Metalshaping is a process that involves changing the thickness of sheet metal to form compound curves that bring metal sculpture to life. There are a myriad of tools required to shape metal that come from the early days of coach building and aircraft construction during World War II. Since many of those tools are no longer available, they must be fabricated.
This is a sheetmetal power hammer. This hammer was built in 2015 by Renato Muskovic of British Columbia. It has cast iron arms and is powered by a 2 HP electric motor and a hydraulic cone clutch. Its name is Ramona.
I recently added this backup hammer to the back of Ramona. It was fabricated using the Metalcraft kit with a frame constructed of 1" plate. It is a pretty good backup and helps minimize die changes when I'm in the zone.
This is my english wheel. It has Hoosier Profiles wheels and adjusters. It was drawn up by myself and cut from AR 400 steel. It is exceedingly stiff and very smooth.
My custom-made planishing hammer. It was designed by myself and powered with a Michigan Pneumatic air motor and controlled with an pneumatic cylinder via a treadle valve from dump truck air brakes. It performes wonderfully.
Pullmax P9 with pneumatic lift. This is a very versatile machine. There is a duplicator table for it somewhere in the shop. It came from Indiana where I was told it was making gauge panels for tractors.
The Bridgeport Milling machine. I just added the DRO (digital read out) to this guy and it getting pretty useful. I picked it up near Seattle, but at one time it was owned by Hasbro toy company, presumably making tooling for happy toys somewhere. I have a fair amount of tooling including a rotary table previously owned by Boeing where I can only assume it was used to build F/A-18s.
This lathe is a classic. Made by Rahn Larmon sometime between 1911 and 1941. It used to be powered by a flat overhead belt but someone along the line added an electric motor and 3 speed transmission from a truck for variable speeds. you can see the stick shift in the upper left corner. It was previously owned by Wards Cove Packing, a seafood processor and before that by Libby McNeil Libby, which is still around as Libby's which processes canned fruit.
The drill press is also a classic. Formerly a flat overhead belt driven tool, it now has two stick shift transmissions and slows down to about 15 rpm and will make a 1" hole in 1" steel like a hot knife through butter.
This is a little grinding table that I made for grinding sculptures. the table rotates on a bowling ball and a pneumatic cylinder locks the ball in place by pinching it between two brake discs. The cylinder is actuated by a throttle control that came from the Coast Guard ship Alex Haley. It might be a bit more convenient to have a foot control, but the chrome handle is just too cool to not use.
This is the CNC plasma cutter. I just repowered it with a Hypertherm Powermax 85, so it'll do 1- 1/4" steel on a 6' x 8' table. I don't really use it for art because I want things to remain handmade, but its great for making letters and reproducing logos. It came from my buddy Scott at Metal Magic in Kenai.
This a European anvil made by Peter Wright and weighs 388 pounds. It came out of a mine in Juneau. According to the markings, it is one of the newest Peter Wrights made…..meaning its 90 years old. In the background is my Induction heater. If you are not familiar with that tool and have made it this far, google that shit; it'll blow your mind.
This is my little press that came from Metal Magic. It will push about 34,000 pounds which isn't a ton (well I guess its literally several tons) by press standards, but it works for most of my needs. Somewhat sadly, I can speak from experience that it is overkill for tenderizing chicken.
Yes, I do like hammers.
Hammer fetish continued.
The frankenhammer. This is my original power hammer built from a Metalcraft kit and an old shear frame that came out of the junkyard. It served me well, but is really a toy compared to the new one. I'll probably build a small frame for it and hang it off the back of Romana to minimize die changes.
Yes, a clamp fetish too.
This is my home built gantry crane. It began life as a communications tower on Sheratin Mountain until it collapsed in a snow storm. A friend of mine ended up with the scrap and we picked out the parts to make this. I've lifted the 5,000 pound Pullmax with it. At 12' wide and 12' tall, you can drive right through it and pick freight out of the truck.
This is the main workstation for welding and buffing. Hose reels for compressed air, filtered air for the mask, oxy acetylene, oxy propane, and 110v power help to keep the confusion to a minimum. The overhead suction keeps the fumes at bay. The plasma cutter is the heart of my operation. This one is a Hypertherm Powermax 65. Its nice to have 3 plasma cutters in the shop, but I'm much more comfortable now that I have four. Yes, I am a tool addict.