[TheForge] Re: Weightless Sledge - Your Feedback Needed

Wed Feb 6 04:04:00 2002

At 11:46 AM 2/5/02, you wrote:

Bruce;
I'm sure interested. "Simple" but original designs are the hardest....may=20
seem simple in retrospect. The ideal would be a hammer that is weightless=20
on the upstroke only. I've thought about an assortment of over head=20
suspension systems  but none of them have seemed worth building......Pete F

>I'm calling on this group for encouragement (or not) on a project I've=20
>started recently and am having some trouble coming up with the enthusiasm=
=20
>to spend time on.  The problem with enthusiasm has little to do with the=20
>merit of the project, and everything to due with other things going on in=
=20
>my life that makes me too busy, too tired, or too unmotivated to spend=20
>time on it.  Please read the following and give me some feedback on=20
>whether you consider this project one you personally will receive with=20
>some enthusiasm - meaning you'll want to run right out and build one for=20
>yourself!
>
>The project is a weightless (sledge) hammer.  Ideally, the result of this=
=20
>project will be a massive (e.g., 16#) hand-held hammer rendered weightless=
=20
>so that one man can swing it one-handed.  I want the hammer to be=20
>"swing-able" in virtually any direction, so that it could be used (almost)=
=20
>as freely as a smaller, hand-held hammer.  There will be no built-in=20
>directional limitations like those of a treadle hammer.  In other words,=20
>you'll be able to grab this hammer, bring it down on work on the top of=20
>the anvil, swing it around and clobber something on the side of the anvil,=
=20
>or even up against the bottom side of the horn or whatever.  (Watch that=20
>your anvil can take a whack from a 16# hammer, though! =AF I almost knocked=
=20
>my poor little Southern Crescent off its stump when I hit it from the=20
>side!)   The catch, of course, is the mass.  You'll never swing a 16#=20
>hammer, even a weightless one, as easily as a 2# hammer.  Still, when it=20
>makes contact it does some >serious< work!
>
>My progress to date is thus:  I've built two prototypes, the second a vast=
=20
>improvement over the first.  I have at least one more improvement in=20
>store.  Using the second prototype, I can swing the hammer up and down and=
=20
>at some limited angles, at about one blow per second, and can keep it up=20
>indefinitely.  I might not be able to improve much upon that speed, but I=
=20
>plan to improve upon the versatility of the hammer and the "feel" of it in=
=20
>your hand.  I plan to make the hammer usable anywhere within a fair=20
>working area (maybe an area of 50 square feet or so), and I plan to make=20
>the whole apparatus portable, so you can move it to a different location=20
>in your shop, or to another shop, with little trouble.  The second=20
>prototype weighs about 200# total, but the next should weigh less than=20
>50#, hammer included.
>
>The disappointing aspect to me is that the project turns out to be too=20
>simple.  I thought I had an engineering challenge on my hands, but it's=20
>becoming so simple that it looks like any competent person is going to be=
=20
>able to build one of these things in two hours time for less than=20
>$50.  Frankly, I'm surprised this thing hasn't been invented already.  (Or=
=20
>has it been and you guys have been holding out on me?)  Because this is=20
>turning out to be so simple, I've abandoned the idea of selling the=20
>plans.  If I ever get my act together on this, I'll send the plans - a few=
=20
>pages at most - to our chapter editor to be published in the newsletter.
>
>I will >not< discuss the mechanism of this hammer in a public forum.  My=20
>reason for this limitation is some of the negative feedback in my earlier=
=20
>discussions of the concept of the Grasshopper Treadle Hammer.  Don't need=
=20
>any more of that crap on a public forum.  If anyone is interested enough=20
>to want to discuss it with me privately, they may email me at=20
>[email protected] (NOT at the address from which I sent this!) and I=20
>will discuss it one-on-one.
>
>(BTW, if anyone doubts my ability to design this weightless sledge, please=
=20
>settle your doubts by visiting=20
>http://www.monmouth.com/~freeman/bmf/grashopr.htm , where I show=20
>a >weightless< treadle hammer.  The weightless sledge is a >lot< simpler=20
>than that!)
>
>Thanks for listening.  Now give me your response!
>
>Bruce
>
>P.S.:  For those not too used to the terminology of physics:  All matter=20
>has mass.  Mass acted upon by gravity equals weight.  A 16# hammer has 16#=
=20
>mass.  On the surface of the earth, we perceive it as "heavy".  In space,=
=20
>it would be weightless.  But weightlessness can be achieved in effect by=20
>artificial means as well.  This could be done, for example, by a see-saw=20
>('teeter-totter' to some of you).  I am using such a means to remove the=20
>effect of gravity upon a 16# hammer.  Turns out there are more ways to get=
=20
>the thing to work than you can shake a stick at, some of them >very<=
 simple.
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