petere76 Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Gents, Does anyone have any working experience with the KA hammer. I am looking to buy my first power hammer and the KA has some attractive features, i.e. price and space requirement. I am seeking some independent feed back on performance or operational problems that you have experienced. My work load is not at production level and I would like to be able to work larger dimesnion stock. Thanks, Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I have no personal experience but know guys who own and use KA hammers. So, consider this hearsay testimony. The KA is a striking hammer and doesn't cycle like "normal" power hammers. One blow per step on the treadle, it'll go as fast as you can tap your foot but it's not the same thing. Guys have modified them for cyclic operation but it's not what they're designed for. One cylinder strikes, the other raises the tup back up. At high speed, faster than Greg Hines can tap his toes and the asymmetric forces cause excess wear. They're a fine, nearly unbeatable piece of equipment for what they're designed to do and make a good go of what they were not designed to do. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Jim Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 A smith in my neighborhood has one and loves it. I haven't worked with it though. He does a lot of ornamental stamping with dies. Though he did pick up a fly press a while back, so I don't know if that is seeing more use then the hammer.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skunkriv Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Frosty's last line sums it up very well. I have used them some, including quite a bit of time in a class at Bob Bergman's shop where they are made (we were using large air hammers most of the time.) I have a friend who has made over 700 hammers on his, may be 800 by now. He swears by his. Another friend has had his maybe 12-15 yrs...no problems. I wouldn't trade any of my power hammers for one but if I did have a KA it would get used, a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petere76 Posted June 20, 2008 Author Share Posted June 20, 2008 Gents, Thanks for your time and input; the search continues. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Gomez Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I love my KA-75, it is an amazing little powerhouse, but you have to think of it more as a pneumatic treadle hammer. It basically performs all of the tasks that a striker would, but it hits much harder. I thought that I would sell mine off when I got my Big Blu but no way! Nothing works like the KA. It delivers single blows that range from a love tap, to hits that make your teeth rattle, and the dies are huge by comparison to my other hammers. Another good thing about it is its size and weight. Small enough to fit into the tighest spaces and light enough for 1 person to drag around if you had to. All of this makes the KA my go to machine for using most power hammer hand tooling. Throw in a set of insert dies and it is a texturing dream, I use mine to texture stock for vines and also to pound patterns into Damascus billets regularly. But the KA dose not measure up to a traditional power hammer for moving metal. Like skunkriv said, Frosty's last line does sum it up very well. If you are interested there is some more info on the KA-75 in the power hammer forum. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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