patrick Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Well, I finally got the funds to set up the 500 lb Bradley. I've been working on the rebar cage for the last several weeks and that turned out to be a great opportunity to teach my 7 year old son to weld. I set him up with some 7014 and a auto darkening helmet and let him loose. The cage is done with the anchor bolts welded in place. When I bought the hammer I made a template of the base and have been working from that. For this machine, I'm using 1.25" x 6 foot long all thread. Plain carbon steel since I welded them directly into the rebar cage. The cage itself is two mats of 3/4" rebar 6" on center. These are spaced 5 feet apart. The concrete block itself will be 6 feet wide, 6 feet deep and 11 feet long (15 cubic yards). The cage itself is 5x5x9. The extra length in the pit is just to allow access once the cage is in the pit so we can ship as needed to make it level. Some friends and I dug the pit and set the rebar this afternoon. Concrete will be coming on Monday right after lunch. I'm not sure if I'll set the hammer on the foundation the weekend after Thanksgiving or wait till the following weekend. Either way, I hope to have it up and running by the end of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Looking good can't wait to see another big gun in action! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 The body in the concrete will weaken it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironwolfforgeca Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 NICE shop !! Looks like you have a GOOD hammer collection on the side wall :wub: & nice Lg layout table to ! moveable Cool :) only thing would have done is buy bolts or make my owe I am not an althread person unless its Good Grade #8 then I can sleep LOL remember take wife & kids out of pit before pouring :rolleyes: lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Slide some rubber hose over the all thread to protect it from the concrete splashing on it and having to clean them later. Looking good though and await the final install and running pics/videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 That layout table is set up with the jack stands from a couple of semi trailers. That lets it be mobile, but I can set it down on a stationary base which is bolted to the top. It has a smaller foot print than the jacking legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Rebar mats in this case are way overkill. You aren't likely to bend a 6' thick block of crete. You did at least put them in the right locations at the top and bottom of the slab though. Tape on the all thread will work just as good as tube will. You can use the bottom of the tape as a height indicator as well. Biggest issue with crete this thick will be getting it all nice and flat/level. Been there done that. You won't easily be able to go out on the slab to finish it with it being that thick. To get it thru the rebar easily, it will need to most likely be at least a 5 slump if not wetter. that or you'll need a vibrator to consolidate the pour and get things to flow ( not a bad idea anyways) Rodding 15 yards will kill you. The one large deep pour we did we had them put Super P in the mix on site. They sent it out tight, like a 2 or 3 slump, then the Super P made it close to a 8 or 9 slump and it was pretty much self leveling at that point. About 30 minutes to an hour later, the Super P kicked out and it went back to as if we'd poured it at a 3 slump and we could bull float and fresno the surface to deal with any small irregularities. Adding water will give you the wetter slump, but decrease the compressive strength of the concrete. Also it will cause the pour to bleed badly and make final finishing take forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 The body in the concrete will weaken it. That's probably why there's so much rebar overkill Ric. Not that I'm going to fault a guy for exceeding minimum code, I do all the time. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 This is the third large Bradley foundation I've done. The factory plans do not call for any rebar, but I had them reviewed by our head engineer at work the first time I did this and recommended 3/4" rebar mats 9" on center for my 300 lb machine. Since this is a bigger hammer, I narrowed up the spacing. As for leveling, we'll run a 2x6 board across the floor to screed the foundation even with the floor. We'll smooth and finish as best we can, but I'm not worried about minor imperfections since there will be several inches of wood between the hammer and the concrete. If it is really uneven, I can use several layers of tar paper to help even it up, but I don't think that is going to be an issue. I'll let you know tomorrow. Concrete is coming right after lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpearson Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Will you isolate it from the floor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 I have done foundations with and without floor isolation and I don't see that it makes much difference so I'm not doing that this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I think it will isolate itself if there is a lot of vibration between the floor and the block...Patrick; *7* you are making me feel old now. Teaching them how to weld---how do you expect to keep them in the cage once you do that?I wish you would stop fooling around with those small hammers and just go get a 2000# Chambersburg... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 The hammer is in!!!! I'm soooo excited! It's been sitting in my yard for over a year and half whispering "USE ME, USE ME" every time I walked past it to get to the shop. Well now it's in. Here a few shot of the foundation pour we did on Monday and then setting the hammer in place this morning. It was an extremely tight fit to get the wrecker boom in the door; only made it by a few inches, but it made it. Using the pattern to set the anchor bolt positions was slicker than snail snot. We had to jockey the hammer around a bit with the wrecker and a couple of come-a-longs but once we got everything lined up in dropped on those studs as pretty as pie.I still have to run power to the wall behind the hammer and install the motor. I'm going to mount the motor above and behind the hammer to reduce the impact on my (now) much more limited floor space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Nice clean concrete job! Looks just like the way I would have done it. That hammer is not going anywhere. Pitting the poor people in a hundred years from now who want to remove the concrete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Sweet! Your not messing about, can't wait to see it in action! I have never been able to get mine up to full speed with the stroke all the way open because of my undersized motor. Man I swear that 300 looks just as big as the 500? What did you use behind and under the anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Michael-The reason they look the same is because the 300 is sitting on 10" of timber. The 500 is on about 5.5" of 2x12 planks. There are a couple of thin sheets of plywood, about 5/8" total, serving as shims between the anvil and the frame. Under the anvil is 1.5" thick oak planks. The overall length of the 500 is about a foot longer than the 300. The anvil is MUCH bigger. Remember, the anvil on a 300 lb hammer sits even with the bottom of the hammer while the anvil on the 500 lb hammer sits 4" below the hammer frame. So, the anvil from the 500 lb hammer is siting on 1.5" of wood, the anvil from the 300 lb hammer is on 10" of wood and the top of the sow block on both anvils is nearly the same height off the floor. The concrete turned out fine but it was a bit dicey at the end. We came up about 1/4 yard short. Based on the dimension of the pit we should have been about 1/4 yard over what we needed. To make up the difference we shove a bunch of big chunks of concrete from the floor section we cut out into the pit at the back of the hammer. The foundation is 11 feet long and the rebar cage is only 9 feet long. I left 18" between the back wall of the pit and the rebar to allow access to the rebar so we could get it level. This open space is where we put the floor chunks. Thehammer itself sits forward of this location, so even if those chunks didn't bond the best to the new concrete, I'm not worried about a failure of the foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Beautiful job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Very cool I just joined the big hammer club with a 500Lb Beadury. I set it up quick and dirty no foundation on a rubber pad. But my floor is 11" thick and 70 years old. When things slow up I will put it on a proper foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Have you already posted pictures of the 500 Beadury? If not please share. I'd love to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Welcome to the 1/4 ton club Tim, I'm with Patrick lets see them pics! Patrick, when I built the jackshaft for mine I found there is a sweet spot for the upper pulley position to get the right amount of slip on the belt. You may want to have a bit of wiggle room in the system to get her rolling just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKillgore Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I don't want to go too far off-topic here but I have a question for you guys that have dealt with concrete with superplasticizer in it. I'm getting ready to pour the foundation for my 100lb. LG and I wanted to add Super P to the mix to help it get around the thicket of rebar I have built. The problem is that I'm going to end up with quite a bit of extra concrete from the truck. I've been wanting to build a little sidewalk between the driveway and the shop so I don't have to tromp through the mud to get out to it. I thought maybe I could use the excess and go ahead and form up the sidewalk. My question is this: Will the superplasticizer make it too hard to make a sidewalk out of? It is a little slope up to the shop and I'm just having visions of trying to screed the concrete up and it just oozing right back down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Another thought......leave out the plasticizer....... use that $ to rent a vibrater ....pour the sidewalk as usual.....Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I would go with the vibrator. It is essential when you have lots of rebar in the hole. If you have never used one, it is amazing to see the mix flows almost "magically" into place. If you do use one, just do not over do it. It is real easy to get too much of the aggregate to go to the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielC Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Wouldn't slightly wetter concrete fill the voids and get around the rebar sufficiently without a vibrator? I know more moisture gives you weaker concrete, but it doesn't take much to go from sticky to flowing and not have it soupy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 All commercial jobs that pour around a lot of re-bar use vibrators. You can use a heavier mix and it will amaze you how it will flow, and how fast it happens. I did a cellar floor inside of block walls with a vibrator hanging from the beam. I could get to all of the slab. I did it by myself. The truck shot the mix in, and I spread and leveled it just with the vibrator wand. I am still amazed how they work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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