Mill suggestions with a very long X travel AND can nod the head

[???]

Aircraft and auto industry had a lot of bed mills with a stationary bed. Zayer, Nicolas Correa, SHW and Sachman all made them. I think Makino does CNC versions where if you are doing Cessna wing spars and you pick up a A380 contract you can add on sections.

 

[Rob F.]

So you're saying that I should just hold onto this 500lb blank with my hands and work it in the power hammer? Or am i missing part of the equation?

Look at Roger Lund on youtube.
Here is a link to one of his videos, they are all pretty good, he is top of the field.

 

[Dope]

Maybe with a jib crane, along with your hands. Big hammers need some sort of crane to support the work they are capable of. Forging would cut down both machining time and waste significantly.

As far as a planer goes, unless I'm missing something about your requirements I don't see why it needs to have a milling head adapted. Cutting bevels is a perfect job for a standard planer, and generally machines of the size you'd need go for scrap money.

Interesting! I suppose it might be possible to forge but at the end of the day it doesn't change the purpose of this post since I'd still need to mill the final product to make it perfect. And I'm tired of doing ~30 setups per blade, trying to knock around that 500lb slab to indicate it in for the millionth time just gets old lol

 

[Dope]

And more fun That's actually kind of a cottage industry here in the countryside - take old bearings and beat them into plate, then make hand-forged cleavers out of them.

There've been several nice planers on here that didn't find new homes that would have perfectly fit the bill. No takers. One open-side just a month or so ago, might still be out there.

OP is kinda delusional, "I want a 50 taper machine that can take off metal fast but I don't want a monster" ... bzzzzt, gonk gonk frrbish bleep, does not compute, doe not compute, warning will robinson danger circuit meltdown ....

I think you have greatly misinterpreted my post. I currently am machining these on a Cincinnati #2 (6000lb, 5hp) which can take plenty big enough of a cut for me, I'm just trying to cut down on all the setup work. So a 10k+, 15hp+ machine is wayyyy more than enough. I was saying that I don't need some monster 50hp machine with 30 feet of travel and it costs six figures.

 

[Dope]

Look at Roger Lund on youtube.
Here is a link to one of his videos, they are all pretty good, he is top of the field.

Cool! What you're saying makes a lot more sense here, he's forging small pieces and he's also doing it as part of a team. I think maneuvering around 5-8' long slabs that weigh several hundred pounds would be significantly difficult for me to do solo. Hell, where would I even get a forge that can handle a piece that big? Power hammer, forge and furnace alone would probably cost more than my entire shop and the entirety of the contents within. I don't even have the space for all that equipment in the first place. It's a cool idea though! Just not very practical for my situation at the current time. Maybe someday. Wonder if it's possible to do a pattern-welded blank in the ballpark of 200lbs... *starts drawing up wish list*

 

[Dope]

500 lbs, oooooh scary

View attachment 421149

I get a ton of forging and casting vids on weixin because they know a sucker when they see one But these forging manipulator guys ? I think it's impressive what they do. Flip it, roll it, twist it, turn end-for-end, stand it up, lay it down, spin it 2"" at a time ... fun to watch.

When I had little forgings (like 4-5-6" diameter) done in south city, I'd go down there to watch every chance I could.

That's cool as hell! Or...hot as hell, depending on how you look at it. Only about 100 levels above my pay grade

 

[Dope]

There are places that do this sort of thing, you know. You tell them what you want and they make it. According to the description you'd save like 300 lbs of steel which would more than likely pay for the forging job.

I'm a little puzzled how you can throw away 400 lbs - a sword is basically a long rectangle, not that much excess, unless you are making the crosspiece and blade as one piece ? Even then, that can be forged and save hundreds of pounds of steel (which is not cheap, if you are using 52100).

It's worth a few phone calls, I'd say. Hawley was local to me, they were super helpful, probably saved me more on just the sawing than the entire forgings cost (they didn't saw them, just sheared the blanks from bar. Quick)

Hmmm I had not considered that the forging cost could be reasonable. Do you have any idea of a ballpark dollar amount for say a 300lb slab? The problem that I foresee is that I am not mass producing these, in fact I only make one at a time. Each one is unique and I do for the challenge. So each blade is a one-off, as you can guess. That's why I'm just milling them out of slabs of Hardox plate (which is pre-hardened if you are not familiar). The swords are outrageously durable as a result, I sent one to Demolition Ranch and it stopped multiple armor-piercing .50 BMG hits. Anyway I'm getting off-topic. Oh, I wanted to be clear, I'm probably shaving off an average of around 100lb for each big sword, I think you may have misread the 400 number somewhere. The most recent one started at 516lb and ended at 302lb (for the blade, 324lb overall) but that was the biggest I've ever made. This is a quick timelapse of that build if you want to see what I'm talking about:

 

[EmGo]

Hmmm I had not considered ....

Oops, totally wrong, sorry, I screwed up when I saw the word "sword".

This is sword-shaped, sort of, but everything I thought before seeing the vid was wrong. I'll just skulk off quietly now ....

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Interesting! I suppose it might be possible to forge but at the end of the day it doesn't change the purpose of this post since I'd still need to mill the final product to make it perfect. And I'm tired of doing ~30 setups per blade, trying to knock around that 500lb slab to indicate it in for the millionth time just gets old lol

I watched your video... for what you're doing, forging might not be worth the investment.

Looks like an ideal job for a planer. A bed mill could do it, too.

 

[michiganbuck]

Turning/canting a large face mill at angle one can find the arc to many angles, plus that B&S 60" could be alleted to include a tilt head.
Mailling factes at an arc, and then finishing on a 60" grinder might be good.
If I was doing that kind of work I would make a swing arm to wet grind a larger radius to my inserts and to get perhaps 4 uses out of them.

 

[just Dave]

I would get a walk in band saw for sure, like a Marvel. Your entire point could be cut in one set up and three part flips. I generally do most of my milling on a band saw. They can be very precise and leave a level finish, 250 to 500. For a mill check #4 size in Kearny Trecker . There a bunch of BIG ones out there one step from scrap in price but expensive to move due to weight. The CK models are 25 hp as I recall. I used to run a job in 1018, takeing a chunk out of a big block, 1/2” x 3” in one cut at 11 inch per minute, no coolant. The chips hit like flaming BBs. It ran for years like that.
Don’t forget to get a good feed in band saw, you won’t regret it

 

[Rob F.]

Cool! What you're saying makes a lot more sense here, he's forging small pieces and he's also doing it as part of a team. I think maneuvering around 5-8' long slabs that weigh several hundred pounds would be significantly difficult for me to do solo. Hell, where would I even get a forge that can handle a piece that big? Power hammer, forge and furnace alone would probably cost more than my entire shop and the entirety of the contents within. I don't even have the space for all that equipment in the first place. It's a cool idea though! Just not very practical for my situation at the current time. Maybe someday. Wonder if it's possible to do a pattern-welded blank in the ballpark of 200lbs... *starts drawing up wish list*

Look up Ric Furrer, he is a member here and also used to post a lot on a blacksmithing site that used to be good.
He does a lot of pattern welded billets and makes swords from them.
here is his youtube, link to website is there:

https://www.youtube.com/@RicFurrer/videos

 

[RC Mech]

The most recent one started at 516lb and ended at 302lb (for the blade, 324lb overall) but that was the biggest I've ever made. This is a quick timelapse of that build…

Adam, that is a seriously well edited video. A ton of work goes into those swords, clearly. They use AR400/500 for rifle targets, Hardox is the brand name.

Are you full time on this now?

 

[Dope]

I would get a walk in band saw for sure, like a Marvel. Your entire point could be cut in one set up and three part flips. I generally do most of my milling on a band saw. They can be very precise and leave a level finish, 250 to 500. For a mill check #4 size in Kearny Trecker . There a bunch of BIG ones out there one step from scrap in price but expensive to move due to weight. The CK models are 25 hp as I recall. I used to run a job in 1018, takeing a chunk out of a big block, 1/2” x 3” in one cut at 11 inch per minute, no coolant. The chips hit like flaming BBs. It ran for years like that.
Don’t forget to get a good feed in band saw, you won’t regret it

Yes! I do have a Marvel nowadays, the footage shown is from about 2 years ago.

 

[Dope]

Adam, that is a seriously well edited video. A ton of work goes into those swords, clearly. They use AR400/500 for rifle targets, Hardox is the brand name.

Are you full time on this now?

Ha! Nice to hear from ya, thanks! Not full time on this, it's just a nights & weekend kinda thing since it doesn't make much money (makes more money from youtube than the sale of the sword itself if you can believe it).

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

A small “ Butler “ Elgamil would fit the bill. Or one of many copies of the Elgamill out there.
A “ Huron “ would be nice as would be a “ Boko “ if they still make them.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[EmGo]

A “ Huron “ would be nice as would be a “ Boko “ if they still make them.

Like this ? Or something different ?

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Like this ? Or something different ?

View attachment 421229

I came across one over here that might fit the bill. Look up “ Zayer “ 5 BM on the internet.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[Dope]

A small “ Butler “ Elgamil would fit the bill. Or one of many copies of the Elgamill out there.
A “ Huron “ would be nice as would be a “ Boko “ if they still make them.

Regards Tyrone.

Is that Boko as in Boko Willis?

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

“ Boko’s “ were made by “ Bohner & Kohle “ in Germany. They were a very versatile, desirable and expensive vertical milling machine.

Regards Tyrone