Nazelhammers

It appears a Beaudry in a 3 piece hammer bolted together. Even a Nazel one piece is actually a 2 piece. The base and top half are snaped ringed together. Warning don't take a Nazel apart at the rings. They are a female pitbull to put back together.

Nazel monster truck. Other side of Eire and close up of Beaudry air.

Let try this one more time. It appears Erie and Beaudry air hammer are on in the same.

Well hit me in the head with a hammer they are the same. Attached is a picture of a Erie self contined air hammer. See we can learn something new if we all just try. I never put 2 and 2 together.

I've only seen Eire's in pictures. If I look I might have some somewhere on my puter. I have a cool picture of a Nazel Monster Truck if anyone is interested? Now that I think I have the picture thing down.

Let see if this works

Found the Beaudry air hammer pictures. How the heck do I post them? Perhaps you can determin if the Beaudry is like an Eire. I've only seen Eire's in a pictures. I'm not a master at the computer. <_<

I can't speak for an Eire self contained because I haven’t had a chance to really see one in person but that is what a Beaudry appears to be like now that you say it. I can check my archives of photos and post a few pictures of the only Beaudry air hammer I saw if I can figure out how to do it. I didn’t get a chance to get inside of the Beaudry to see how it worked. The owner wasn’t too keen on the idea of me trying to take apart his hammer. In the Beaudry sale records there is mention of their air hammers and I do have some very limited drawings of them. It must have been something they were working on but it didn't pan out. I would suspect some type of collaboration now that you say it. See you can learn something new. Niles, Bement and Pond worked closely with Nazel. A lot of smaller Nazel’s were sold along NBP that were part of a bigger sale between the two companies. I can on figure the Nazel’s were sold along with or to NBP as maintenance hammers to make tongs and other tooling to keep the larger NBP hammer feed with work. My dodge pickup has a Cummins engine and Cummins is owned by Ford. Like I said earlier most of the guys behind the original companies when to their graves forgetting more then we’ll know.

I'll agree from what I've seen of Paley’s work it's incredible. If you can't make yourself happy then who can. Perhaps that's all that matters. I'm happy with who I am and what I do. He is better than me at what he does and I'll ambit he could probably make better looking tools then I can. I'll give credit where credit is due.

Thanks I'll do that in the future. I'm all for getting past this.

It would take more than I could stand to type for me to try and explained how a Nazel, Fairbanks of Beaudry hammers work. To start they are all different. It would perhaps take a book just to explain thier differences. Not too many of the members out there are aware that Beaudry made a few self contained are hammer. It would take a few paragraphs in the book to explain the different between a Nazel and a Beaudry air hammers.

I have to be careful at this and I know this might offend someone. An artist can call any twisted piece of metal art and someone will buy it. I find it difficult making 100 tools all the same and selling them for $l0.00. We have a bad habit of selling to our customer needs instead of selling them something I'm trying to convince them to buy.

None of this really matters and the worse thing anyone could do is to let me know I rub them the wrong way. I haven't run away from anything or anyone in my life. It’s kind of like standing up to the bullies’ on the playground. I have some thick skin and it’s going to take a whole lot more than anyone can muster to make me just go away. I could have simply ignored this whole thing from the beginning but I was invited to partake within the guide lines of the rules. It’s time to move forward. If anyone has an issue they'd like to talk to me about in private I'm sure they wouldn't have too much trouble finding my shop or phone number. If I might, can I quote Rodney King “Can’t we all just get along”?

If you'er trying to turn this into a puking contest. Don't puke this way because I'll puke back harder....

I apologize if I’ve insulted anyone by using the term Master. It is by no means that I think I’m better than anyone else. My roots are firmly planted from where I’ve come from. I’ve been at this longer than I’d like to admit. The term master is a common term used in the world I come from and how I was taught as a journeyman. I still have close contact with my past master who helped me get to where I am today as a blacksmith. I worked for my master doing “old school” reproduction colonial hardware making nails in a coal forge and I was paid by the piece. For some of the smaller nails I made I was only paid nine cents each. If I made a mistake I didn’t get paid and if I got really good at it I could make $7.00 or $8.00 an hour. Talk about something that would kick you in the butt. I really couldn’t keep up that pace and I’d average out at about $4.75 to $5.00 an hour but every once in a while I’d test myself. Today I have no desire to make one nail for $10.00 each. I hated it but my master always said “it's good practice”. He never stood over me watching what I was doing. He’d just count the nails at the end of the day. When I’d make a mistake and ask a question on how to forge nails, he’d say “I don’t care if you do them with your teeth. I’ll show you one more time. He'd knock one out and say "I want them to look like this.” You have to understand…. when I worked for this guy, I respected him but I didn’t really like him. I paid rent while lived in his mud filled walls tenet house on his farm in Bucks County, PA with my first newborn son and wife. He was away fair and he even gave me his old truck to drive while I was paying him for it. The farm I lived on was not too far from where Washington crossed the Delaware. I love our local history. It’s interesting to know when early settlers moved west they’d burn down their house and barn to retrieve the nails. There is a national park on the Delaware River where Washington camped the night of his attack on Trenton. Part of the park also had a blacksmith shop that has since burned down. They can't afford to rebuild it due to budget cost. I worked in that shop with a friend and it was one of my best experiences first starting out as a blacksmith. Washington as a young journeyman also worked as blacksmith. Let’s see one of our modern day presidents who could ever say they worked for a hard day’s wages. Now that I no longer work for a master and I have my own shop I’ve achieved the goal as being my own master and I even drive my own truck. I have nothing but admiration for the master who educated me on how the world turn. I feel bad because he is a Vietnam Vet with health issues. I have what I feel is a close relationship with him and he is more open to share his experiences with me while he was in Vietnam. I have an interest in Vietnam because my brother was an assault helicopter door gunner KIA in 1969. I’ll agree the computer and internet is a powerful tool. Just recently, via the internet I made contact with men of the company my brother served with. The pilot who was flying the helicopter the day my brother was killed has recently died. I’m having private correspondence with the widow of the pilot who lives in LA. When I first met my master I knew he was a Vet. There would have been no way I would have pressed him or expected him to share with me what he must have gone through. Our relationship and trust built to the point it is at today. I feel privileged he is willing to share with me his experiences and he was willing to take me in at the time to show me what he learned as a self-taught man. He is the godfather of my first born son and although he’s never really been big part of his life, I know he would do anything for him if asked. I think what he’d like to do is bring my oldest son into his shop and kick his butt but my son knows better than I did and he has no desire to be a blacksmith. It turns out my master was right - it was good practice because everything after making hand forged nails for as little as $5.00 an hour is easy. Thank you to this forum for the opportunity to up right the ship. The truth is the truth, nothing more and nothing less..... I can say this much with confidence, I’ve worked hard to have a lot more satisfied customers than not, if that matters to anyone other than me. Perhaps an explanation is due if anyone cares to read further. I've aligned myself with the help I need from my wife and associate. My business is my life and when it’s questioned, I take issue. I have to have something to focus on and my focus is on what I do. Our original price for a replacement 3B ram of $750.00 was to the person I sold one of my hammers to because I felt bad and I was only trying to help my customer out during a bad time. When I sold my hammer to my customer, it was sold for what I thought was a fair price due to condition. I made it clear the terms where as is, where is, with no warranty expressed or implied. When I bought the hammer, I had no intentions on selling it until we fixed it. The hammer was running and I’ll admit it needed help but there was lots of room for profit in it for us fixed rather than sold as is. After the ram broke, I tried to convince the owner at that time not to give up on the hammer because it can be fixed. It’s not as bad as it seems and I reminded him of its value fixed in good running condition. He asked me if I’d be interested in the hammer but I didn’t feel comfortable even contemplating making him an offer because he was down on his luck. While all this was taking place, I was in the process of bringing on a new associate to help me. I never heard anything back about the hammer until I was approached again by the new owner. By that time, I figured any pervious arrangements to help the prior owner where null and void. I had taken on my helper and I asked him what he thought a replacement ram would cost to make if we sold the one we had in stock. It was only fair to bring my helper into the mix at that point because he now had a controlling interest in what I did. His reply was a $2,000.00 is a bargain. With that price I still offered to help the new owner but he declined, so we parted our ways with what I thought was no hard feelings until all this took place over the past week. Currently we are working on a 4 sided light-duty ram for a 2B and our customer has $3,890.00 so far into manufacturing costs and we still have to make them thier ram guide housing and guide plates. By no means are we doing the entire job with the machiner we have. We know to whom to go to, to get the job done right and I myself cannot take full credit for what we do.

The term master is a reference to owning the shop I work in, opposite a journeyman. At least those are the terms we’re familiar with in Philadelphia.

I'm not here to air dirty laundry. Perhaps you’re judging from things you’ve seen or heard taken out of context and not meant for public consumption. I don't find it necessary to go into details or explain my actions in a public forum. Enough said and this is typically why I avoid getting involved in such trivial pursuits. Like I said, if you read correctly, I choose who I do business with and the person whom you referenced was not a customer of mine. When I was approached I don’t know how many years ago, my offer to help at that time was refused. If this is the way it’s going to be then we might as well stop now. Give some thoughts ultimately to where the parts came for to fix the hammer in question. I reserve the right to defend myself. I refuse to get drawn into anything further than what this is. I can collect my tools now and go away and avoid this hassle. I won’t keep saying the same thing over and over again.

This is my first post and perhaps last because I’m not comfortable with having been drawn into all this and I’m really not proficient with the computer. But I’ve sort of inadvertently been prompted to respond. All this typing has taken more out of me than anyone could imagine. My name is Bruce Wallace and I only became aware of this site earlier this week when a prospective customer questioned my character and abilities after visiting and reading a few postings. The issue was brought to my attention and I addressed one author of a posting directly with the opportunity of a phone call or e-mail to question who they were and what was their motive. My query and correspondences were not intended for public consumption. This message is in no way intended to influence anyone on how to conduct their own bussines or creation. The administrators of this site have chosen to give anyone who chooses to be involved equal part of the privilege of using this forum only as they see fit. No one is forcing me or I think anyone else to be here. We have the right to leave or not take part if we choose to not follow policy. I do not think the creation or intention of this site was to air dirty laundry, share or discuss private matters between individuals. I haven’t come to this site to be any part of that. I’d like to make it clear while moving forward I’m putting to rest any matters that have occurred in the past… I don’t know why some think they need to know or find it necessary or if it really matters to anyone to know who I am? I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA and I’m proud of the fact. My wife and son’s lineage can be traced back to William Penn. My interest in blacksmithing started in 1973 at the age of 12. Early in my career I worked for a short time at the Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard. I’m a self-taught “Yankee” master blacksmith working in a 103 year old blacksmith shop in Kempton, PA. Along with keeping my shop busy, I own Nazel, Fairbanks and Beaudry Hammer Companies. The heritage and assemblage of archives we’ve invested in means more to me than any simple possession. I’m not an artist and I didn’t study or apprentice in Europe. I’ve bought, fixed, sold and traded lots of American made hammers, one Aussie hammer an English hammer and a few German hammers all for profit. I never bought or sold a Chinese hammer and I don’t intend to. I built my fair share of motorcycles, hot rods and street rods - some in my back yard with only the tools I had for profit and a few to keep long before it was considered fashionable. I did not invent the self contained air hammer, the internet or anything else worth speaking about. I didn’t accept government bailout money. The truth about the bail out money… none was offered. We’re not posers’ or want to be’s or the self proclaimed “Nazel Specialists.” I'm annoyed when referring to or describing someone else or other hammers to be just like a Nazel, Fairbank or Beaudry. I’m not good at self promoting and I try to let what we've accomplished to speak for itself. We understand we are only caretakers for these brands in history and we are not behind the brilliances that crated them. There are plenty who have passed away that forgot more while they were living than we’ll ever know. It’s now our passion and we’ve made it our vocation to study and understand the mastery and developments that made them great. We’re confident and pride ourselves in being the authorities with the best knowledge available today for the brand we represent. From our studies, we could make new hammers from the drawings we posses but we have not found anyone willing to pay the price. If there are any takers out there - it’s something I’d like to do if we had the funding. We reserve the right to keep what we feel is proprietary to our business and we reserve the right to do business with whom we chose. When it's time to pass on tenure it will be left to the new proprietor to pursue their own goals as they see fit. Between Nazel, Fairbanks and Beaudry there are thousands of parts and we don’t have everything for every hammer. If we don’t have in stock the part you need for your hammer we can make it from our drawings but it could get expensive. It is hard for us to diagnose and fix problems over the phone when someone calls saying it’s the little square thing above the round thing broken or is missing on my hammer. If we can assist, it’s the best we have to offer but it might not always be the cheapest alternative or what you want to hear. We will not offer opinions on things we know little or nothing about. I’ve met more blacksmiths in person than I have over the internet and I’d much rather have a phone call than an e-mail. We use our computer as a tool and I’m not capable of maintaining my own web site and we do not “bait” customers. If you ask a question you don’t want an honest answer to …don’t ask because I might give the answer you don't want me too. I’m willing to share ideas, common interests and experiences without giving my bank account numbers in an effort to protecting my investments. WE DO NOT or WILL NOT give away drawings or copies of our sales records to ANYONE no exceptions! If you insist that we do so, it is a sure bet to end any conversation or offer of help. It might be different if this was a hobby and only for giggles but this is my lively hood. I’m by no means getting rich at this. Some might be willing to give away drawings that have been floating around before I owned these companies because they have nothing to lose. I’ve given away my fair share of advice for little or nothing in return. I recently helped a customer in Michigan over the phone fix their 1B they’ve been using to make fishing lore with since 1955. In return they sent me more lures then I’ll use in a life time because my youngest son loves fishing. And, if I called them to tell them he was out they’d probably send more. Who are the hammer police? It irritates me a bit when I read some comments that I know are incorrect about our hammers. I can’t patrol the internet all day adding my two cents worth because it would just drive me insane. If I may, here are some facts. The earliest Nazel Hammer we recored was a belt driven hammer number 15 born in Philadelphia, PA 1909. It was a 165 pound or 2B sold to Henry Diston and Sons File Company in Tacony, Philadelphia, PA and later sold to the Hood Tool Company also of Philadelphia. Our records do not indicate when the hammer changed ownership. I saw hammer 15 broken in a patch of woods near Lancaster, PA. The hammer was broken because water got inside of it and froze after it was removed from Hood Tool and left to sit outside. I’d like to make it clear I had nothing to do with the sale of hammer 15. I only had the opportunity to see it before it was shipped after it was sold on eBay perhaps 9 or 10 years ago. The last Nazel manufactured was hammer number 2010 a 200 pound 2B born 1973 in Pittsburg, PA. Hammer 2010 is currently being used in our shop most every day to make some of the same tools Hood made. Some of the tools we make on our Nazel are sold to some of the same customers Hood sold thier tools to until they went out of business. The more things change the more they stay the same. We realize this really doesn’t amount to a whole lot in the bigger scheme of life. None of this perhaps matters to anyone one other than blacksmiths that for some reason have a compulsion to know. Because, if you tell someone who doesn’t know anything about blacksmithing and some who do that you own Nazel Hammer Company, you might as well be speaking French. If anyone finds what I posted offensive, rude, insulting, demining, or defamatory towards any individuals than by all means feel free to censor within the contexts of the rule within this forum. Sorry for appearing so long winded, but I find it necessary to only have to do this once.