[TheForge] air hammer

[sos at frii.com]

I went from a 25 pound LG to a 50kg Sahliner. I don't have experience on
other styles of hammer (other than an hour or two). There's no comparison
between the self contained and a small LG; I can do much better work (much
better control) with the air hammer.

I don't know about retrofitting an LG with an air cylinder. I suspect
there may be some extra issues involved. Maybe people who have made a
Kinyon type will speak up.

Steve

> Steve,
> You make a point about which I wondered. Is a self contained that much
> better for a small smith compared to say the mechanical hammers you
> mention. Also, can a Kinyon style hammer deliver adequate power for a lot
> less $. I have not worked 4in or 3 in. bars and wont likely do so in the
> future. As I suspected, a Nazel is ultra nice but hard to justify  for a
> small smith.Any comments on say a big Blu hammer?
> I have a LG 50 lb. hammer laying in the weeds. Would it make sense to put
> a cylinder on it and run it Kinyon style off my 7 hp compressor? Is there
> much advantage in Kinyon style over keeping it mechanical?
> Thanks to Ries and others for their comments.
> Bob
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Steve howell
>   To: theforge
>   Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 9:06 PM
>   Subject: [TheForge] air hammer
>
>
>   >I know Steve Howell
>   >spent something like 2 years, and many thousands of dollars,
>   >rebuilding his Nazel- maybe he will chime in- but it wasnt cheap, and
>   >it wasnt easy.
>
>   True, Ries. Try 8 years.
>   Total waste of time in hindsight. The guy I sold it to spent 1800$
> getting it back to Bob Bergman who told him the same thing I did. A new
> forged ram to replaced the cracked one, Bob apparently quoted 2500$ for.
> That's pretty darn reasonable. I was going to make one from a piece of
> 13" solid round, but having already put a fortune into it, pulled the
> plug.  I'm way more impressed with the hydraulic press I picked up for
> 400$ from Pacific Industrial. I did the Batson thing with it- log
> splitter pump, etc. and with a 3 hp motor, does in one stroke what it
> took the 3B three or more strokes. Granted- it's not glamorous but it
> doesn't need the infrastructure, either. FYI, I did have 5 yards under
> the 3B when it was running. Cost for that was beer and pizza for 15
> friends, a haphazard rebar cage and $500 for concrete. A year later the
> place was a sports bar! I have to grin when I hear of owners remodeling
> buildings that have housed smiths and trying to jackhammer all those
> gnarly foundations. Hee!!
>
>   Currently, I'm running a pristine 1998 KB-1 Kuhn I picked up in 2003.
> These are supposedly the only Kuhn's worth their weight before they went
> to the 'CF' series. It is rated at 75 lbs however, I've put my Varnamo
> shaper to work and made some beefy new flat dies for it that probably
> added 20 lbs between the top and bottom die. The hammer does have a
> little more lope to it but now hits closer to an 88. The factory dies
> for the Kuhn's are the size of a 25 lb little giant's, so it was a
> natural progression.
>   Despite all that I still don't think it could compete with the 100 lb.
> Kinyon I made back in '98. That hammer hit a better single blow than
> anything I've ever used. I sold it at a loss thinking 'manufactured' was
> better. The reliability thing looms large if you're not into tinkering
> all the time. For me the original Kinyon guides were the only downside
> of his design. I see people are now using the tube in tube ram design
> with great success. If I were to do it again I would dovetail the ram
> and guides and possibly go with a bigger (125- 150 lb) design.
>
>   Or- I seem to have caught a slight fever for a Bradley compact or
> Beaudry Champion. Anyone here selling?
>   Steve Howell
>   Seattle
>
>
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