coolhand

Yea drill and tap. We live in pennslyvania the keystone is cool around these parts.

thanks francis those dates are good enough for me. the serial number is on the top die holder not the die. I figured it to be an older hammer because it doesnt have a direction arrow cast on the crank wheel, it doesnt have oiler holes on the ram guides and it is painted gray. The newer ones seem to be green and have arrows and oilers. champion hammers RULE most other mechanical hammers.

hey francis my champion hammer no 1 has serial no 373 stamped on the top die didnt see anything on the anvil. Any idea of when it was made?

Nice broad axe...that axe is likely 17th century Pa german made..Landis valley farm museum has lots on display

here is my crack at one..

i heard you put die rubber in the freezer and then turn them yourself on a lathe

thanks don im going to assemble it tomorrow or the next... pics will be posted!

ok Im a blacksmith, never made a knife before. axes and chisels but no knives. I forged a kitchen knife copied after my favorite vetagable chopping knife that was bought at some big store.

So how do i attach wood to the handle? what kind of epoxy would you recomend and where do i buy it? what grit should i sand the tang to so the epoxy sticks. the pins are just glued in or riveted over? the pins can be any kind of brass stock? Is rosewood a suitable wood for a handle? Its just some wood i have laying around do i have to stablize the wood before attaching?

many thanks in advance!

Neewbee

thanks! im gonna put on the flat dies and try that 1" sq test one of these days.

my jyard depew

I have built the baby helve from Jrs plans and i am thrilled with it....i followed the BPs from this site and also took jrs recomendations to move the pitman pivot as close to the arm as possible and i also used a 9 inch flywheel run by a 3/4 hp motor. i think it hits very fast i think about 270x a minute. this hammer will knock the stuffing out of a 3/4 bar without even thinking about it. I have also drawn down 1/4 x2 up on edge no problem. I will take some photos and will post them soon. this baby helve is great. i spent a little under 300 bucks getting all the materials and took about 3 weeks planning (daydreaming) and 3 days to build. perfect hammer for hobbiests, beginners and limited space shops. I also have 2 sets of dies one drawing and one flat. the flat ones work good but only on material up to about 5/8 thick but you could make angled flat dies for larger material.