[TheForge] Video of Kinyon hammer

[Todd Rich]

On Mon, 7 Jul 2008, Mark and Sylvia Mondloch wrote:

> Nice Job Todd.Couldn't tell from the photos, did you use an alignment coupler 
> between the ram and the cylinder? When I built my first hammer I thought I 
> had every thing lined up perfect but after a few weeks the cylinder was 
> trash. It puts side pressure on the plate in the cylinder where you can't see 
> it. Mine wore the end seal and than the internal endplate cut into the 
> cylinder wall. Put an alignment coupler in between and it's been running 
> great for 8 years.Mark
> mondloch at silvercreekpottery.com
> www.silvercreekpottery.com

Well, I wasn't aware of alignment couplers until I pretty much had it all 
put together.  I can add one, but I'll need to cut out the vertical height 
it takes up out of the ram.  I'm not sure yet if I'm going to do that. 
However the way I have it set up now with the bearing plates of UHMW, they 
are adjusted up to the ram when it is hanging free, so I don't think I've 
got all that much lateral pressure on it.

I'll probably wait until I get back from vacation to decide if I'm going 
to put in the coupler. (2 1/2 weeks until I go, and I'm trying to get 
enough product done to sell on vacation.)

 			Todd