Rick Rowlands

For three decades I have been associated with the preservation of a large rolling mill steam engine in Youngstown, OH. Called the Tod Engine, it is a 34" x 68" x 60" cross compound engine that drove a 24" merchant mill at Youngstown Sheet & Tube for 65 years. We obtained it in 1996, moved and reassembled it at the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum and now are in the final stages of restoring it to operation. At the end of 2023 McDonald Steel Corporation in McDonald, OH shut down their 14" bar mill. This mill was originally part of the US Steel McDonald Mills and was known for making asymmetrical and custom shapes. The mill had been built in 1925 and was the last of 11 rolling mills at the plant. Shortly after the closure I started making trips over to McDonald, photographing and documenting the plant knowing that within a short it would be a field of rubble. After the site was sold to a redeveloper I made a deal to purchase machinery out of the plant and thus began a year and a half long project of hauling over 130 tons of rolling mill stands, machinery, tools, equipment over to the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum. So with a rolling mill steam engine on one hand and a 14" rolling mill on the other, it was natural that I would start thinking of getting the one to drive the other. About this time I received a call from someone looking to have a few thousand pounds of special chemistry steel rounds rolled per year, and now our museum rolling mill project started turning into an actual business. So I started looking at how to set up at least two of the mill stands in a way to be powered by the engine. What I chose was to set up the one three high stand and a two high stand in a train in the tradition of the early hand operated bar mills. The three high stand for roughing and the two high for finishing. The plan is to take 1.5" rounds and roll them into .75" to 1.25" rounds in eighth inch increments. Currently my plan is to have the engine operational by fall and focus on rolling steel in 2027 if we keep up the current pace of reassembly. When finished it will be the only operational steam driven rolling mill in the US. The only other operational steam driven rolling mill that know of is at Blists Hill in the UK. I figured that some of you may be interested in our project. Its not blacksmithing per se, but it is working metal with obsolete and historic technologies and equipment and shares some commonalities that translate over to traditional smithing. In the first photo I am standing next to one of the 14" two high stands as we were pulling it out of the mill. Second photo shows the Tod Engine, 260 ton total weight with a 20' flywheel. Third photo is of the rolling mill being set up at the museum. Two mill stands, pinion stand and bevel gearbox that takes the power from the engine in the building and turns it 90 degrees to drive the pinion stand.

Yes I figured that the anvil will be a bugger, and that too is my weight estimate. Actually removal of the hammer will be the easier of my projects at this plant. The truly complex one is removal of this 150 ton Corliss engine in the building next to the forge shop.

I have heard the story of there being moisture in metal and when it is heated the moisture is driven out. Unfortunately that is not true. That moisture does not come from the metal but condenses from the atmosphere on the surface of the metal. It has to do with the dew point, and the metal being atthe right temperature to condense the water in the air.

I don't think there is any chance that I will buy something when I can find it free or cheap. These projects are expensive enough without adding costs. Here is the base plate and the anchor bolts. Hopefully its not grouted in too tightly.

Yes that is the exact same hammer. A "Morrison" hammer it is called. That book was very helpful, thanks! I took a good look at the hammer yesterday, and the base casting is 7' x 14' 6" with a square hole in the center in which the anvil sticks up through. There are six bolts holding down the base plate. It should come out fairly straightforward, assuming that I have enough lifting capacity. There was another double frame hammer next to this one. The base plant and anvil still survive, and judging by the size of the base plate and the height of the cut off steam line it was about twice the size of the Morrison hammer. I'm glad its not there, or I would be trying to save it too!

BTW here is the actual catalog photo referred to in the cartoon

That was a time exposure photo since the building is so dark. I guess the photographer (not me) forgot to tell the "official machinery enlarger" to stand still!

I have the chance to save this 2 1/2 ton Sellers hammer and move it up to Youngstown to the Tod Engine Heritage Park. My plan is to reinstall it as a working piece, so I am curious as to what the foundations for these big hammers looked like. I believe they would be set upon a foundation of cribbed timber. None of my books have any details about big hammer installation, so I thought I would come here to ask for advice. Have any of you seen a foundation drawing for a big hammer that could be shared? Thanks

I understand, and thats not what I am looking for. I am the type of person who starts industrial museums and deals with the issues that you mention. At the current time I am building the Tod Engine Heritage Park in Youngstown, OH. This is my pet project and I've been working on it for fourteen years. We moved a 260 ton stationary steam engine to the site and this summer I am erecting a 44' x 60' steel building to house it in.

UnicornForge, Yes I agree with you that finding a for profit business to operate the shop would be quite a stretch, as the limitations placed upon such a business in operating in such an oddly built and historic structure, with the stipulation that visitors would be there to constantly get in the way would drive anyone away. What I see as the highest and best use for that building now would be a combination of living history museum and workshop space for individual blacksmiths. Are you familiar with the metal arts program at Sloss Furnaces? Why Metal Art The blacksmith shop would be an ideal location to institute such a program which would have the potential of drawing participants from all over Pennsylvania and perhaps surrounding states. The rent would have to be nominal, and there would probably have to be some additional government investment to get it going namely in extension of utilities. At this point I am just brainstorming, I've yet to discuss any of this with the JAHA to find out what they would think of such an idea. This could go nowhere, or maybe could turn into something. Since their website was created a couple of years ago, and with the downturn in the economy perhaps their notions about this building have changed and they would be willing to discuss an idea utilizing the shop as a museum/shared workshop space. If anyone else has any insight please chime in. I've heard that several blacksmiths have discussed this building at length a few years ago.

I am not affiliated with the JAHA, but am a steel industry preservationist from Youngstown, OH. I visited the shop last week and after being told be a JAHA representative what they wanted to do with the building I thought that I would attempt to develop a few ideas. I have asked for additional information regarding rent, utilities etc. and am awaiting a reply. I'll post what I learn to this thread.

For more drawings and photos of the shop when it was in operation go to: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey (HABS/HAER) (American Memory from the Library of Congress) Search for "Cambria Iron Blacksmith". It should be the first result.

I toured the recently restored 1864 Cambria Iron Works blacksmith shop in Johnstown, PA last week. The Johnstown Area Redevelopment Authority has ben searching for a tenant for this building that would return it to use as a blacksmith shop. The structure is a National Historic Landmark and the authority wants to see it returned to use as a place where metals are worked. They have been marketing the building but so far no takers. The building consists of four sections. The center section is six sided and contains three Chambersburg hammers. A rear bay houses a 10 ton William Sellers hammer and yet another bay contains a forge and a smaller steam hammer. The building has numerous jib cranes, forges and heating furnaces. This may seem like a crazy idea, but would there be enough blacksmiths in the central part of Pennsylvania that would be interested in using this space as a joint facility? I think this would be a great opportunity to utilize perhaps one of the most historically significant and unique blacksmith shops in the country. Perhaps an organization could be formed (or a chapter of ABANA) which would rent the facility and make it available to its membership. The shop could then become sort of a living history exhibit that could tie into the other heritage preservation efforts in the Johnstown area. If anyone would like to explore this option please lets discuss it here. If enough interest could be found I'll be the point man and initiate discussions with the owners.

I may be picking up a Chambersburg Model L hammer, probably 750 lb. to 1000 lb. size. I'm looking for plans or specs. for the foundation.I understand it is built up with timbers but how deep, sizes, whats under the timbers etc. Thanks

You've got to be kidding. To really make a dent in the CO2 emmissions you must prevent the next volcanic eruption. Its a fact that they put out more gases than what humans have made since the dawn of time.

All of the lierature is stil lcopyrighted but the copyright owner is out of business. There are stacks of literature so they will last a long while. I think we can donate a set for reference though.

A friend bought the entire collection of Chambersburg forging hammer literature from their auction a couple of years ago. He wants to dispose of some of it and asked me to help. So we are offering a set of one of each piece of literature for $30. This includes catalogs, lubrication instructions, advertising flyers, etc., about a dozen individual pieces or maybe more. If this is something that might appeal to you let me know and I'll get a complete list of literature.

I'm in the process of buying stuff from a scrapper who is cleaning out a foundry. I am trying to get a large shotblast machine, mold squeezers, heat treat furnace and some smaller stuff. Friday I hauled out a pickup load of steel flasks, couple of days before that we got a trailerload of patterns, before that a trailerload of foundry supplies. There are eight 55 gallon drums of 7" and 8" grinding wheels which I am trying to buy. They are slightly used then thrown out. No wonder the place went belly up. Probably spend a couple grand by the time its over and come out with lots and lots of goodies that I couldn't buy elsewhere.

Isn't the coal in Gilette, WYoming lignite? It has a low btu content and is just one step above dirt. Why not mix some coke in with your coal? We have 55 gallon drums of metallurgical coke for sale in Youngstown, OH for $50 each.

Youngstown used to be a steelmaking area, and the industrial park that I rent a building in was a former coal and coke storage area for one of the mills. So when I need coke I just drive out back, find a pile and fill up the pickup bed. There is enough here to last a lifetime, and I hate to see all this fuel go to waste as they slowly fill in the property.

To Oakwoodforge. I read in a book on the history of mining in West Virginia that in all of recorded history about 13 million tons of coal has been mined from that state, and their estiamte of the coal in WV is something on the order of 112 million tons. So I don't think that the few pounds of coal used in a forge is going to hasten the day when we run out of coal, which will probably be hundreds of years from now. If anyone is interested I have more metallurgical coke here than I will ever use, and if you're within driving distance of Youngstown, OH I will be more than happy to sell a barrel or two of it.