swage blocks

[BrokenBiker]

anyone made their own swage blocks?

they sell for silly money and i only need a small one, few different common radii on the sides for hammer forming some bends, few holes for drifts and punches to drop through, maybe a hardy hole or 3 and possibly a 45 degree on 1 corner as i feel like that would be handy.

im thinking around 250mm suqare and around 40mm thick but unsure as to whether its best to find a chunk of steel and try and cut/grind/drill it or fabricate something from some heavy flat bar/pipe and then fill it with concrete for weight

 

[winchman]

I also need one but never seen a cheap one

 

[Agroshield]

The outside profile could be waterjet cut. Perhaps if you pre-drilled some of the internal features (so the waterjet does not need to pierce), it could do the internal ones. Maybe make from two pieces of 25mm and hot rivet together. Put some self adhesive sandpaper on one of the joint surfaces and finesse the other one until adequate contact/bearing is seen. A smear of JB Weld before closing the rivets would do the rest.

 

[hotponyshoes]

A solid block would always be better than something fabricated.
I can't see concrete holding up for long before it turns into powder and runs out the hardy holes...

The price of the solid block might be an issue (it will show you why they are so expensive to buy!)
But if you make it half decent it won't ever loose you money.

A waterjet cut block would be perfectly possible. I don't think there would be any need to pre-drill holes for the internal features at that thickness. Might make it a bit cheaper to have cut if you do although I expect the cut time saved on piercing would be lost in the setup time.
If you can't find someone local that will use your block you'll have to try and find an online that has the size & grade you want..

One way to fabricate one might be to make up a box from sheet/plate then drill the hardy holes and weld tube into them.
You could use tube cut lengthways for the radius on the outer edges.
Drill 2 holes in one end, Heat it, fill it with molten lead, Weld the fill/breather hole up.

Depends on what you plan to use it for?
If you are only making roses out of Copper it should last fine. If you are making anything that needs a heavy wack stick with a solid block.

Agroshields 2-piece idea would work, probably easier(cheaper) to find multiple pieces at a smaller thickness than one bit 40mm or so.
Would make it easy if you wanted a Vee groove or something on one or more of the outer edges.
Other edges could be welded and the rivits could be Countersunk and ground flush..

 

[BrokenBiker]

One way to fabricate one might be to make up a box from sheet/plate then drill the hardy holes and weld tube into them.

this was my train of thought initially.

only ever going to be making decorative stuff...likely from 3mm steel, maybe some 5mm...doubt i would ever want to make anything substantial with it and could always make a dedicated tool if i really needed to hammer on something heavy to form it.

its not really a necessity, ive always done 'accurate' bending around forms so can continue to do that as and when needed, ive got a few forms made up now in different sizes and can knock them up pretty quickly when needed.

hadnt thought of copper roses, i mad eone years ago when i was bored camping, found a length of copper tube and went out and bought some tin snips and a hammer, annealed it over a camp stove and used a log to hammer on. turned out absolutely terrible

 

[dieselsamurai]

This guy cuts them out of 50mm plate this one is not as big as you want but im sure he could do bigger and £40 shipped seems fair to me

7" x 7" (180mm x 180mm) Swage Block

180x180 (7"x7") Mini Swage Block. 50mm thick, CNC flamecut from S275 grade steel. 'Full size' Swage Blocks also available (330mm x 330mm x 80mm thick), please see my other items. Shipping to...

www.facebook.com

 

[dieselsamurai]

 

[BrokenBiker]

This guy cuts them out of 50mm plate this one is not as big as you want but im sure he could do bigger and £40 shipped seems fair to me

7" x 7" (180mm x 180mm) Swage Block

180x180 (7"x7") Mini Swage Block. 50mm thick, CNC flamecut from S275 grade steel. 'Full size' Swage Blocks also available (330mm x 330mm x 80mm thick), please see my other items. Shipping to...

www.facebook.com

180x180 is plenty big enough. 250 was just a nominal size that came to mind.

i assumed the fill size ones were about 500x500.

shall send him a message when my anvil is here, i can maybe incorporate a stand for both at once

 

[Agroshield]

[Picture]

Is there any (or what is the) logic to the dimensions shown/chosen on it? They do not seem to correlate with too many standard diameter or square bars.

 

[dieselsamurai]

Is there any (or what is the) logic to the dimensions shown/chosen on it? They do not seem to correlate with too many standard diameter or square bars.

Yeah sizes are odd but Im sure he has never used a swage block just seen a gap in the market, no great issue for him to change the dimensions to those that suit the application

 

[BrokenBiker]

Is there any (or what is the) logic to the dimensions shown/chosen on it? They do not seem to correlate with too many standard diameter or square bars.

Probably just the tooling he has and is able to cut easilly...

Easilly modified to suit specific applications...

For 40 quid its better than nothing

 

[hotponyshoes]

I'd be happy spending £40 on that!
Parcelforce postage alone is about £14

At that money I'd just buy one of those, Drill holes as required and regrind edge profiles as needed.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I'd be happy spending £40 on that!
Parcelforce postage alone is about £14

At that money I'd just buy one of those, Drill holes as required and regrind edge profiles as needed.

Will definitely be drilling a few holes in it, and possibly put a hardy hole in it...going to incorporate a space for it into my anvil stand I think.

40 quid is a bargain given its 50mm thick, let alone the fact its been cut on a cnc...I priced up some 150x150x50 a few weeks back that was going to run me 50 plus vat and carriage...

 

[Erie Fred]

How do you compensate for the temp of the forging ?
Are sizes are a bit over sized so when the part cools, it's where you want it ?

 

[BrokenBiker]

How do you compensate for the temp of the forging ?
Are sizes are a bit over sized so when the part cools, it's where you want it ?

Depends on what you are doing I suppose...ive hot bent mild steel over 55mm forms and not noticed any change in size when its cooled...ive used the forms after the bends are cool as a ay of clamping in a vice without deforming the bends and they still fit just fine