[TheForge] Tire Hammer

[Ron Childers]

Bruce, 
                                               
If you are interested in what is involved, go to our FABA website and look in the August 2006 CLINKER BREAKER and read my article on the workshop. We built 14. I have built several since then and on one I welded a V-belt pulley inside a section of 3"pipe for the drive pulley. On the last one we made it out of glued & screwed plywood. They both worked fine. It is easier to use a boat trailer stub axel with a hub that fits the donut spare  to mount the crank plate. 

Ron
-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dave Smucker
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2017 9:21 AM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Tire Hammer

Where have you been Bruce -- lots of these have been made since 2005 or so.  I run mine at normal tire pressure - excess slip has never been a problem.  And it is a flat belt type pulley - ever been around old flat belt farm equipment.  This size would be typical of a idler pulley on lots of equipment.  You can call in a drive drum if you want but everyone understands pulley.  Clay was an old farm boy before he was a project engineering manager for NASA.  (As far as I know it was not around at ABANA 98 - that would have been Clay's inline treadle hammer that you might be thinking of. Ray Clontz came up with the original design and Paul Garrett built one of the first units after Ray.  Clay picked up the design from there and added many refinements including a brake that lets you stop the hammer in any position.  One of the hammers great features is that by varying the slip between the drive pulley and the tire you have very good control of the hammer and its rate of strike. 

Dave Smucker
Brasstown, NC

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