guided way spring helve hammer questions

[AlanH]

Hard to find new examples of the Guided Way Spring Helve Hammer like the "Rusty" or "Dusty" developed by the Appalachian Blacksmiths Assn. I did find Marks machine at frogvalley.com. His is larger with a long spring but still has just a 6" stroke.

Is this a limit inherent to the power train and basic design? Obviously with a long spring and an adjustable operating rod the position of the ram can be adjusted for different work heights. I would like to see 8" for sheet metal work.
This would be an alternative to a traditional sheet metal helve hammer which pivots the hammer arm.

I am not sure about the controls on one of these. Single taps or anything close? Can they vary power to the hits? Since I can't find much info on these designs it's a mystery if they even have a brake. Most homebrew autobody helves do not have one, but the guru of autobody helve rediscovery (Wray Schelin) has one on his, and it is completely controllable unlike the others. Unfortunately he will not have plans till this summer and he has said that for two years now. So it could be a wait.

I would appreciate any info or links to GWSHHs! Or even good conventional Helve hammer info. I have read Pounding Out the Profits and copied all the spring helve info, but there was not much about operations. The autobody helves vary stroke and power with the eccentric and op-rod placement on the spring, which is separate from the swinging hammer beam.


Thanks,

AlanH