twcoffey

You should investigate electronic inverters that will provide 3-phase from single phase and give many bonus features. The insulation in some older motors will not tolerate the voltage switching spikes normal with inverters and you may have to replace the motor with a inverter compatable motor. a 7.5HP inverter should be your starting point. Check with http://www.automationdirect.com

Your biggest problems is the 7" diameter outlet on the hood and the reduction of the 10" pipe at the top. You should have at least 10" diameter opening all the way otherwise you will need blower forced draft setup that is more expensive than necessary.

Don't forget a guard over the spring. Ted

I am a righty and I like the horn to the right for two reasons. 1. Don't have to worry about hitting my knuckles on something in the hardy hole like others have said here. 2. When working something on the horn it is more convienent to hold the piece in the left hand and work around the horn with the right held hammer. It makes sense to have he horn to the left if you are left handed for the same reasons.

I described some changes when I was building mine last winter. See the following thread. Ted

If you press to the max the highest acceleration of the head will be achieved and therefore max force. Ted

There are some confusing results in the data so far and I think head acceleration may be the explanation. If all test power hammers were drop hammers then the comparisons would be consistent because they would all be operating at the same head acceleration of 32.2 ft/sec/sec(gravity). Force = Mass x acceleration. In the case of mechanical hammers tuning by adjusting the spring or linkages can greatly alter the Force or impact of the head because it changes the acceleration some call it "slap". In the case of air hammers air pressure and air flow rates will control greatly affect the acceleration. A lighter head at a higher acceleration could possibly deliver more force than a heaver head with lower acceleration. Ted

If you can get to a small shop and watch them use a small(around 50 lbs) power hammer a lot concerns you express will be put to rest. Without seeing it happen it is difficult to describe. Ted

I asked A tractor repairman about using a log splitter on a tractor and he told me that he gets lots of work replacing hydraulic pumps on tractors from people who think they can load a tractor pump at max for extended periods. The Tractor pump is not designed for the kind of duty cycle required for press like applications.

I have an old Black Angus toaster oven in the shop. I use it for tempering anything from a knives and chisels to power hammer dies. I check temperature with an IR fluke thermometer.

your scheme with concrete will not please you. You need solid steel anvil at the minimum of 5 times the weight of your hammer head. More anvil weight like 10 times is better but must be resilient steel to be effective. Picture the anvil as hitting back from the bottom as you hammer down from the top. Ted

The larger the better. Since a forge draft draws in a lot of room air almost any stove pipe is fine as the temperatures are relatively low compared to a stove.

A piece of lead sheet under the track will kill the ring

On the tire hammer I use Clay Spencer's recommendation of Slick 50 for the hammer slides. On the rest of the hammer 30 weight non-detergent and Moly grease for the zerk fittings. Ted

If you have a slow wood burning stove(called a slow burner) for heat you can use it when the heating needs of the house and whatever are low during mild winter days to make charcoal. Burn hardwood in the stove until the wood is nice and red then cut off the air. Next morning remove the charcoal. No EPA regulation on this approach. Ted

All you need is a piece of 1/4" steel plate as a table with your forge set into a hole in the plate. Put some legs on it and your done. No Masonry required. The only high heat is in your fire pot and although the table will heat up it will be well below 300 degrees F. Ted

I think that something like 80W transmission oil would be about right. If the oil is too thin then it will leak. Remember these blowers were built in an era of low-tech. I have one like the one shown and oil is not that critical because you can never get it up to speed for very long. Ted

After using a good deep vein(called Black Magic) bituminous coal from Western Maryland for many years and also some anthracite from PA, I recently bought about a ton(in 50 lb bags) of WV Pocahontas vein coal from Penn Keystone in Claysburg, PA. This coal is the best I have ever used with virtually no clinkers insignificant "green" smoke at start up and excellent coking and caving properties. It is worth the extra cost to me. Anthracite has high heat capacity and is good for heating heavy sections of iron and casting applications but fire needs continued air to stay alive. This coal takes a toll on your cast iron forge more so than bituminous because of the hotter fire. I have used homemade hardwood charcoal. Charcoal gives a clean and near smokeless fire and works great but it consumes too fast to be able to sustain(you have to tend the fire frequently) a good fire. If you have close neighbors they will appreciate the charcoal over coal. All my neighbors are more than 1/4 mile up wind so it doesn't matter here. Ted

I put together an electric forge blower by taking blower cage and impeller off of a manual Champion #400 and mounted it on an electric motor. I added an ajustable plate over the air intake to control the blast. Try ebay for forge blowers (manual or electric). Ted

An outhouse today would be considered by most counties as a septic system and would normally require a tank and distribution field and applications and inspection. Very few counties would allow the old conventional outhouse. I have an old outhouse on the property from the 1950s that hasn't been used since the 1980s. At another location on the property there is an indoor toilet that uses two buried 55 gallon drums as a septic system with no drain field for a summer type cottage(very little usage). This system was put in in the 1950s and is covered by the grandfather clause.

Peddinghaus 1000 g and 1500 g Swedish Pattern Hammers are my preference. Ted

Did anyone notice how he used a dab of water to test the temper draw? I assume that the speed of water evaporation indicates to him the correct draw. Does anyone here use this technique? Ted

Grant and others, I apologize for making such an inappropriate comment. I think generally we are in agreement. Ted

The sideways movement of the hammer indicates that the rotating components are are out of balance. The hammer head has nothing to do with the hammer dancing problem. If you don't believe this then I can only suggest that you experiment with different counter weights. I have done this and in my case the counter weights ended up as 11.5 lbs as opposed to thw 7.85 lbs of the design. In you case another value may work. The proof is in the pudding. My Tire Hammer does not have any sideways movement were with 7.85 bs it jumped all over the place. Case closed. Ted

It will dance if its not balanced. If balance does not matter, why is there a counter balance? Try removing the counter balance weight an see what happens. The hammer as designed has an arbitrary counter balance which may not work for all "as built" configurations. If you want a smooth running hammer you need to static balance. Definition of static balance for the tire hammer: With the hammer head disconnected from the toggle arms the tire and the assembly should stay in the same position no matter were you turn it(with the brake off, of course). Ted