I haven’t posted in a while so I figured I would give an update to what I have been doing. I went to the SNAG conference in Houston and had a great time and met lots of fellow metalsmithers. I don’t know if that’s a real word, but I kinda like it so it can be one today.
Anyway, I ate myself silly at this BBQ place nearly everyday. Good thing it was within crawling distance. I didn’t get to see much since I was sharing a booth with Otto Frei, but I got to talk to lots of people which is always a good time.
I have come to grips with the fact that I am not cool and that now that I am 40, it is real uncool to try to be cool. I bring this realization up because 90% of the people there were in there early 20s and had all kinds of hardware attached to themselves. I like some of the stuff so much that I thought I would get some myself but first I figured I would run it by the wife. She let me know that it was probably not a good idea. I just kept thinkin’ of all the possibilities. I spent the last 20 years making rings and necklaces and the occasional grill and belly button ring, and even a nipple ring, but these guys are takin’ it to a new level.
Enough about that. I have come up with a few new tools for the hydraulic press– nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, just a few more well-made, affordable accessories- like some mushroom formers and a bracelet former with antisynclastic and synclastic formers. The one thing that might be a revolutionary device is my Torque handle for the press. I have been trying to figure out a way to get the price of the press down and this is part of the plan. The jacks that have gauge ports are expensive and when I order them I have to pay shipping and I end up in the middle of the warranty. If I sell the press without a jack, we save $60 on shipping; I pay 30 bucks to get it to me and thirty bucks to ship it to you. If you order the press without a jack you save money and then you can choose the jack that you want and the one that you can afford. This is where the torque handle comes in. You can use a $20 Harbor Freight jack and get the same results as you get with a jack that has a gauge. The handle can be set for a certain amount of foot pounds of torque and when that is reached, the handle clicks to let you know that you have reached that limit. I have included a video of it. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC3xp2_UplU[/youtube] I will do a better demo this week to fully demonstrate its fabulous capabilities. You will be astounded. Okay, probably not, but it works well and it can be used by all you guys who made their own presses and don’t have gauges.
Thanks for reading.
Walking in the light, basking in the glow, sweating in the shop, trying not to sever any digits,
Kevin
www.potterusa.com
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