jason0012

It lives! A good example of why these hammers need breaks. There is something wrong with the treadle linkage, the die keys dont really fit right, but she turns over. I am surprised at how stabil it is not being bolted down. 20190404_100021.mp4

I like the kerrihards I have used. They are very compact, and the several I got to use were small hammers that had been pretty heavily abused. Neat hammers with a lot of personality. Being a small hammer it will be limited in capacity, but still very useful. Size is a bonus if you are limited in space or power. They did make a bigger model, a 75 i think. They dont seem to be very common, and replacement parts will have to be fabricated. The up side is the parts aren't hard to make or repair and overall it is a tough machine. I have very nearly bought one on several occasions, despite not really needing it- I just like the crazy mechanism. A 30 pound kerrihard in my opinion is noticeably more powerful than a 25 pound little giant and in the same class of hammer. Gross weight under 700 pounds makes it pretty decent to move without serious rigging, and it will run on a 3/4- 1 hp motor so will be just fine on a 110 v lighting circuit. A 1/2 plywood buffer over a concrete floor would be quite adequate for mounting( just some 1/2 inch drive in anchors, or maybe 3/8...) or lagg it down to so.e 4x4 or similar timbers if on dirt. Cheap and easy to install and run. Probably good to 1 1/4 material. It would easily work 3/4-5/8.

I am not even to the rebuild. That may be a year or so down the road. Just doing damage assesment at this point, hoping to have a hammer running soon. I will get back to actually fixing things once I get the Bradley home. Only a few smaller bits have arrived at this point. I bought the 250 wanting more stroke. I probably would have been better off calling Anyang, but this thing does look cool...

New pins are in the future, but I have had limited time to work on it, and half the shop is yet to be moved still. One of the first replacements will be that knuckle near my head. Poor thing is trashed. That will be one of my first jobs for this hammer. A 100 is a much more manageable hammer. I was honestly un prepared for how heavy all these parts are. I wanted a bigger hammer. I am kind of thinking this is quite enough now.

They need to be replaced, but that is not happening anytime soon.

Motor on, some minor bits to go and I can wire it up and see how it runs.

Back together, mostly. The guides are a real pain. Too many directions to shim. Coupled with the casting quality, I see why they didnt carry this design for long. The bolt nearest the light binds the ram unless I back it off 1/4 turn from tight. Calling it a night, will attack that issue another day...

Broken clutch fork welded. I am starting to get it back together. The ram is about mid stroke here with 9 inches of blocks under it.

I have a crane but there is a clearance issue. I am still working on this one...

Has anybody here repoured the bearings on a 250 little giant? How massive of a pain is this? My bearings aren't unservicable, but they aren't good either. I suppose a whole new shaft is in order when I do get to this. My 25 was easy and the bradly was pretty easy, but this looks like a handfull

Do not quit for a "real" job, you will never regain what you have...

This is my rodent control specialist. Hard at work in her office

There goes the neighborhood...

I have forging capacity well beyond what my old product line requires. I have also been out of the business for a few years ( the internet was a new thing) and things have changed a bit. My new shop represents a fair cost, just to maintain so it needs to start producing. On top of that I despise my day job, and see far greater potential in my forge shop anyway. I know full well that selling trinkets at art fairs is not going to cut it, and big architectural work is no fun when working alone ( been there done that) I am thinking some good old fashioned comercial forging would be good, but have no idea how to find the work. There are lots of farms, quarries, and stone companies near me. I also can't help thinking of a post from a while back complaining about rail road work forging break wedges. How would one find these sorts of jobs?

Moving a blacksmith shop sucks! I have most of the small stuf. Starting to get the machines moved to thier new spots. This place is cavernous. It is taking some getting used to, but I look forward to it being usable soon. My last move was one trip in a pickup, over 25 yrs ago...

The Bradley is a 75. These are soft dies. That is both good and bad. Soft dies don't hold up as well as good steel, but they are easy to repair, and I dont have $750 lying around for good steel. So with a but load of welding...

Very cool machine. Very different. It is fun seeing the machines from other places that never turn up here. Any idea where it is from?

A bigger hammer will run slower, but to a point will have an advantage in more energy available. There is of course a trade off. The power to run a huge hammer might cost more than can be justified for some work but with a 500 pound or less hammer you probably aren't to the $200 an hour energy bill. After a 28 hr blitz breaking down my 250, I have to say, my enthusiasm for bigger hammers is fading...

When we got the hammer loaded Craig made a comment along the line of " look at the size of those dies" here is the bottom 4x9, next to the 3x6 from my Bradley.

I have everything I dare pick off on the ground. The flywheel worries me. My 1/2 ton block may not be up to the weight , and my 2 ton is too tall for the space. Some planning is in order.... I have some really choice examples of worn pins

The clutch fork was broken when loading. Not a difficult repair but removing it is no small feat. The construction of this hammer is not what I expected. I see why Sid seemed to have trouble describing how they differed from the smaller models. The ram/ arms work just like the little hammers, but this frame is just plain weird. The thing is hollow and the clutch operates by means of a skinny rod that runs inside (feindishly)! Oh and look at the wear on that axel I am not sure if the guides are original or not. There is a pair of bolts buried inside the guides that look like they may have originally been holding things together and broken off over time. At the same time they also seem to function as dowel pins to hold the plates in register. The plates appear to be flame cut rather than cast making me question if they are original to a 1919 vintage machine. It seems that very little information is available on these early machines so I plan to document as much as I can

Well the beast is home. Now the fun starts. Yay big hammer!

I need some too. My hammer has taper dies for chisle pointing

Just a straight shaft. The key is tapered and the shaft is shrunk on- no set screws

I am getting moved into the new shop. I have one of my two coal forges here now, but not quite set on how to vent it. This side of the building has an attic so my preference is to go through the wall with something like Uri Hoffi's flues. I have parts for a " super sucker" that I never got completed, but don't know if I want the ceiling/ roof penetrations in this metal building. Flue parts have always kind of thrown me as I have never been able to source parts bigger than 8 inch. Is there somewhere I can get 12 inch flue pipe?