Hi
At our Heritage Railway site it has come time to install our Blacksmiths Hammer so that we can swage down boiler tubes.
The hammer is a two piece machine that stands approximately 94 inches tall while the base on the hammer side is 63 inches X 32 inches square with six 1,1/4 inch Hold down holes.
The Anvil fits into an octagonal hole in the frame of the hammer, it stands 40 inches tall X 18 X 18 inches with two 1,1/4 inch hold down bolt holes.
We have a solid block of Tasmanian Eucalypt hardwood approximately 32 x 32 x 32 inch which we buried for about 8 years to avoid it drying out too quickly and splitting. Would I need to brace this block with steel strapping.
I need to find out as much as possible about foundations required for this machine. The soil appears to be reactive clay i.e. while its wet its fine but if it dries out it shrinks.
We have a site for the hammer that needs to be dug out so how far down do I go, I was thinking go as far as the excavator arm will dig, put down a layer of geo-textile, compact in a good thickness of crusher dust, pour a thick slab of high strength reinforced concrete up with 4 spigots to locate the wooden block on, Between the wooden block and the concrete a sheet of conveyor belting. Now how do I put good sized holding down bolts through a large lump of wood to hold down the Anvil?
Between the Anvil and the block of wood, another piece of conveyor belting.
Does the main body of the hammer have to be on as thick a slab of concrete, do I put a sheet of conveyor belt under and tighten down?