BryanWillman

This is kind of 1/2 of a toggle press. In addition to needing the pivot to be very strong so you don't just shear it off, the lever (toggle arm/arms) needs to be able to resist the bending/buckling forces.

How is a stake plate different from a set of hardy holes? The stake shanks are like the shank on a hardy, yes?

Ka-ching - thanks ptree. one of those places where a torque wrench and some thought about how something works are in order!

A question - what's a "manway", and why is it never to be tightened? (And how is it assembled in the first place?) [A pointer to some document I should go read would be fine.]

HWoolridge - do you recall what this pressure measuring film was called, or where one might buy it?

By the way - couldn't you get some of the same effect by bolting the hammer to have Very Thick steel plate, which rested on some kind shock absorbing material?

Is the massey book that describes foundations online anywhere? Or available used? The "t-slot at the bottom" idea sounds brilliant. (Guess you need to pain the box though - otherwise it will someday rust, no?) I don't know about super deep concrete, but for the foundation for my milling machine, I was told to water it. (12" thick) This makes it stronger. You need just the right amount of water when poured (too wet -> bad), but once it has set (24 hours?) it makes it stronger to keep the top wet. Concrete is pourous, and cures very slowly. But apparently the big return is in keeping it watered and letting it cure for 28 days. By water it I mean literally - you spray it with a garden house, cover it with plastic, repeat every every day for 4 weeks...

At risk of stirring the pot... A HP is a HP if they are measured the same, which they almost never are, but it's kind of irrelevent anyway... In the real world where ships, cars, and machines don't run at constant speeds and constant loads, things like torque, inertia, acceleration, etc. matter. And even electric motors do not have flat torque or power curves, and how even the power is throughout a rotation can matter (hence the value of 3 phase motors.) And yes gearing helps, by getting things into the right part of the torque curve. But it won't change the shape of the curve. So both points of view ("a hp is a hp if measured the same" and "but in the real world big and slow is better for this") have merit. (And be very glad that you aren't trying to run these things off line shafts driven by gasoline engines...) As for the OP's project - start with the motor it has and see what happens. There's no law saying you cannot change the motor out in the future...

ironstein - "utility hammer" refers to a penumatic hammer which depends on an external source of compressed air. Iron Kiss being an example. A "self contained" hammer refers to one that has a "compressor" cylinder built-in - an an yang or some chambersbergs, nazel, etc. So a utility hammer has plumbing for air from a compressor, but likely no electrical connection at all. A self-contained hammer has an electric motor. Obviously, any power hammer or hand hammer has "utility"...

Bryan's Rule of Machine and Tool Evaluation applies: "If it works, and is safe, it is a good thing." How much gain (if any?) is there to a treadle hammer traveling in a purely straight line? (Seems like it's better, but does it matter in much hammer work? My arm doesn't work that way...) How much gain is there to the ram being guided? (One would think purely guided maximally straight is the bee's knees, but apparently helves work way better than a naive person like me would think.... )

I've been reading "pounding out profits" and it seems pretty clear that essentially all successful mechanical hammers had some kind of "spring" or "damping" to them. (As would steam hammers and pneumatic hammers when the valving is right.) Sometimes (apparently, Grant can comment) this spring arose partly out of some natural property of material - particularly wood, or leaf springs. Other times some elaborate mechanism was assembled. Grant, I don't suppose you have a drawing of that hammer?

How does that hammer work? Apparently crank actuated? Is there some kind of pivot beam?

Very Good to Know. re: stainless - Ah! Now it makes perfect sense. re: hammer base - yikes! OK, so a big hammer like that needs a really really really big base to not shake things....

Really good video. Questions: 1. Is the hammer sitting on a pad that is sitting on the floor, or did you dig an opening in the floor and pour the pad into it, such that the pad is sunk below the floor? It seems to my naive mind that pouring the hammer foundation over the top of wood or sand or the like, and maybe surrounding it with some isolating material, might work. Then again, I've run a power hammer for all of 10 minutes. 2. Uh, why forge 4" square stainless down to what looks like a pretty simple bar, rather than just buying a bar that size from the supplier?

So is this hammer going to live outdoors? Or are you going to build a building around it? Or??? What is the construction of the risers that eleveate the hammer to line up with the anvil?

Peddinghaus. A couple of different factories using the same name, but apparently all forged steel. My #12 is 125kg or 275#. I've not used it enough to really say if it has any problems.

So, the main face, the head, and heal, are all made with holes intended to line up with square holes in base slats? Some kind of rebate on the top parts, so you set them down on the slats and drive wedges in (say) to set it up. Drive the wedges out (with a drift) to disassemble it? Only the top face/horn/heel need to be hardened. How are the vertical slats (sides) positioned relative to each other?

Bruce - what's the easiest way to order a copy of the DVD to be sent to America? I don't know how to write a check in pounds. Is there somebody in the US selling them? thx bmw

Roo - what date do you think is portrayed in the paintings of interest? And how literally are they to be taken? Various kinds of power assists (water hammers, etc.) have been used for quite a long time.

The upsetting block is forged into the base of the forged anvil. Removing it would require cutting it off with a torch (I think) and I don't know where the internal walls of the anvil are.

Folks, some of these limits are set by the Feds for all interstate commerce (the whole commerce clause thing), so far as I can tell you need a CDL to drive *commercially* any vehicle over 26,000# anywhere in the US. (And all the other funny rules.) Note that anybody with a regular DL can drive, say, an RV of 30,000 or 40,000 (maybe more?) pounds without a CDL. The 10,000# trailer thing is so confusing I ended up asking the WA state DOT about it, I have some saved email - it makes my head hurt. Of course, any state could have tighter limits as well - so you might need at CDL at some lower number in some states.

Not necessarily - my 2008 F250 is supposed to be able to tow 15K or so. I don't know how old Larry's is, but the GCVW can be quite high - assuming of course the trailer has proper brakes. (Trailers in WA over I think 3000# have to have brakes period.) So it's a legit issue, but at least recent 3/4 ton trucks can have very heavy towing.

John - could we see a picture of this rolling hydraulic crane? I'm truly fascinated by this idea. Did you buy it or build it? How do you control the pace with which it travels down the tracks (winch?)

+10 on the firebrick approach. I got some from a kiln supply store, other places will sell it. You don't need fancy fab work to make your shelf.

Bigfish - here's a naive observation - When you hammer on an anvil, you standing above it, and your hammering arm is doing the work. So the height is whatever works best for the ergonomics of your arm. When you use a power hammer, you are instead holding one or more sets of tongs/tools/etc. under the hammer. The ergonomics of hammering don't apply here (the machine does that), rather, the ergonomics of holding onto things being hit by a big hammer apply. So I'll bet that power hammer anvils are almost always set up higher than hand anvils, because of this difference.