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Old 09-10-2016, 09:48 PM   #1
RockHillWill
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rock Hill, S.C.
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Default Met fellow Ford Barners at Mechammer Tool class

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Thanks to Bill Longyard's invitation, Jimmy Matthews and I got a first class first look at the new and updated Mechammer by Ben VonBerlo from Bens Metalshaping Shop in the Netherlands. Bill Lonyards shop is in Winston Salem, N.C. where the US manufacturer of the Mechammer is located. I had seen a close up the Mechammer at the recent Redneck Roundup, but missed a lot of Bens presentations, but as a visitor this time, Jimmy, who owns one of bens mechammers and I were both quite taken by all the little tips and tricks that Ben showed us at Bills shop. He has obviously given this machine much thought and his engineering and mechanical prowess was most evident as he put this machine thu it's paces. Ben had on a t-shirt on that said across the back "set it and forget it", and when I asked about what it meant, he started his presentation by explaining that once you set the operating height to your personal comfort level, you set the lower tool holder post to set the spring height on the upper holder to 5/8". Once this has been done, he set the secondary horizontal beam to match that height and for the entire day, no changes had to be made to the tool holders. Die changes were literally done in a matter of seconds. If you turned away for a moment you could miss the actual tool changes.

I was most impressed with the range of tooling that was available for this machine. Ben had a number of patterns made for decorative designs that used a circular base with a center pin that allowed a wide range of patterns and guides to be used for embossing applications. All that used this machine all had the same first comment, "once you got used to the low pedal pressure to control the speed (up to 3,000 RPM), the material feeds thru the dies at a very low pressure, making smooth patterns of movement a pleasure".

I do not intend this to be a commercial, but this was a VERY well designed machine made from very low tolerance components and the judicial use of O-rings and air pressure makes this machine a low maintenance piece of equipment. My friend, Jimmy Matthews, who makes the shipping boxes for Peters wheeling machines, owns one of Ben's Mechanners and has extended an invitation to me to stop by and learn to use this piece of equipment. I plan to take him up on his invitation. We both spent extended time under Ben's guidance while at Bill's shop.

A HUGE thank you to Bill Lonyard and his wife for making this a very pleasant and cordial day in the Carolinas. Bills wife is a master chef and both the lunch and the desserts were world class edibles.

The rumor regarding the disappearance of a number of the chocolate chip cookies here in North Carolina, is in NO WAY related to the alleged similar incidences rumored to have occurred in both Minnesota and Tennessee.

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