Star 50# hammer Question

[Awalker]

I have a neighbor selling a Star 50 pound trip hammer for $1200. The only problem I see is that the belt pulley, for the wide flat belt drive has a chunk about 1" deep and 3" long taken out of the side. Are these pulleys avaiable to buy or will I needto repair it? Also, how do you convert a wide (3 or 4 inch) belt drive to an electric motor?
Thanks

[ThomasPowers]

You would probably want to braze in a replacement piece.

How do you convert a flat belt drive to a v belt drive? Get a v belt pully for the electric motor and place the v belt on the flat belt pully.

Unless this is a type that uses belt slip as the speed control mechanism then you need a flat belt pully for your electric motor and rig the treadle to take up slack with the new power source location in mind.

[Awalker]

Ahh, I didn't realize that it was that simple. If that is the case then I don't think I would need to fix the pulley as the broken area is not part of the clutch.

[Madmike]

Be carefull of what could happen with an unbalanced pulley if it's a bit heavy and spins fast it could vibrate through the whole hammer or break and throw chunks of cast iron around the shop...
I don't know how big the pulley is, but an advice even if not necessary is always better than a risk...

[jimmy seale]

many years ago,when i worked in a shop, i had to fix a drive pully. floated some brass in it and it was not balanced so, i used a lawnmowed blade balancer to find the high side and ended up brazing a penny on the outher side to balance it. iff thick enough you could drill (not all the way through) a series of holes to remove enough metal to bring into balance,sorry for the long post. hope it helps, jimmy

[Awalker]

Good thoughts on that. I wonder what is the ideal RPM for that pulley. I would imagine it would be somwhere around 200rpm, but that is just a guess on my part. Has anyone seen Star hammers for sale, and is this a good price for one in workable condition, but still needing converted to an electric motor?

[dablacksmith]

I would say YES ... I just bought my 30 lb Macgowan & finigan perfect power hammer for 1500.00 in the same area as you and if i hadn't i would be interested! 1200 is a good price in my opinion... If you get it and decide you don't like it in 6 months let me know .. i will have money again by then

[Awalker]

I picked up the hammer today. A little oil here and there and everything spins nicely. The springs are a little slack, causing the hammer to hit hard even when rotated by hand. I suppose I'll now need to get a book on these type of hammers to help in adjustment and repair. I'll see if I can get a picture of it up on monday.