Power Hammers, Treadle Hammers, Olivers

Hey, I've been away from this forum for several years, I'm not sure if this question has been asked before. I'm in the market for a power hammer I'm not sure where to start. What size hammer would be appropriate, I mostly forge up to 2" 1045 very rarely anything larger. I do some repair work for farm equipment, shoe horses from time to time; and tooling, hammers, axes, knives etc... I'm looking at Anyang #33 or #55, Big Blu 65, and of course a good deal on a used one. I could be thinking to small, but maybe a power hammer is better than no power hammer. I was already going to get one but I decided on a #12 Peddinghaus instead. If the tax man is kind it will be…

Hi folks... After a wayyy too many years hiatus... i'm back in track ! (Perseverance... pays !!!) I'm having a new sow block casted for my hammer, and have 2 options ; either ordinary grey iron or ductile iron. Which one should i pick ??? The hammer is a 55 pounder Oliveras, made in Spain. Circa 1950s... I'm also planing in using Little Giant 2-pc dies... Is that a good idea ??? many thankx...

I am replacing one of the ram rollers on my 5# Beaudry Utility Hammer. I was told to use 2" round D2 for the rollers and a machinist is turning them for me. I only have a gas forge for tempering. I do have access to stainless foil heat treat bags and an infrared temperature gun. The instructions for heat treating D2 may be more specific than I can manage. Do I need to send it out or is this something I can do myself. It is holding the heat for a consistent temperature over an hour that has me concerned. Any suggestions.

[Mod note: the following was originally part of the discussion on the Navy Hammer sell off thread.] Well to my knowledge, one idiot from WV bought the only larger hammer sold, a 3,000 lb Chambersburg, and after almost 5 years of on and off work, I have managed to get it back to life at my rail track shop. We are making some dies, flat for now, and should be forging before we hit the 5 year mark. If anyone is interested I will share more.

I have a 50# Beaudry that gets used every day. The Drive Pulley slides on the Clutch Sleeve to engage the Drive Shaft. The pulley moves back and forth over the same section of the clutch sleeve and it has become worn so it is wobbling enough that is not engaging with the clutch plates smoothly. I would like to build up and turn the two surfaces so that it runs correctly. Does anyone know of the original specs for the parts. Or has anyone dealt with this before. Any help would be appreciate. Thanks.

I know it's a long shot question but I seen a few guys trying to move steam hammers on here in the past. I am looking for original steam hammers. I have live steam for them so I do not want air converted hammers.

Good evening everyone, It has been some time since I've been around these parts, and I'm hoping y'all will be able to provide supplemental knowledge, or let me know how far off I am. I have acquired a near new/very lightly used Runfa 40kg/88lb power hammer (Anyang Clone, also from China) from some friends of mine fairly recently, and will be trying to install it at a community forging space. I recall that the documentation that came with it was pretty scant, and what was translated was done poorly, so even if we find it again, I'm not expecting much help from it. We used the power hammer in another space, and it was great, although mounted to the ava…

It looks like I’m probably purchasing a Beaudry 300 Barbour stock well model. Was wondering if anyone had any resources on the era that Barbour Stockwell purchased Beaudry? There seems to be very little info anywhere that I can find. Thanks!

I know they are different tools with different uses, but in terms of practicality to build would a stationary engine work to build a power hammer? A treadle hammer would act as a much more accurate striker, and it's much easier to build with very good plans, (clay spencer of course) but a power hammer does have a big advantage in doing some heavier forging. is there any power hammer plans which use a stationary engine anywhere or any advice anyone can offer for making one myself? Electric motors here are fairly expensive and I don't have access to power where the hammer would be, hence the engine. Any tips or ideas would be great thank you.

Long story, I got into smithing about 18 years ago, 60 now, and even then my hands and shoulders were in rough shape from years of tree climbing, planting, carpentry and the like. I quickly decided to build a power hammer, and will post some picks from the way back files. A few years later I built a larger hammer. As I'm off grid I my large shop tools are hydraulic run off a pump on a diesel outside. I mentioned in another thread about my spring hammer run off a hydraulic motor. Well the first hammer sat for years, thought about converting it to a treadle hammer, but since I can one hit well with my big hammer I dropped that. A young new smith I know was ju…

Howdy all! With much of the eastern USA in this deep freeze I wanted to take a poll on the forum here and see if anyone feels it may be dangerous/harmful to forge on their mechanical power hammers when the temps get very cold. I have heard of people warming their anvils up or even insulating and heating them overnight and being afraid of breaking the horn off when cold. I have not however heard of these same things with the mechanical hammers. My gut tells me if its been in the 20s-30s, the teens should not be much different to the iron, but just wanted to ask around to see what you all think. Thanks Josh

I just picked up this MacGowan & Finigan 30? lb "Perfect" Power Hammer last week; really excited to get it set up. I found it about 20 miles from my house for 3K, and the guy said I could borrow his gantry crane to get it out of the trailer. I couldn't pass up that offer. It runs, but it needs a good cleaning and a general once-over. I'm definitely going to rewire the motor and replace the switch, and I may replace the motor and belts altogether. The motor mount looks a little thrown together, so I may redo that as well. I can tell the spring arm linkage has been modified, but I don't know yet if I'll try to return it to the original design, or run it as-is. The …

Hello I'm new to the community and hope that I'm not over stepping. But I need help with making Dies for a Champion No. 0 does the entire die need to be tool steel or can the dovetail portion and the plate be mild? Also what about the keys used to wedge the die in the sow block? Hardened ? Are they tapered? Someone please help.

Does anyone know of, or have ANY Manuals , Parts list on Say Mak hammers ? a friend has Tom's old hammer here and it looks like the top compressor cill has a air leak also I think pumping oil out to onto belts, were also going to change out hose's at valve body there tired & cracked LOOKING for ANY Info on these hammers Thanks for the help Steve :)

Hi, I recently purchased a Champion No. 1 power hammer. I am looking for some information about these machines. Especially the weight of the hammer and the overall weight of the machine. I am also interested in hearing opinions on the quality/usability of these machines. Thanks Dan

I was going to build a whole new hammer, but I decided to convert my mechanical hammer instead. I'm using a timer relay and a solenoid valve to control the hammer. It's actually a pretty simple setup and a flexible way to accomplish what I need. I've been working on this project for the last month or so, trying to learn about pneumatic parts and how they all work together. I knew very little before I started, but found it interesting once the picture became a bit clearer. What I came up with is basic enough to convert most mechanical hammers to pneumatic. I started off by stripping the hammer down to bare bones. I removed the motor and mounts, as well as the cam…

Howdy folks, I recently bought a williams white and co. mechanical power hammer. It is a 90lb ram mechanical hammer with a total weight around 4200lbs. I have seen the little giant foundation plans and have heard before some say they are WAY overkill. Some say they were designed for the worst case situation, like soft sandy soil or wet conditions. In any case, the little Giant plans calls for 36" deep pad a little larger than the hammer footprint. I would like to ask for a kind of vote or opinion from folks here on the forum. I dont want the hammer to be unstable but dont want to just waste money needlessly or do much more foundation work than needed. …

Hi I am Rocken Mike I started forging my own knifes and blades last year and I have been having a great time doing it. I have looked for power hammers and all are too big or too expensive so I checked out a few You Tube videos and built my own It works better than I was hoping for. My biggest expense was the treated 6 X 6 post I used for construction it took 2 8' X 6" X 6" treated post. Anybody with a little skill and a welder and a circular saw and a drill can build this cheep. I got the bearing from a local motor repair shop and the pillow block bearings same place. The recoil spring is from a set of porch swing springs the rest was from my shop. …

Interesting take on a treadle hammer. https://youtu.be/BL9vCX74LDA?si=Z3d1lvqt24auZkTk

I offered to buy but then back out becuase it's three phase. Any ideas what it is? It is 150 lbs and runs. Thats about all i know

I followed Joshua Delisle for a few years, really liked his air powered treadle hammer that evolved into a real power hammer, and bought his plans. The only problem with his design: the cost of a twenty foot section of 4" solid round bar, how to get it home, how to move it, how to cut it, and how to weld it. Other than that, no problems. I'm loosely following his design, but am using easily acquired materials, e.g., 3/4" x 3" and 3/4" x 4" flat bar, and 4" x 4" x 1/4" square tubing. Take a look at hammer head assembly. I'm not using skateboard wheels, rather, a steel guide. It's the last picture. I'll basically fabricate a guide channel that will hold the 3/4"…

I have a 1 horse motor 3450 rpm ( I am going to get a 1750hp one soon). My problem is the hammer gets stuck when the pulley gets too the up on the hammer. I’m wondering if I need a larger pulley or if it is just the resting position of the hammer. Am I way off. I’m aiming for about 2” at resting position. The tax weld broke on the shaft but would be at 2” if welded in picture

The 1915 Beaudry No.6 is progressing slowly. The broken cheek for the bronze guide is bolted on and reinforced with a heavy welded gusset back to the frame (removed for the picture) and the previous electrification with homemade clutch is removed. Now the big choices 1) How to build the jackshaft tower and shafting/pulleys arrangement for the 17 inch flywheel 2) What belting/motor/speed reduction to aim for 200bpm (less than the factory suggested 275) 3) Design and make a new idler and idler/treadle connection 4) The the big looming question I am still scratching my head on is how I am mounting the hammer... For many reasons I do not want to permanent…

I'm assuming it uses a 5-way / 2-position bi-directional dual pilot valve to control the double-acting cylinder. Right? The pilot signals come from two 5-way / 2-positon roller lever valves, one for "up" and one for "down." Right? You can see the roller lever valve to the left in the pictures and videos is slightly lower and has two ports plugged. If you study the diagram, it looks like a solution to my problem with the 2-way / 2-position roller lever valves I'm currently using my DKE66. The 5/2 with ports A and R plugged allows the valve to exhaust to atmosphere when the other 5/2 roller lever valve sends the spool in the 5/2 dual pilot valve to the other s…

Hi All, Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I’m considering a tire hammer or maybe a single blow hammer for my small garage shop. Does anyone have these on skids? If so, what does that look like? I’m not sure if I’ll be able to reinforce my slab, so I’m looking for alternatives. Thanks!