[TheForge] Re: Another air hammer question

[ries]

Well Mike, there is a simple reason- Do-RE-Mi.
The Kuhns were always expensive, but now, with the euro running at  
about $1.50, they are stunningly so.
Current list price at Centaur, for the 145lb Kuhn, is about $21,000,  
plus freight.
My guess is, however, that if you called and asked, it would be more,  
as they dont have one in stock according to their website, and would  
need to order one from Germany.

So in terms of buying a new hammer, they are running around double  
what the turkish copies or the Chinese Chambersburg Clones are.

The two currently available turkish hammers are both copies of the  
Kuhn- and a lot of people like em just fine. Jymm Hoffman, of Pa.,  
just bought his second Tom Clark Say-Ha, as he liked the first,  
smaller one, so much. He runs two, side by side.
The germans long had a policy of allowing Turkish "guest workers" to  
come and work there, without granting them citizenship, and many went  
home to Turkey and set up companies making copies of what they built  
in Germany. Hence, we have turkish sheet metal rolls, 3 ring angle  
rolls, shears and brakes, ironworkers, and, yes, airhammers. All look  
suspiciously like German models.

Here is the one Brian Russell imports-
http://www.powerhammers.com/

and Tom Clark's-
http://www.tomtongs.com/tools.html

Both bear a strong family resemblance to a Kuhn.

German tools are great- they never stint on quality, and they are  
built like tanks. But they have always demanded top dollar for them.
Also, some people feel the Kuhn design, a fabricated steel box, is  
just not as heavy or ridgid as a cast hammer. So while the Kuhn/Sayha/ 
Sahinler  hammers have their proponents, there are a lot of fans of  
the old two piece cast iron behomoth design- like your Alldays and  
Onions, or the more well known Nazel and Chambersburgs. Since neither  
has been made in nigh on 20 years, the only choice for a new cast  
iron hammer is chinese these days.
There are very few old hammers out here on the west coast, so we have  
led the way in buying chinese- not for lack of patriotism, but just  
because its all we can get.
There is an installed base of probably a couple of hundred Wolf,  
Anyang, and Striker hammers between LA and Vancouver, and a lot of  
years of cumulative experience with them. I have heard rumors of one  
lemon- but I know, personally, at least 25 or 30 daily users of  
these, in 30lb to 250lb sizes, and all find them reliable, friendly,  
and most of all, cheap.

None of us speak disparagingly of Kuhns, most would not kick one out  
of bed- but they seldom come up used, and even then, they are pricy.  
Same thing with Chambersburgs and Nazels- great stuff, if you can get  
one- but out here, Russell Jaque's Nazel 3b just sold for twelve or  
fifteen thousand dollars. So a $9950 Anyang 165lb, which still aint  
cheap, looks good to a lot of people.

Ries



On Oct 15, 2007, at 9:14 PM, Mike Spencer wrote:


Ries write:

> I was just down at the Metals Museum in Memphis for Repair Days, and,
> once in while, they had both hammers running- a Sahliner, which is a
> Brian Russel instead of Tom Clark Turkish Self Contained, and an old,
> small, homely Kuhn.

Why is it the people are going for the Anyang, Sahinler and Big Blu
instead of the Kuhn (formerly Reiter), even speak disparagingly of the
Kuhn?  Kuhn no longer available?  Kuhn shockingly expensive?  Or what?
What's the price of a Kuhn now?

The only air hammer I've had much time with was a Kuhn -- a couple of
different ones -- and I really liked it.


- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
                                                            /V\
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
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Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/