Chuck Fraser

I have a #8 and a 300 Beaudry, I like the both very much, but I like the slip belt on the #8 better than the clutch on the 300. Can anyone tell me what proper foundation is for these hammers. Right now they are on 3/4'' plate on 5/8'' rubber mat on 3/4'' wafer board on 5'' concrete, the #8 is starting to wiggle a little (after 9 years) I think the scale is building up under the anvil. Also the key that holds the sow block to the anvil base is stuck, it has been hammered on both ends till you can not tell witch end is the small end. Does any one have any ideas on how to remove it? I have made a few old motors work by putting a sheet of 80 grit paper on my drill press table and carefully rubbing a brush that is too large on it till it was down to size. Your old brushes might still work if you get them cleaned up so they slide freely in the brush holders. Chuck

Make a pattern out of wax, wood, iron and take it to a fine art casting foundry. Have them give you a bid on the rubber mold, then get some of there wax, we used a wax called victory brown, much easer to work on than paraffin and pour them your self at home using a electric roster oven to melt the wax in, don' use your wife's roster oven it will ruin it, use your mother in laws, if your a blacksmith she dose not like you anyway. After you get all of the key blanks made you can can make them each unique by carving names or what ever in the wax. then take them back to the foundry and have them cast in silicon bronze. It wont be cheep. I know because I worked in a art foundry for 14 years before I went to blacksmithing full time 10 years ago. Chuck

Thanks for the pictures, they are beautiful, I wish they were in my shop. Its hard to abuse a anvil when you don't use it hard enough to keep the rust worn off it, isn't it? Chuck

I forgot to add this, my hammer has a grove in the hammer slide like yours, I carefully smoothed the burs off . Just the burrs not the groove, it works fine. Chuck

I don't have any video. The thing that I dont like about the clutch is when I am trying to smooth something out the clutch will some times grab slightly and hit 2 or 3 blows a lot harder than you want it to. Your motor must be a lower speed, it sounds like its set up about like mine. I would really like to try a V.F.D.

I have a #8 and a # 300 Beaudry hammers. The #8 has a 3 hp. 3 phase motor (I had to build a rotary converter out of a 7.5 3 phase motor) that runs the hammer at 200 bpm. , the motor is huge it turns at 970 rpm, slip belt, no jack shaft. The 300 has a clutch, jack shaft, 1725 rpm 7.5 hp. single phase motor running the hammer at 180 bpm. I like the slip belt on the #8 so much better than the than the clutch on the 300 that I am thinking of converting it to a slip belt. I don't know the proper tension to have on the spring arms. Right now both hammers are bolted to a 1'' plate of steel that sits on 3/4'' rubber mat that sits on 3/4'' of wafer board on top of 5'' cement slab. Some day I would like to mount them on a proper foundation. I would like to know the proper foundation to mount them on? And how much it would improve the performance. Chuck