Mainely,Bob

New(to me),self contained hydraulic,adjustable for height(and tilt) work table with locking casters.
The local hospital was throwing away a surgical table from the OR.Couldn`t load that baby up fast enough.Took some cutting(IV racks and other un-needed stuff)and rewiring to eliminate all but the foot controls but I now have the coolest work table in town.
Also scored a self contained hydraulic lift that is going to become a motorcycle lift as soon as I figure out how to properly attach it to the rolling base from the exercise machine that the physical therapy department threw out.
I love the hospital,as long as me and mine are not patients. :)

Easy enough to do.
Build a fire around the anvil on the ledge next to the cove.
When hot enough(try to time it for high tide,that`s important)take one of the tree trunks you dragged up for the fire and push the anvil off the ledge and into the cove.
Wait for low tide and get the clammers to help you drag it back to the shop.

Any other high tech problems I can help you guys with? B)

Oh go ahead and bash engineers.
They`re right up there, one step behind the lawyers aren`t they?

Don`t get me started on engineer stories.

Maybe I`m seeing thing wrongly here but aren`t you 2 talking about 2 different things?

One is talking about raising the stroke to allow tooling under the tup while keeping essentially the same stroke.
The other is talking about raising the start point which will also lengthen the stroke.

Seems to me what`s important is velocity of the tup.Longer stroke=more time to accelerate=more velocity at the strike.
I touched on this in another thread about tup connection but am wondering if the reason mechanicals seem to hit harder for the same stroke is because of both the freer moving tup(more inertia) and maybe because a mechanical spring stores and delivers potential energy more effectively than compressing a cushion of air.
I`m not an engineer but I have been known to stay in certain motels...

Quick question that stems from my manufacturing background.Anybody ever thought about designing some flex into the cylinder mount?

The cylinder to tup connection seems to be the weak link as most air cylinders are not the most heavy design to come down the pike.I`ve seen them snap off at the thread using both internal and external thread on the rod end.Internal thread only means the link breaks instead of the rod end which is favorable if you can get the stub out and replace the link.

I had also thought about using hydraulic cylinders as they are way more HD in design and have better parts in areas like seals,rings and wipers to accomodate the higher pressures and stresses.There are also a lot more used hydraulic cylinders available here than there are pneumatics.

The reason I asked the question is that I now see Ron`s new design incorporates a leaf spring between the cylinder and the tup.I`m assuming he did this to ease the pounding on that weak link and maybe also to add a little of that "whip" that apparently make mechanicals harder hitting.Seems to me mechanicals use inertia to their advantage(shock absorbing springs and/or links that allow rather free movement of the tup) while pneumatics are constantly trying to overcome inertia by their ridgid mounting between the powering mechanism(the cylinder) and the tup.Rigid mounting+heavy pounding=breakage at weakest point.
I know the air cushion is supposed to act as a spring does and cushion the pounding yet the failure rate is still higher than mechanicals from what my limited research tells me.

When faced with a machine using an air cylinder that was consistently snapping the link or rod at the end of rod connection we found that changing the cylinder mount and allowing the cylinder to "float' alittle(thru a limited spring or rubber mounting) absorbed most of the shock and took alot of the stress off the connection and things lasted longer.
Would this be a valid approach here or am I missing something obvious?

Thomas,

I was told the three types of people are;
1-People who make things happen
2-People who watch things happen
3-People who wonder what just happened

I have since added a 4th type;People who keep things from happening.
The 4th type mostly form up into committees such as the dreaded HOAs and such.

FANTASTIC!!
I`m not a big folder fan but I love this knife.

I have only one complaint.In this case the pics aren`t big enough.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful bit of work.

Here in Maine there are folks with Landrovers,during the summer the yuppies bring more and newer ones.

Most of the mechanically inclined folks up here go for the military surplus or the early jeeps(back when they were known by letters and numbers instead of names) and Dodge Power Wagons.
Goober from Vermont has a CJ chassis with a 4 cylinder Wisconsen(sp) engine,winches and poles both front and rear that he uses for near everything.I`ve seen him drive it and run the winches while walking along beside.

The primary difference between those and yours seems to be the ones here make extensive use of the PTO to drive things like winches or hydraulic pumps to get things done.There`s a fellow down the road with a backhoe attached to his rig.

Why for you no got de front winch mon?De life be so much sweeter with,no?

Don`t even get me started about the 1 ton and larger roustabout trucks from the oilfield.They were bought new as cab and chassis and built from there.
The owner of King Drilling used to buy brand new Caddies and take them to be chopped into what looked like El-Caminoes and drive them down the dirt lease roads to the remote locations.Must be nice to have more dollars than sense.

BTW-Ditto the nice gates.

Bryce,you are fortunate.You seem to have good drawing skills and that`s a blessing.
I,on the other hand,have only basic skills at chicken scratching and print everything in caps because even I can`t read my handwriting.

For me the key is to be able to record the idea and feel of something quickly before is passes.You seem to be able to do that in spades.
Once you capture the feel for a piece then it`s either off to the shop to freehand it or to the drawing board to perfect it using either the digital tools or the drawing aids mentioned in the posts.
For me at least,capturing the idea is 75% of the work,the rest comes easy.I wish I had your drawing abilities,my life would be so much easier.

BTW-Are you aware of the trick for drawing an oval/ellipse using just 4 pins at 4 plotted points and then a circle of string over those points and a pencil inside the string?
I also saw a way to lay out spirals using a set of dividers that varied the radius as they were spun but can`t seem to find it now.Found it thru a google search a while back.Looked good but haven`t tried it yet.

No rush Harold,I`m still in the planning stages as you can see.
Thanks again.

WOW Harold!You really went above and beyond with providing both the pics and the additional info.I really appreciate it!

I thought things in the air hammer world were becoming more simple but,like most things,The more you get into it the more complicated it gets.
Young Dylan`s controls and valving seemed to simplify the plumbing and control aspect of it. Now I find myself looking at 4 very different designs for the frame and head assembly,a part of the picture I had thought was relatively straight forward.There`s the original Kinyon design,YD`s pull rather than push design,Ron`s new design(with that added leaf spring) and then there`s your solid design too Harold.Many more things to think about than originally planned for.

One more question for you Harold.What size cylinder did you use for yours and what is needed to feed it(PSI and CFM please)?

WOW Harold!You really went above and beyond with providing both the pics and the additional info.I really appreciate it!

I thought things in the air hammer world were becoming more simple but,like most things,The more you get into it the more complicated it gets.
Young Dylan`s controls and valving seemed to simplify the plumbing and control aspect of it. Now I find myself looking at 4 very different designs for the frame and head assembly,a part of the picture I had thought was relatively straight forward.There`s the original Kinyon design,YD`s pull rather than push design,Ron`s new design(with that added leaf spring) and then there`s your solid design too Harold.Many more things to think about than originally planned for.

One more question for you Harold.What size cylinder did you use for yours and what is needed to feed it(PSI and CFM please)?

Now THAT`S Art,right there.I don`t care who you are!
Beautiful work there,Gazilla.

You said it was stabilized wood right?
Stabilized wood to me means that it`s been treated with a polymer or something like it and this runs completely thru the wood.If this is the case then the finish is already in the wood and you need only buff or sand to the desired sheen and be done with it.
What you have,in effect,is a plastic handle that looks like wood as the polymer seals,fills,protects and finishes far deeper than anything you will put on the surface.

Welding in the rain?

Length of pipe(aluminum if possible,easier to handle and hurts less when it hits you)with a bull plug welded at one end so as not to cut thru the tarp you string over it when using it as the center post of your make shift awning/shelter.
Ropes and shorter poles from corners as needed,Bungee cords everywhere else to stretch the tarp and still give alittle in the wind.
Someone like you could make something along the lines of those poles that was capable of telescoping together and then collapsing small enough to be stored neatly in a truck or trailer bed.Wrap the poles with the folded tarp and tie the bundle with the guy ropes.A couple of the bungees hold it either to the truck rack or the trailer sides if space is at a premium.
If you get wet setting it up then just get some pallets locally to throw down on the ground and keep you(or your helper) from getting shocked as bad.

The rubber gloves inside the welding gloves sounds like a good idea too and they would fit in the glove compartment. :)

Thank you,Harold.I look forward to seeing them.
If it`s not too much trouble,could you include some text with the pics about your thoughts on the hows and whys of the build?

You`re right about why I thought the hammer was taller.Having the air fittings on the column was what threw me.

I`ve been thinking about what YD said about orienting the cylinder below the tup as opposed to above.From what I saw of the hammer he showed it had 2 cylinders,one on either side pulling down.What concerned me was that it limited access to the dies that way,at least in my mind it does.
Your offset cylinder could be rigged below(with proper guarding to keep scale,etc out)and still not limit access as much is why I`m so curious about it.

Harold,

Found pics of your hammer finally.I have a few questions if you don`t mind.

I`d like to ask why you arranged the cylinder and head as you did.Are you seeing any problems relating to having them offset? would you do it that way again?

The hammer seems to be very tall and looks to be anchored to the beam overhead.Did you build it that height so you could anchor it to the beam?If so do you feel the approach was worth while?I have a rather low overhead and was thinking about taking advantage of that and anchoring the hammer there if there`s no real reason not to.

It also looks like you have two full size dies mounted side by side.I can`t tell by the pics what the top die looks like or it`s true size so could you talk about your double set up and maybe post a few more pics.

Thanks for steering me to your hammer as it is different from what I`ve seen so far and has me thinking more about the mechanics and design of where I`m planning to go.

Same approach to flow applies to internal combustion engines.
It matters not how big your cylinders are if you`re not feeding them thru a big enough carb and high flow air cleaner(or velocity stack).Likewise,you can`t put a restrictive muffler on it and expect to take advantage of all that potential HP either.

On to bigger things,Love the new pic Frank eerrr,I mean Grant.Who knows what we will hear next when the urge for spontaneous song overtakes you.

As for you our UK Little Richard,don`t let the ratings play get in the way of posting your wisdom or get under your skin.The CKB(Clucking Kitchen Bitches)would sorely miss you if you were to get banned.
Look at it this way,you have eclipsed our Master Curmudgeon in the negative category.You will now have to drive everywhere you go or risk having the contents of your shoes and underwear checked at all the airports.See,there really is a silver lining inside the dark cloud.
Illigitimus non carborundum!

Here`s my take on both design and getting the work done.
You can either get wrapped around the axle over knowing the PROPER way of doing things with the "Golden Mean" and the mathematical balance of whatever,or you can develope your hand and eye and get the work out.

If you want the axle approach then there are a lot of programs for that tower you`re attached to right now.Use them to calculate and plot,that`s their strong suit.Get a printer big enough and you have a full sized pattern.That`s how the big boys do it and they get big bucks too.
I`ve worked from those patterns and the end result,if followed to the letter,looked like what it was,computer generated.

If you want Art and something that looks like it grew between the uprights(the organic look)then you have to take that pattern and plot the high points and use your eye and hand to tweak it and make it pleasing to another human eye.After you tweak enough patterns you`ll find yourself just refering to the pattern and then going for it.Further down the road you`ll just be freehanding what you know is right.

Best use and filling of space is an approach but it`s not art.
All those mathematically correct scrolls that you fill that space with all spring from the same source and are just derivatives of a single equation.How pleasing would a computer generated field of all the same flowers be?
Define the space with math and engineering,fill the space with art.

BTW-Along with all those drawing aids others have mentioned I`d add flexible battens of various lengths.For laying out longer curved lines and fairing transitions from one curve to another they are my most used tool.

Very nice work and pics.Tell Hayley thanks for us.

I will tell you from experience that this is not something you want to ignore or try to push through.
Working as a union shipfitter for a LARGE company(General Dynamics)I started to have swelling in my hands and arms whenever using vibratory tools(grinding,sanding,chipping,etc).Their answer was therapy at the yard facility 3 times a week. After 6 months of getting worse they sent me to a DR who shot me up and sent me back to work.Max steriod shots every 4 months for a year and still getting worse but working every day at diminished capacity.Now I can`t lift or raise my arm above shoulder level so I`m out of work and seeing a specialist supplied by the yard who has no idea what to do.
Almost 3 years after the initial problem surfaced I finally make it to Boston and someone who REALLY knows what`s going on only to be told my days of making a living with my hands are over.I was floored!
He also said if I have come to him within the first 6 months and hadn`t had the steriod injections that masked the pain then he could have fixed me to near new,now he`d see what he could salvage.

Long story short after 5 surgeries in Boston by one of the best Ortho guys in the US I have 60% use of my right(formerly dominant)hand and arm.After 5+ years of heavy narcotics use(morphine and Oxycontin)I went cold turkey and gave the drugs the boot so I could go on a new drug that`s supplied free by the pharmaceutical company(no way could I afford it)and allows me to think and work part time.
I am self employed now because I can only work so many hours a day before the pain and swelling brings things to a halt.I`ve learned to pace myself and work around my disability,it will be life long I`m told.I swing a hammer left handed now and have most of what I need to build a power hammer.The settlement and annuity allowed me to buy enough gear to start my own shop and work at my own pace while keeping our heads above water.
Poor substitute and bad trade for my arm and hand.

My problem started with nerve and tendon damage.Here`s the progression as it was explained to me.Chronic inflamation causes the body to produce certain chemicals in response.Some of these chemicals cause the bone to deteriorate and become porous.That porosity acts like a grater on connective tissue like ligaments and tendons that don`t heal without intervention(surgery) and grinding back the porous bone to smooth again.Steroids make the pain go away but the damage continues till the connective tissue fails enough that the limb stops working.In my case the damage was too extensive to repair.My arm now hangs when I walk instead of swinging from the shoulder like it should.

Learn from my mistakes and listen to what your body is telling you!Go see a specialist who knows what he`s about,do it now not later.
Believe me when I tell you that is what Workman`s comp is supposed to be for,getting the problem properly diagnosed and fixed as soon as possible.Wait too long and both your job and your former life(complete with most activities and hobbies)will go away.
Find out what the problem REALLY is and get it fixed or end up like me or worse.Those are the real world choices.

If you are looking for a process that will allow you to accurately transfer lines and change scale then I`d look at info on "lofting" of boats.The folks who did the lofting were responsible for taking the blueprints and turning them into things like full or half scale drawings or patterns for the workers out on the floor.
Someone good at lofting could also either enlarge or reduce a design and still have it come out looking good with "fair lines".Not easy when you`re talking about something with compound curves like a boat hull.

Not being skilled at lofting I generally snap a pic and then write down a few measurements such as height,width,etc.
Once you have that info you can take the pic and run a grid over it and then get all your other measurements by measuring the part in the grid and comparing to that known dimension.

Let me think here as it`s been awhile since I`ve hardfaced anything resembling tool steel.Been mostly excavator buckets and the like here lately.

IIRC,we didn`t worry too much about how hot we got it other than to worry about drawing the temper.Tempil sticks will help here and we used them in three temps "side by each" lowest being the target preheat temp,then one step below max to warn you that you`re getting close to messing up the temper and one that is at the "line of no return".
What seemed to help was to have a water mist wand handy(compressed air thru tube with control valve and T to suction water from a 5 gallon bucket)we played the water mist on the area slightly away from the weld to cool once the mid Tempil kicked off.The mist was supposed to be "kinder" than a water hose or rag soaked in cold water.easier to control too.Joe Kover showed me that trick from his days as a flame straightener.
Another trick he showed me was to use a high frequency box(if you have a separate add on unit)tied into the stick welder to both make it easier to strike the arc and get the arc to scrub out impurities(aggressive arc with almost no spatter depending on the rod) from a less than perfect surface.Worked well in hard to access areas and if you have deep damage that you are hesitant to grind completely out(grinding back to good clean metal is always best though).
On your anvil you may want to keep that trick in mind.Allows you to run a smooth arc at less than normal amps(and temp),something to think about for heat sensitive jobs.
That`s about all I can remember from those days that might be useful to you here.I`ll either post more or PM you if anything else important comes to mind.

As far as max heat Robb G. would be the guy to ask as far as anvils go.I had all my experience with manufacturing equipment,hardened ways,dies,etc.
I repaired my own anvils using what I knew from that and it follows Robb`s procedures so...
BTW-My present anvil is still alive and well 10+ years after it`s repairs and that`s in a house with me and 2 teen age boys and their (supervised) friends using it with no problems so far.

Well Frosty,I DID try treating my son like I treat Otis.My son bit me!
Otis knocked me out once but he has never bit me.
Do you think there`s a conspiracy going on here?

I`ve thought about calling The Dog Whisperer but I don`t think even he`d know where to start.

BTW-Did you hear about the dyslexic,agnostic,insomniac?He laid awake at night wondering if the there really was a Dog. :blink:

Thought that might get your attention.
You might want to think about using some of the tricks we used to use when welding an edge to avoid drop off of the "golden rod".We used graphite(from the presses) or carbon bars(from the electric shop clamped to the edge to hold the weld puddle in place.One guy even used firebrick when he couldn`t find any extra of what we usually used floating around.
We used to do a lot with the graphite rod especially when using nickel welding rod to build back destroyed ears on large cast iron gearboxes.Round graphite rod where the bolt goes,weld around rod,drive rod out when done and cool,insert bolt and tighten,switch on,back to work.
Yet another non-standard seat of the pants weld repair brought to you by Hack Manufacturing(some assembly required,batteries not included).