[TheForge] Home built power hammer question

Ron Childers ron at munlaw.net
Mon Mar 7 08:06:08 EST 2011 

Larry's hammer is an air hammer which does a good job but seems to be a
bit more hi tech than the Ray Clontz tire hammer made famous by Clay
Spencer. Clay sells the plans for $30 and if a person has some
mechanical ability and knows how to use a torch and a buzz box it is not
too hard to build. The more stuff you can scrounge the cheaper it is to
build. Clay's tire hammer workshops are also an option.   

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of peter fels
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 2:04 AM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Home built power hammer question

I confess that i'm behind Wesley stylistically here.
I like home made one offs
and like the process of reinventing 
the power hammer with available materials
and a modicum of imagination.
One learns so much more in the process
And it's much funnier.



On Mar 6, 2011, at 8:43 PM, Jerry Smith wrote:

> You may want to look up Larry Zoeler, he has plans for a good hammer.
Kim George 
> here on the list built mine.
> 
> Jerry
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: peter fels <artgawk at thegrid.net>
> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Sun, March 6, 2011 10:43:36 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Home built power hammer question
> 
> I just saw part of a letter that Mark Krause wrote from jail..He's the
guy you 
> need here.
> 
> Hammers of that falling weight generally run at 2 or 3 swats a second.
> A desirable ratio of falling weight to anvil is about 15 to 1.
> You want the anvil mass oriented vertically, directly under the hammer
face.
> The lead weighting in the hammer head may tend to work to absorb
energy from the 
> blow...
> solid steel would be better i think.
> Horizontal layers tend to absorb energy unless welded solid..
> The trick with the linkage is to arrange the rebound from the upstroke
to 
> reinforce the downward acceleration...
> Generally a question of falling weight, harmonics and spring
stiffness.
> That help?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 6, 2011, at 7:11 PM, Wesley Marquart wrote:
> 
>> Its about 100# or so... it's a chunk of 12" dia steel which is 5 1/2"
thick.
>> This is welded to a 3' chunk of 12" I-beam with the I-beam being
bolted to
>> the frame.  There is a little lateral vibration to the anvil but it
is
>> really very little.
>> Tommorrow I will change the mount out for the electric motor and put
on one
>> with a little more 'oomph' and a slightly larger pulley (to increase
the
>> speed...  Maybe that will help!
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
blakkpawss at yahoo.com
>> Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 8:58 PM
>> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Home built power hammer question
>> 
>> One question, how much weight is in the anvil?  If there's not enough
mass
>> there it may not do much work.  Also, if it runs too fast, and
there's not
>> sufficient shock absorption , it will bounce.  That wil transfer
energy from
>> the blow and lessen the work done.
>> Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: "Wesley Marquart" <marquart at arlinn-tower.com>
>> Sender: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>> Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 20:52:28 
>> To: theForge<theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Reply-To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
<theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Subject: [TheForge] Home built power hammer question
>> 
>> Greetings Gentlemen (& Ladies)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I've been working on my own homebuilt power hammer for some time.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Its gone thru a couple of iterations and it does seem to work but its
just
>> not putting enough force into the blows.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The head is a 28 pound lead filled piece of 2"x4" steel tubing.  The
tooling
>> I've made is bolted up to the bottom of the head.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The arms supporting the head are spring loaded to assist them to
returning
>> to the upper position.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The arm is pulled downward by a linkage attached to a steel wheel
which
>> rotates at about 1 RPS.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The linkage is spring loaded to allow the wheel to keep turning when
the
>> tooling stops out on the anvil.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Here is the problem:  even though the hammer does slightly flatten
the
>> heated stock it does not do very much on a heat.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I suspect that the problem is in the rate of the hammer blows.
essentially
>> what is happening (I believe) is that I'm basically just tapping the
metal
>> out because of the slower speed not allowing too much inertial to be
built
>> up.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> If I increase the rotational speed of the wheel that would cause the
hammer
>> head to be traveling downward faster, thus increasing the inertial
power of
>> the strike.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Do any of you think this might help!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks in advance!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Wes/William the Tinker
>> 
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