge down into the hardy hole, you can break the heel off that way.. Another way to go would be a stand alone tool that sits on it's own block or post. I'm thinking a piece of pipe in a 5 gallon bucket, filled with concrete. The tool would have a shank that went into the post with a wedge or a bolt through it.

Geoff

Geoff and Lonebull17,

The frame will be made at least .5 inches thick. I can easily make it thicker and add gussets as well later on. I am currently making this at the machine shop at my college. The tooling steel still have to get. I have a few options for mounting and your suggestion of not having it in the hardy hole sounds better to me. I have to make some tables and stands anyway so it wont be a problem. I have a 1 ft by 3 ft piece of 2 in thick steel that will make a lovely mounting point. I need something of a different style than the Magic Magician because I actually need the space otherwise I would be making that instead.

Thanks for the advice!
USS_Cuttlefish

[Geoff Keyes]

Where are you located? I have some 4140 and 4340 in my stock pile. It's not good for knives (which is most of what I do) but is nice for hammers, dies and impact tools. If shipping is not too bad, or if your close the Seattle area, I could turn some loose.

Geoff