[TheForge] In- line hammer

[David E. Smucker]

Lynn,  I assume you are talking about an in-line-treadle-hammer.  I suggest 
right off the top you get a set of plans of the Clay Spencer design.  Clay 
gave this design to ABANA and you can purchase a set for $ 15 plus $ 5 for 
shipping.  They are very much worth the price, very detailed and layout just 
about everything you need to know.  100's of these hammers have been built, 
many in workshops but lots of they one hammer at a time in smiths own shops. 
All you need to built this hammer is a welder, and drill press.  (you could 
get by without the drill press in a pinch, but it really helps to have one.)

Go to http://www.abana.org/    and then to the ABANA store to find the plan 
information.

The typical head on Clay's design is about 75 pounds.  I have never measured 
or calculated the force need to operate, but it is easy to do with your leg. 
Something I would always want is the ability to mount tooling on both the 
anvil side (bottom tooling) and head side (top tooling).  The linkage 
prevents the head from rotating even if the "weight" is round in Clay's 
design.  A square cross section could also be used.  On one of the last 
units Clay himself built he used a square weight and replaced the in-line 
skate wheels with plastic guide material inside of a square guide tube.  (I 
do not think this is shown on the plans.)  This is the type of guide system 
Clay has gone to on the spare tire mechanical power hammers he has been 
leading workshops on as of late.

I have two power hammers and a fly press and I still love my treadle-hammer. 
For the money, (around $400 - $500 buying all the steel new.) it is the best 
tool value dollar for dollar in my shop after a quality anvil.

Dave Smucker
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lynn and Susan Lang" <langfarm at together.net>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 10:26 AM
Subject: [TheForge] In- line hammer


> Hello
>
> Am looking into building an inline hammer and at first look these
> questions come to mind....
>
> What is the usual poundage of the head?
>
> What would be the typical force required by the operator to operate the
> hammer?
>
> If the head is round, what is used to restrict rotation of the head?
>
>
> If you were to build one, what features would you build in?
>
> Thank you
> lynn
>
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