[TheForge] Period power hammer?

[Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer]

The story i'd heard was that they were invented, or at least 
popularized when a great many blacksmiths went trotting off on 
the crusades ( the Arabs still remember) and there was a shortage 
of skilled labor...pf

David E. Smucker wrote:
> Philip,  I may be in error by a 100 years.  Here is a quote from an 
> article I did for the AACB Newsletter back in 2003.
> 
> This past January I had the good fortune to take part in a Treadle 
> Hammer workshop that was held in Birmingham, Alabama.  I have lots to 
> tell you about that workshop but first I want to take some time to look 
> at background on the Treadle Hammer and discuss some of the engineering 
> behind the Clay Spencer In Line Hammers that we built.
> 
> I have heard some folks say that the treadle hammer is a rather modern 
> invention since "blacksmiths used to always have strikers, so why would 
> they need a treadle hammer - labor was cheap you know."  The fact is 
> that treadle hammers have been around since at least the 18th century 
> and most likely a little earlier.  Records show that they were used in 
> the chain making trade in the 1700's in England.  The Royal Navy, 
> British merchant ships and industry were using a great deal of chain in 
> general.  The largest chain tended to be made by men but most of the 
> common size chain was manufactured under sweatshop conditions by women.  
> One of the tools they used was a 25 to 50 pound treadle hammer that they 
> called an "Oliver".   (Named after Oliver "the hammer" Cromwell who led 
> the Parliamentarian victory in the English Civil War 1642-1649.)  Anyone 
> who has tried making chain will see the advantage of having two hands to 
> hold the work while "striking" with your foot.  British chain making was 
> a cutthroat business and even with cheap labor there just were not extra 
> hands.  Work was done as piecework and workers paid directly for their 
> material and fuel out of the wages they received for finished chain.
> 
> The Old Sturbridge Village Blacksmith Shop in Sturbridge, MA has a 
> treadle hammer that dates from around 1830.  It used a "wooden spring", 
> treadle, and had its own custom anvil set very close to the floor."
> 
> 
> 
> So much for using your memory.  But Cromwell was 1600's and the name 
> would have come somewhere close to the English Civil War of 1642 - to 
> 1649.  What I don't have in front of me is my orginal notes and where I 
> got the above information.  Most likely from an internet search.  I do 
> some more looking for that.
> 
> 
> 
> Dave Smucker
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Saint Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
> To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 5:37 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Period power hammer?
> 
> 
>> Dave- do you have some documentation for treadle hammers from about
>> 1600? Inquiring SCAdians need to know ;-)
>>
>> On Jan 2, 2008 3:31 PM, David E. Smucker <davesmucker at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> Consider both a treadle hammer and / or a flypress.  In a one or two 
>>> person
>>> shop you can do almost anything you can do with a small power hammer 
>>> --  only
>>> slower with more heats.  Treadle hammers date from the 1600's and 
>>> were used
>>> in making chain.  Flypress are newer, but at least 200 years old.
>>>
>>> Dave Smucker
>>
>> -- 
>> Saint Phlip
>>
>> Heat it up
>> Hit it hard
>> Repent as necessary.
>>
>> Priorities:
>>
>> It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.
>>
>> .I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
>> notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow
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