[TheForge] Re: But how fast does the Alldays & Onions go?

[ries]

Most hammer designs go back pretty far.

The whole mechanical linkage, LG style,  with either a flywheel or a  
helve, easily dates back to before 1900- helves, more like before 1500.

Utility hammers, which is what a Kinyon style is, also date back to  
before 1900, although back then they were run on steam. Now we use  
compressed air, but the design hasnt changed in principle.

Self contained air hammers are probably traceable back to right around  
1900.

Thems the three main designs of hammer, to this day.

The most recent iterations are probably Grant's Kick Ass, which is  
basically a utility hammer, just kinda turned inside out and upside  
down.
He started making those in 1995, I believe.

Then we have a bunch of relatively small, low production utility  
hammers, like the Big Blu, Phoenix, or Iron Kiss. To avoid castings  
and big machining cost, they use off the shelf components, and small  
shop fabricated frames. They are inherently limited in size by these  
two factors- I have never seen one bigger than right around 150lbs.

The Kuhns are a fabricated, rather than cast, self contained hammer.  
Mechanism wise, they are no different from a 1914 Beche, which was the  
original self contained, from which the Nazel descended. My guess is  
the Kuhn hammers were first made in the mid 60's- Kuhn was founded in  
62.
We also have at least two brands of Turkish made copies of Kuhns- but  
again, in design, they are very similar to those hundred year old  
Beche's.

So while some individual hammers are newer than others, there has been  
no real updating of design principles for probably 50 to 75 years. The  
concept of a pressurized gas, be it air or steam, making a piston go  
up and down, is as old as the hills.

As I mentioned, the current crop of "new" chinese hammers is pre  
second world war in design, manufacture, and operation. No CNC, no  
PLC's, just big hunks of cast iron and a motor connected with rubber  
belts.
I am not sure if the bigger Chinese hammers use a direct drive gear  
system like the bigger chambersburgs, but I would guess they do- I  
have never seen one bigger than a 250lb in the flesh, and at that  
size, they still use belts to drive them.
My guess is that if you ordered a brand new, shiny clean Anyang 400kg  
hammer, it would be very, very similar to your Alldays and Onions in  
just about every way.





Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/