Marc

With a chain, it's got to be gravity. Ever hear the phrase "Can't push a rope"? I suspect it was to allow for different height stock and top tools. He kind of refers to this when talking about a rigid arm. But if you switch to a rigid connection, you would need a good spring linkage (not an internal spring), and for more than allowing height adjustments. So as a gravity device, this is basically a drop hammer, right? Drop hammers are OK, but only if they have some hefty hammers, which this isn't. There's no way this will do 220 BPM. The hammer will slam against the guide once this got to any speed at all, and bounce down, until it just fractures apart. So don't worry about the chain. Once the guide splits apart, that hammer is sailing. I don't get the logic with the misaligned dies, though. I just can't think of any good reason, or even some warped reason, for that one. This really looks like an engineering attempt that didn't get thought all the way through - or even get 10 minutes of Internet cruise time for ideas. And I think his "spec" of being able to handle 4" is just the space between the bottom and top die. So it can handle 4", but not really do anything with it. But, it ended without a sale at $51. If you're local and don't need to ship, you've got a base plate, a support which looks hefty enough, what could be a solid anvil, bearings, and a motor for whatever his reserve price was. And some decent dies and blocks, too. Maybe a good deal for part of a hammer kit.

I use a combination of a few suggestions above: Heat the item on the grill and then spray on Pam, then put back on the grill until it stops smoking. The Pam doesn't really burn off - It changes into a hard film. I think it's called polymerization. Anyway, what's left doesn't go rancid, and the coating lasts for a season or two of weekly grilling. I do the same for my cast iron. But the cast iron last forever, since the cooking "re-seasons" it. Grill tools don't really get that hot for long enough during regular use. But one additional tip - Don't spray over where you might walk or stand. One time I sprayed right in front of the grill. The over-spray made the deck real slippery for a long time. And if you do spray near the grill, close the cover first. Spraying anything next to a flame invites serious flash-ups. And don't wash in soapy water, no dishwasher, and don't use steel wool to clean. Hot water and a Scotch-Brite pad works plenty good enough to get the crud off. On my griddle, I just wipe with a paper towel as soon as I'm done cooking, while the griddle is still hot. It takes just a couple seconds, but the patina gets nice and shiny from whatever oils were left on while cooking.

You've started describing my forge, in different posts. Here's my description of it: Building the new forge Basically, it's mailbox shaped, with a raise-able roof. Two burners are mounted about 2/3 towards the side and angled to hit the floor near center. They are also angled slightly towards each other to keep as much flame inside. I like having the hot spots, myself. But they do angle a little to perform some swirling. I have a movable wall inside to reduce the interior dimensions. I used a couple insulating firebricks glued together and shaped to fit the inside. It's not gasket-tight so that I can slide it in and out easily enough. And I carved a "mousehole" in the bottom of the movable wall to let long items pass through. I have a loose brick in the back to deflect gasses coming out from there. Dragon's breath is bad enough, but the dragon's fart was aiming towards a walking path, and I didn't need anyone getting an unexpected tan just to cross from one side of the garage to the other. I have another loose half-brick in the front for a door. The two burners are set up where the rear burner gets its propane from the front burner's plumbing, through a needle valve. The main needle valve controls both. And since those pictures were taken, I've moved to a new house and am using the 5psi house propane. That required me to put in a blower. That complicated the two-burner setup, since I usually close in the movable wall and use one burner. I currently have a duct tee to drive two dryer vent hoses, one to each burner. For now I just remove the rear hose from the tee and plug the tee up with a rag when I run one burner. I may get more sophisticated some day, but probably not. I used insulating castable refractory for the roof, but would go with wool if I did it again.

Some I know use a big weed burner or roofing torch to pre-heat.

Now that's a proper weld :)

Nice pictures. I think I like the black and white better than color. It seems to show more details. But there aren't enough "sparks" with the hammer blow. There's no way that weld could hold with so few sparks :)

I have difference sizes. A 30-gallon barrel for anything 3ft to maybe 5ft. Longer than that goes back on the rack. Then smaller stuff in a 5-gal pail, and really small stuff in a big coffee can. I'm such a packrat :-)

The other thing about a lighter hammer is when using tools. There's more control with chisels, veiners, etc. But my 30+lb hammer still has enough hit to draw down thicker stock quicker than by hand. But if you're looking to work heavy stuff most of the time, I believe the spare tire power hammer would be the way to go. Lots of scrounge opportunity.

OK, devil's advocate time. But first, I don't own a power hammer. Not for any traditional reasons, however. I just am tight on space and don't really need one. I do use a treadle hammer every chance I get, though. So how about if these amateurs are just trying to get what they want out of their craft? The only ones they're cheating are themselves, and maybe not even that. If the work they produce is satisfactory to themselves and whoever is receiving it, then what's the problem? Hopefully there will always someone with the basic knowledge to hand down to the next generation. And I suspect that will always be true. There will be those who do nothing but forge with coal and hand hammer by the light of lantern. There will always those who do nothing but cut with waterjets, bend with machines, and weld stuff together. And there will always those in between, having a good time making themselves, and probably others, happy. We all have reasons to do the things we do. None of them are greater or lesser than anyone else's, nor do they require justification. Just my opinion, but I don't think taking up this craft, or any other for that matter, should come with a required set responsibilities.

More bending: One thing that's kind of fun is my el-cheapo, Harbor Freight, "compact bender". It's a cheap, loose, copy of a Hossfeld. But for bending the stuff I do, and especially hot, it does a pretty nice job. You've got all sorts of dies to form different sized hooks, or whatever. For long, large, bends, you just feed the stock between the dies and bump the bender handle as you go along.

If you get one of those old adjustable wrenches from the flea market, you can grind the jaws to a half-round. It's now an adjustable scrolling wrench. The reason for using two the same size is to control where the bend happens. For example - You put the piece you want to bend in your vise with about 8" sticking out, all hot. With only one fork, you'll end up bending everything from the fork to the vise. With two, you place them on each end of the section you want to bend, and that's all that gets bent. I mostly use my left fork to hold the piece steady and right fork to bend. For a long, or complex, bend, you just keep working the fork pair up the length of the piece. That probably makes a whole lot more sense in my head than on the page.

The idle circuit is cool, but I find it's just as easy to turn down the flow with a needle valve. Since the idle circuit uses a needle valve as part of the assembly, you end up saving some plumbing and a ball valve. It doesn't take long to figure out a good idle position with the valve. I used the idle circuit on my first forge, but didn't implement it on my current forge. Just fewer fittings to leak :-)

Shorts and sandals make an ouchy time at the forge. I get them all the time on my hands and arms. Pinching a hotty in the crook of my thumb is especially distracting. Almost makes me stop hammering. A couple chest and stomach burns. A few times on my face. But never on my ears. Nope, not the ears.

Stainless source - My transfer station ("The Dump") doesn't normally allow picking from the metal pile, but if I ask nice I can usually get something that's in easy reach. I recently scored a stainless steel sink that will serve for a few flippers. I suppose if I were selling in any quantities, that source wouldn't be the most reliable. But for a hacker, it'll do.

I'm guessing water is the seal. The big barrel is filled up to the vertical opening of the funky U-shaped blow pipe, and the small barrel goes over that straight vertical section. Lifting the small barrel fills it with air through the valves. Lowering it forces the air to escape out the pipe as the water "rises" in the small barrel. Pretty neat design, and would push a barrel-full of air every time.

My favorite dumpster is at a truck repair/spring place. Lots of tie rods, leaf and coil springs, ... I always ask first. One of their employees is their blacksmith, so there's a little empathy there. It's probably a good idea that, when you do ask, you're wearing good, dirty, work boots, gloves, grubby clothes... You want to look like you know what you're doing and won't clobber yourself.

One nice thing - that small-stuff blacksmith I know is Ian Eddy. And I'll plug his site as he's a great guy, Ian Eddy Blacksmith Handwrought Ironworks I spoke with him a couple weeks ago and his business is doing very well. He had some rough times a year or two ago, but is busier now than he's ever been. So it was nice to hear he's doing well. Hope it continues, as that would be good news for the blacksmithing business in general.

I disagree with your disagreement. Seriously, though, I was speaking anecdotally, too. I'm sure regions differ, but up here in New England, I really can think of only two of our members who are earning their livings with smaller stuff. I just thought of one other as I was typing. She does mostly sculpture. And by earning a living, I mean they derive 100% of their income in metalwork. Some even supplement with welding jobs when the blacksmithing is slow, but that is usually railing fabs, or maybe heavy equipment repair. So take that for what it's worth - one small view in our club. And I could easily be mistaken and not know everyone in the area. But all the talk at the meets is from the guys who do the big stuff. Maybe the small stuff guys are just quiet. However, I never get any feel from the big stuff guys that they look down on small work as hobbyist work. They just don't seem to feel they can earn a living at it. The other thing with small stuff, is it's all done kind of "on spec". You spend your days making bunches of the same things and stock an inventory, in the hopes they'll sell. At least that's the way the one guy I know does it. Very different from the architectural work, where everything is commissioned. Maybe the folks I know just don't like that kind of business model. But another reason I don't think there are many small-stuff smiths around here - I think I would have seen a business card, website, or something like that where I could check out a catalog. I only know of that one.

There's a big difference between blacksmiths and mechanics, lawyers, plumbers, ... The general population needs what those folks offer. Most people can't fix their own cars, or really don't want to know how to. Same with plumbing. And the system is written to discourage DIY lawyers. We pay them out of the emergency funds and cry when we fork over a week, or more, of pay. Blacksmiths today make stuff that nobody really needs. A hand-forged fireplace set would surely be nice to have, but the Walmart version will function just as well for long enough. An import candle sconce will last just as long and give as much light as a work of art. This is from disposable funds, and totally a matter of personal taste. A demonstrator at one of our meets, I think it was Walt Scadden, said that, "We make fancy stuff for rich people". I know quite a few professional blacksmiths and only one makes smaller stuff - fireplace tools, sconces, chandeliers. And he's had some very tough times making a living at it. Everyone else is into architectural ironwork. They have some nice custom jobs that are small, but the real income is railings, gates, etc, all going into multi-million-dollar homes, corporate offices, hotel lobbies, ...

I disagree a little that people don't understand the difference between handcrafted and machine-stamped. I think many people do know the difference, but it's just not in the budget. If you're talking about a fireplace poker, or something like that, it just won't break in a year. That ugly thing will last for many years. Maybe not a lifetime, but long enough to make them happy. I know the difference between a Ford Focus and a Porsche 911. The Porsche is worth the money, but it's money I don't have. So does it make sense for Mr. Porsche to get angry with me because I just don't have the money to buy is obviously superior machine? Am I just some unwashed Wally-World shopper who needs to be educated? I see these discussions pop up all the time, with people saying we need to educated the public better. You can sense the frustration and anger. I say it's simple economics and knowing your market. As someone mentioned above, sell to who can afford it. Anger won't make your products better. And selling cheap won't pay the rent.

So much depends on what you plan to do. My choice was to build a treadle hammer first, and maybe some day get or make a power hammer. I mostly use smaller stuff, really 3/4-inch and smaller. Having that third hand for chiseling, cutting, etc. is hugely useful to me. And while it isn't as fast as a power hammer, I've been able to move that size without any problem at all. And for the occasional really big (to me) stuff, it's still a whole lot better than a 3 or 4 lb hand hammer. The biggest I worked is some 1-3/4 round 4140. I upset it about 1/2 inch, squared up one end, and punch and drifted for a hammer. There was a whole lot of time and sweat invested in that, and I know a power hammer would have cut the time to maybe a quarter of what I spent. But for the big stuff (again, big to me), it's not incapable. Just more work. And back, kind of, to the original question - I used Clay Spencer's Inline Treadle Hammer plans that I bought from ABANA. There are some big difference, mostly due to the parts and material I was able to scrounge, but the plans were real useful for the measurements and some building techniques. It's got a footprint of around 12 inches X 20 inches, so not much space at all. Oh yeah, for what it's worth - I have no real plans or desire to get a power hammer any more. I suppose if one were to fall in my lap, I would somehow find room for it. But for my uses, I'm quite happy with the TH. It all depends on what you want to do.

I went with a scissor jack too. My reasoning was: The scissor jack was $1 at a flea market.

Chris, that's cool about having enough parts for both hammers. Some day I'd like to get a tire hammer going. I probably wouldn't use it all that much to start, but you never know. Plus, I really like building tools. I built mine using Clay Spencer's inline treadle hammer plans. I didn't follow them exactly, as I had different stuff scrounged up. You can see some pics and explanations at Blacksmiths Gallery'. There's a bunch of other stuff in there, but the TH pics are easy enough to spot. I also made a few design "improvements". One thing recent change from those pictures is the return spring arrangement. I wanted a quick return and someone suggested using a short spring that only engages at the bottom of the hit. So I shortened the middle spring and connected it with a loose chain. The slack is taken up when the head is about4 - 5 inches from the anvil. That speeds up the turn-around time, and the other springs then are just needed to hold the ram up. Chances are my "improvements" don't add up to too much, but tinkering is just fun. And, for me, it's all about the fun.

I went back and forth for years while scrounging the parts. I settled on the treadle hammer for the reasons mentioned above. Most of my work is small stuff and the power hammer would just sit quietly, pining away, while I worked on that. I bet that I use the TH pretty much every single time I'm in the shop. That third hand is extremely useful for the things I do. And when I do need to draw down something big, the TH is much easier on my bones than the hand hammer. It pales in comparison to what a PH would be able to do, but a foot-powered sledge hammer can move a lot of metal pretty quickly, ..., with a bit more investment in sweat. As Thomas said, though, it all depends... On a related note, start putting together top tools for the new hammer, whatever it turns out to be. I made a couple dies for mine, and only really use the drawing dies once in a while for some serious drawing or spreading. For the most part I leave the flat dies in and use a handled top tool, whether drawing, spreading, flattening, most of the time. Much more flexible, in my opinion.

I mentioned this before, but one of New England Blacksmiths' finer smiths, Lucian Avery, made in interesting statement at one of our meets. He uses his name as his touchmark. The reasoning is, "You can't Google a logo". --Marc