Power Hammers, Treadle Hammers, Olivers

Well this has been a project that Ive been wanting to do for quite a while now and I'm glad to say it is finally finished. Its inspired from the pictures of a few compact DePew helve hammers i saw pictures of as well as the Hawkeye helve and a few others, as well as some of my own ideas. I was originally going to build a spare tire hammer but couldn't wrangle up the parts, so i looked around the shop at what i had and what space i had to work with. I still intend to build the tire hammer at some point and there are a few parts that i purposely avoided using in this build in order to save them for that project. but the most important parts here were constructed from mostly…

I am making a power hammer and am not sure a wooden frame is up to the task. As I do not have access welder or nor the knowledge of how to use one I have made a frame out of wood. I have enclosed a picture of the design and of my frame (I am not done with it). What do you guys think? I can jump on the frame and it barely moves. As I have never used one before I don't know about the stresses that the hammering puts on the machine.

This is a run down on building my forging hammer and my neighbors forging hammer. Not much was bought for this project, most came from our scrap piles. Cutting the steel for the anvil. Cutting the steel for the column. The anvil columns welded to the bases. My beautiful and charming life long love helping me out. Supports for the anvil and column. Basic hammer platform welded up. You can see the pillow bearings and spring attachment Y Cutting the steel for the hammer. A close up of the off set wheel. This was a cut off from a flat plate. a quick sh…

I've been useing it for about a year now and while it's really nice to have it just doesn't have the control and steady rhythm I've seen on other hammers, mostly air hammers come to think of it. My hammer seems to only have one mode, hit hard and very fast. It's kind of difficult to find the right balance between foot control and how fast the hammer hits, it's hard to hit lightly. What can I do to slow this beast down a little? Besides the ram that is adjustable height I built it following the directions pretty closely. So far I've adjusted the tire pressure down some and it's given me a little more control but not too much. Can you put a variable speed control switch on …

I have finally started building my guided helve hammer. I'm very limited in my funds, so I have to work with what I have. I am not trying to win any beauty contests, I'm just trying to get by until I find a proper hammer. Nothing is welded yet, I think the base is too wide in the current picture.

I wish I could afford a power hammer.

Hi, I've been working on a design of a belt drop hammer, but I'm getting completely befuddled on how to do it best. What type do you guys think is best: steam, air, board or belt. Yes, I have spent several hours looking at power hammer designs (and practically drooling I might add) but I haven't found anything really helpful. Tell me what you think. Regards. drop hammer - Copy.skb

Pimped my power hammer anvil stand today from 60 lbs to 200 lbs. Wondering why the 55 lbs ram cause so little impact on the work piece during forging on the power hammer while the coffee cups are jangle and vibrating in the own kitchen closet ( and neighbours to), despite of filling the anvil with oil sand. Till now ( fortunately not to long) all the energy transfer right in to the smithy foundation instead of the work piece. Finally understood the urgency of a descend contra mass and ratio between ram and anvil. Filled the stand with stainless steel blast grit with a high density and the difference is significant. My air power hammer is an interpretation…

I just picked up this champion no.1 and it has some old repairs to it which leads me to wanting to find the correct original look. From the operating rod to. Rake and tensioner has been fixed up but looks like garbage. Anybody have pictures of an all original no.1? Or where to find a manual ? Thanks p

Hello! We recently acquired an Edsil Barr Power Hammer & wondered if anyone had any info on it. Please let us know! Thanks!

What are the dies on this tire hammer made from? I'm wanting to make one just like it. This was posted by Gobbler Forge and I'm not sure how to pm them. If anyone has measurements and hammer weight that would be great too.

I may have the opportunity to buy a 25# Little Giant in the near future. It was in running condition last I'd heard just a few months ago. I've seen some pictures of it but have not seen it in person, yet. The pictures show that it seems mechanically sound but it is nearly completely covered in heavy black grease and bits of scale. It looks like it would be difficult to determine the true mechanical state of it, any cracks, etc without doing something like a hot power wash to it. Is there any danger of doing so? (besides the danger to the 110v motor attached to it) Thanks!

I have been through the house and shop and can't find my plans for the life of me, which is very irritating as I normally keep all plans and equipment books together. I'll likely find them while looking for something else. Anyway, I'm needing to fab a new wedge for the top die, and while I can certainly figure it out from the old battered up one, I'd like to reference the plans first. Anybody got measurements for it? Thanks Never mind, I found them, figured as soon as I stopped looking I'd find them.

Finally in the last week my anyang 120 arrived and I finished installing it and got to use it a little today. They are nice hammers for sure! I don't have a lot of experience with power hammers but I'm very happy with the control this hammer has. Also dealing with James Johnson over the whole purchase was a pleasure. He answered emails and phone calls promptly and answered my questions patiently even when I hadn't decide for sure if I was going to get one yet. The hammer is setting on an isolated concrete pad 4' x 5' x 7' with 1" insulation to isolate it from the rest of the floor and then reinforced with 1/2" rebar. As you can see in the pictures I took the hammer …

Well it's almost done. I have a few more parts to make and some more welding to do. The column to slide housing will be welded in today and the motor wired. I am making my dies from 4140 to start with. The laser cut patterns I made helped a lot. I am curious, has anyone filled their columns with sand to help with the noise? Any noise reduction would be a bonus. The wife has offered to do the final clean up grinding and painting. Thanks all!

So, has anyone seen or heard of small/mini power hammers being used or made? I'm talking about something in the 5-10lb head range. I know for a lot of stuff it wouldn't be powerful enough but it could be useful for some things

I've been looking at power hammers for a couple years. I've thought about building my own, and I most likely will. However I'm hoping I'll drive by some old farm house and see an old hammer sitting behind a barn. So my question is; what's the lowest price y'all paid for an old "fix-er-upper". I have access to machining equipment, so I'm not worried about getting parts made.

I will start by saying I will have pictures soon, and will edit my post accordingly. A friend of mine is willing to sell me an old "toledo machine and tool" crankshaft stamp press no.1. If anyone has reliable information on them I would love it. I can't find any manuals or diagrams for this machine, as its old enough to use 4" leather drive belts. I want to convert it into a power hammer, for small work like knives and wrought iron. It looks as if I can easily make railroad track dies that can bolt right in, and I could even switch back to the stamp press if I wanted. I don't see any kind of springs in the ram, on the outside, so I'm worried there would be prob…

just pulled the ram out of my no 2 Beaudry hammer, degreased and tool dies out. The number beaudrys are rated to be a 50 pound hammer but when I weighed my ram it came in at 86lb! machine says no.2 on it but thought id weigh the ram and came in at higher than i expected. should have a real wallup when shes mounted and running.

I am curious as to what the majority of smiths today are using. When taking the poll, please only vote for the type of hammer that gets the most attention/use in your shop. This poll only applies to power hammers; not presses, treadle hammers, hand hammers, etc. Thank you

Does anyone have any nifty tooling ideas they would like to share ? Double posting 5 hrs apart will not get replies faster

Hi everyone, I just got a #300 Bradley upright Helve. It's a beast, it's also my first power hammer. (Yeah I know, go big or go home right?) I've been trying to find Pat Nowak, he's the only person that I know of who has this hammer and I'd like to pick his and collectively everyone's brains. I'm currently building the rebar box for the foundation. I'll add pictures. Any suggestions on well anything? The structure is still in its infancy, I plan on adding more rebar a long the vertical sections for support against the pour. I've got what seems like part of the owners manual and I've got the allthread centered to within 1/8" play. I plan on putting…

First run testing of tire hammer I built. Largely based on Spencer and anvilfire pictures and any other photos or information I could find on the web. I wanted to take advantage of everything I could and using a hub assembly off the rear of a front wheel drive vehicle provided a brake system predesigned and fitted. 62 lbs ram weight, 800 lbs in anvil section, approx. 1200 lbs total as it sits (think I need to add a little more anvil weight as the ram came in above what I had planned), 1 hp motor at full rpm would be over 300 BPM but from the video it is obviously running slower than that. Still needing adjustments and tuning but I will wait until a proper guard is in plac…

here's a internet photo of a steam hammer in a railway shop in Argentina during the early 20th century !!

So after reading the Google patent search on Massey hammers Frosty posted in another thread and reading the pages on the Anvilfire home built self contained hammer (look in the Catalog of user built hammers) I have a few questions. As no one in my area has a self contained hammer that I can measure the cylinders on, does anyone know if there is a typical cubic inch of displacement per pound of tup weight? Or to put it another way, does anyone have a hammer that they can measure the cylinders on, something like a Nazel 1b or 2b? (or Massey or Beche or Anyang or Striker or those Russian or Turkish things?) I'm aiming for a 125# hammer. Most of the hammer drawings and pict…