[TheForge] Treadle Hammer Springs

[Marc]

I used Clay Spencer's plans as a basis for TH and used his spring
concept. Basically, they're half-springs from a garage door. You heat
the center with a torch until you can fold the spring in half, then cut
it and make a hook with each cut end. My hammer has three of these
half-springs, and they're constantly under tension.

One difference I made was to go with a lighter hammer head, only about
35 lbs., and the three springs would normally be used for a 70-lb'er.
But I wanted to get a quick return that way and get a higher rate of
blows per minute. It's also easier to control light blows for things
like veining leaves. I don't usually work anything heavier than 3/4", so
I don't need a real big mass. This thing will draw out a 5/8" RR spike
just fine. Much, much easier than by hand.

--Marc

On Sat, 2007-03-17 at 19:28 -0700, Bruce Freeman wrote:

> 
> If a spring doesn't have an initial tension, this is
> not an issue.  That is my guess as to why some people
> prefer small springs to garage-door springs.
> 
> Bruce
> NJ
> 
> 
> --- xlch58 at swbell.net wrote:
> 
> > Steve Smith wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Bruce Freeman wrote:
> > >
> > >> Rumor has it that multiple small springs are
> > better
> > >> than one large spring, and you see some treadle
> > >> hammers so constructed.  I haven't given this
> > enough
> > >> though to explain why this should be true.