[TheForge] Treadle Hammer History - Bruce Freeman (Long)

Thu Oct 30 09:20:01 2003

I have a pix that I have scanned out of an old book of an oliver hammer.
Could someone contact me off list and tell me how to get it uploaded to =
the
web location?  I have never done this, and am clueless<G>.

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] =
[mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of David E. Smucker
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 7:45 PM
To: AAA TheForge AAA
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: [TheForge] Treadle Hammer History - Bruce Freeman (Long)

This post is directed to Bruce Freeman, but I thought other of you here =
on
TheForge might be interested and some might also have more information /
history for me.

I recently did an article for our newsletter (Appalachian Area Chapter =
of
Blacksmiths Newsletter) on a Clay Spencer Treadle Hammer Workshop.  For =
this
article, I had done some research on the history of treadle hammers
including using some information supplied by Bruce on his website.  The
earliest treadle hammers I learn about were the "Oliver" hammers used in =
the
1700's for chain making in England.  Women under sweatshop conditions =
made
most chain and they used a treadle hammer to help them in this =
production.
It was called an Oliver - after Oliver "the hammer" Cromwell who led the
Parliamentarian victory in the English Civil War 1642 - 1649.  I also
learned that Old Sturbridge Village Blacksmith Shop in Sturbridge, MA =
has a
treadle hammer that dates from around 1830.  It used a "wooden spring" =
and
had it own custom anvil set very close to the floor.

Then we came to the more current era - with my understanding that the =
first
"modern" treadle hammer was the Gade - Marx swing arm design that became =
the
early ABANA design.  From Clay I knew that he built one of these hammers =
in
the mid 1980's and I have assumed that the Gade - Marx design predated =
this
by only a few years at most with the formation of ABANA in 1976.

Then last night I was reading (rereading) the Otto Schmirler book Werk =
und
Werkzeug de Kunstschmieds.  (I can look at the pictures).  There on page =
99
and 100 was a treadle hammer that was the design on which the Gade - =
Marx
design was based.  This takes nothing away from the Gade - Marx design, =
most
designs evolve over time and that is how really good designs are made.  =
(I
worked with rolling mill designs for 30 plus years, and they are based =
on
200 years of evolving design.)  In fact while I really like my Clay =
Spencer
In Line Treadle Hammer, I find the simple Gade - Marx design to be very =
good
and in some ways better that Clay's revisions prior to the In Line =
design.
The Fusstritthammer (footboard hammer or kick hammer) shown in Otto
Schmirler's book predates 1980 when the book was first published.  I =
don't
know by how much.  It is interesting that the return spring is a =
compression
spring rather than a tension spring as in the Gade - Marx and Spencer
designs and because it is very long (in a tube with a guide bar) an =
almost
constant force spring.

Anyone have anymore of this history?

Dave Smucker
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