[TheForge] Re: Air hammer anvil height

[Ries Niemi]

On Oct 17, 2005, at 9:16 PM, Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer wrote:

> Is it reasonable to suppose that the smaller the hammer, the higher 
> the dies?.......Pete F
>

Actually, I would think that regardless of the size of the hammer, you 
would want the die height to be the same- It seems like the type of 
work you do might influence the die size, but not the hammer size.
For the average person, its the height you comfortably hold a pair of 
tongs, or a big piece of steel at, that determines die height.
The really big hammers tend to be sunk into the ground, to keep die 
height at that same 36" to 48" height range.
Really big hammers use overhead cranes to support the workpiece, and 
the hammerman just manipulates it, rather than holds the weight, but it 
still needs to be at that mid-body comfortable working range.
I suppose if ALL you do is tiny stuff, 8" square or so, then maybe you 
might put the dies higher, but most people often work with steel bars 
up to 6 or 10 feet long, and its really hard to control those at chest 
height, or knee height.

Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist

http://www.RiesNiemi.com