:blink:

Congratulations. Enjoyed the video and as I watched it looked to me like the drive mechanism particularly shows off a lot of local problem solving/thought went in to its construction. I like that individuality in builds.

Have you struck hot metal with it?

…I had trialed my PH with a piece of aluminum (something I had seen on the web as evidence of how hard a hammer was hitting)…I didn’t have experience to correlate or predict what that was telling me. (but it smashed it well and was sort of fun).

But it was later using hot steel when I was delighted with how it hit. That’s why I ask that looks in the video like wood being used for a test (makes sense rather than witness/scar the anvil )…have you done that before or have you been able to try out on a heated work piece? [or maybe I am imagining that to be a piece of wood ]

Looks great!!

Cool hammer very creative.

Oh, this little gem of a helve hammer ain't mine but I was just so intrigued by it when I found it on you-tube. This young man sure has an inventive side to his mind and I have watched this thing about two dozen times. It is so fun to watch!
he's got a second video up now.

That's a great mock-up for a proper one. I'm not very keen on carpentry (too many new ways of messing it up or hurting oneself) but I bet it's an easier and cheaper way to experiment with angles, lengths etc. The rubber pad on the treadle is a terrific idea for a brake.

Sam, That's what I was a thinking. I can come across a fair amount of scrap lumber from my neighbor for nothing but I can't come across scrap steel nothing, next to nothing, but not totally free and it is heavier than wood. I still like this young man's little hammer where he is using bicycle parts, that's kind of neat. B)

It looks like the bicycle wheel wasn't up to the job; in the second vid he's replaced the spokes.

I noticed that too, must have been on the light side for that kind of work.

He also added a support for the axle on the outside for the bicycle wheel that wasn't there in the first video.
This gives me ideas...hmmm......?

He also added a support for the axle on the outside for the bicycle wheel that wasn't there in the first video.
This gives me ideas...hmmm......?

If you find this interesting then you`ll love the helve hammer ideas on AllMetalShaping.
There`s a long thread there on a wood framed helve hammer for sheet metal work but it uses the wheel/clutch drive approach of a tire hammer and the earlier pics show some interesting approaches to adding weight to the hammer end.
The guy who built it is an engineer but don`t hold that against him. ;)

There are a lot of small helve type hammers over a http://www.metalmeet.com too. They have a lot of sheet metal type of helve hammers for automotive work. I found some ideas for a friend of mine that wanted to make armour and didn't want to do all the pounding by hand. He also built a pneumatic planishing hammer from some of their ideas and an English wheel to make his armour smoother too. He has a disdain for hand work if there is a machine that can do the work. <_<

I'm the chap responsible for this... Thing. Glad you all appreciate it, it's been a lot of fun building it and experimenting. The original axle was formed from bicycle bearings welded together at the shafts... It was fine for it's first incarnation, but when I obtained a much larger motor the shaft and bicycle wheel were basically torn appart (A terrifying moment.) So I forged a new axle from a small car axle, and fabricated a new drive wheel from scrap laying about...

Unfortunately, last week the spring linkage decided to crack (Despite being from a large truck, with the original temper) so I'm not toying with the idea of a more complex but resiliant linkage... Anyway, I mannaged to get a video of me working some metal with it minutes before the spring went, which is now up on my channel. Enjoy!

Very cool! Thanks for sharing that. Here's a video of one I made years ago that works pretty similar. I did find using two springs worked better for me.

Thanks for the links and ideas guys, love the use of the old engine, excellent improvisation! I'm going to rebuild the whole frame from steel, and will probably implement the double spring idea... Also got my hands on a hefty cast iron flywheel to replace the spoked wheel, and I'm looking for an even more solid crank shaft. Will be my project in January where I've got myself a month free