frogvalley

One more point in regards to the dangers of these tanks. There is at times, for some reason unknown to me, an oily coating/residue in them that is also flammable. It may or may not evaporate or be removed by soapy water. When heated by flame cutting or saw cutting, it can become volatile again and explode or catch fire. I have made small propane tank forges, but my newer forges are being made from pipe or rolled steel, because of the risks. And I believe these small forges were originally made from FREON tanks once easily obtainable. When those became less available, empty propane tanks became the norm. At least thats how I remember it, but then again i had to walk 20 miles barefoot through the snow just to get a coke and go to school so things were different in the old days.

So I am in the process of rebuilding my 300# Bradley. The helve on it is not original as it is not laminated as per the owners manual. So I know maple is the best choice, getting the shape down is no problem, but what I don't know and can only guess at is the orientation details of the lamination's. Should I be able to see the layers when looking at the side or when looking down at the helve? How thick should each layer be, how many layers and would maple plywood be a good alternative if laid up to the correct thickness? I hope Patrick will chime in here or anyone else that has one of these Bradleys.

I use a Millermatic 135, that model is now a 140. Can weld 1/4'' in one pass, thicker in several passes. 3 year warranty, never had any trouble and its totally abused all the time. Infinite control on feed and juice. Its 110 only, but there is an upsize that will do 110 or 220 and will weld thicker stock. I also have a great Maxstar 150 STL Tig/Stick by Miller. Its one of the little inverter styles, 150 amps and works magic from 110 or 220. Switches automatically. Only weighs 14 lbs and i can strap it across my shoulder and work from a ladder or use it with its remote control torch and long leads. Don't knock the 110 machines, you can't drag a big Lincoln buzz box into a clients home to weld a delicate railing job together. I can plug my box into any normal outlet and weld away. I almost never need the extra umph that 220 will get me. 110 tig or stick or mig is great to start and fine for the long term.

dablacksmith and Mills are both right. A smaller blank, split it, do it in smaller steps. I would try a round bar first, then finish to hex. Work the steel only when its really in the yellow heat, bordering on a welding heat. Or drill a round hole in a block, cut in half and finish to hex shape while hot.

Some motors will take it and some won't. Typically you can't use a dimmer switch. Obviously some folks have found their motors will work with one. Usually they make noise, overheat and die. If its an AC/DC universal motor, ok for sure, but... Your mileage may vary. A gate is a for sure idea, and its the common way to control air flow. All of the blowers i have ever had run at a constant RPM and I vary the air flow with gates and bypasses.

Assuming that this hammer does not have any cracked castings, this is not only a good deal at $300, but its good at $800 or more. It is a bradley cushioned helve hammer, and it could be the 25#, but I think maybe a 50# or 75#, can't be sure without being there. The Anvil looks like the larger one. If I didn't have three hammers, I'd drive to the coast and get it myself. There are plenty of hungry riggers out there who would bring it to you if you wanted it, but at 2500lbs, its a uhaul job. Rent a trailer. forgemaster has a point about the arc and swing of the helve, this is a great drawing machine, but requires care in choice of dies. I would use some flat dies and use handheld clappers for making more intricate shapes. The treadle is not supposed to be wood. Original is steel pipe, bent with a flat on each end with bolt holes, easily replaced.

Nice lamp. Try running a piece of stranded or solid but flexible, bare copper or stainless wire in the pipe BEFORE you bend it. After bending and welding, use it to pull the proper wire through. Lubricants for wire are much like astro-glide and the like, nothing fancy about them and they are water soluble. I don't recommend vaseline as it can damage the insulation on the wire upon long term exposure. I've built dozens of custom lamps and chandeliers, some with intricate bends. 1/8" black iron pipe mostly, very tight. One reason that wire won't go easily through is not so much the bend, but penetration of a weld bead into the tube, or the weld that runs the length of the pipe. It creates a speed bump/road block. Deal with the pipe weld by sighting the weld and bending it so that it stays out of the way at tight spots. Ask me how I now and I'll tell ya about cutting pipe out of a lamp that I could not fish wire through.

Old pics of my hammers are available here http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f57/power-hammer-junkies-510/ or from my website. I don't have a detailed study of the hammer, but the ram is 2" thick and the stroke is 6". Knowing that you can scale it up and figure the sizes from there.

Dewalt grinder with either a cup brush or standard wire wheel. Also Walter makes these great flapdisks for grinders, sanding disks and grinding disks and wire wheels. I use a big pickling bathtoo , holds 35 gallons, and I'm gonna build a bigger tank. Got a five gallon size tumbler, but am in the process of making a 100 gallon size. Also have a sandblaster and a blast cabinet. All depends on the project.

Sometimes they do come up for sale out that way, but most of the industry that used them was east coast and midwest. They truck well, I recently had my big bradley brought in from Smithville, OH, about 300 miles away. $3000 for a good condition Bradley would be fine. Paying that much again to have it moved would not be out of line either, althought the smaller ones you can move yourself. My rule of thumb is if its 2-3tons or less, I'll move it. If it weighs more than that I'll only move it around when its on the ground, I won't unload it from a truck. I think you were looking for a pic of my helve style homemade hammer, see my website for a pic.

First and foremost is the efficiency issues that I have posted about before. Mechanical hammers are handsdown winners for energy efficiency. My 25# Fairbanks uses a 1/2 horsepower motor. My 75# helve uses a 1 hp. My Bradley 300# uses a 10hp motor. An air hammer of the same equivalent weight takes 4-5 or more times the horsepower for its air compressor and a xxxxxxxx big tank. Second, plans schmans. If there is a pic available, you can copy the design easily enough, make your own mods and its then your design. I saw a pic of a rusty style hammer years ago and there was an object in that pic that I new the size of. I measured and scaled the drawing from that. My own plans were modified as I went to accommodate the available materials at my shop and scrap yard. My mid size hammer is a 75# helve hammer, inspired by the Rusty designs, but is actually based on a hammer design that dates back possibly as far as 1000 yrs. Power hammers ain't new technology. Third, if you can build it at all, the challenge of creating it from a bar napkin sketch and modifying it as needed should not be beyond ones skills. Other wise I'd be a little nervous about making it all. Your mileage may vary, I may just be biased and grumpy.

Tire clutches are simple, you gotta make a flywheel or offset drive anyway, might as well make it the power input as well. Saves by almost half. The coil springs could be interesting as part of a helve mechanism, but Bradley found that rubber cushions were safer for their big hammers, although they were alone in that, spring hammers are much more common. Their hammers have a relatively solid wooden beam, with the cushions or rubber springs at the crank or push rod end of the helve. You can see them in the pic below, the ram is on the left, the silvery looking banded eggs are actually 8 rubber cushions stacked up in pairs. Force is applied to them and they transfer it softly to the wooden helve and then to the ram which is attached with a leather or rubber strap. Springs eventually fail due to crystallization. But I wouldn't be afraid to try that idea with coil springs. Just be careful, we are the species on the planet with the greatest ability to kill ourselves.

The spring has broken twice in its life. Unlike an LG style or tire hammer where the spring is right in your face swinging very fast up, down and side to side, the helve spring is up high and moves only up and down. The broken spring simply drops down gently, the ram drops onto anvil harmlessly. Nothing flies far, but simply drops down with gravity. Since the ram cannot come out the top on my hammer, its much safer than other hammers. IMHO of course.

Hey Lubernaut- Welcome aboard, its always good to see some new and varied artistic visions. And I agree with Don, tell us more about the inspiration and technique that went into these works. It ain't your ordinary smithing vision. If you ain't afraid of a little critique, I'll chime in here with a few things. First off, your work is great, I like the flowing nature of it. Its organic, but in an alien or surreal interpretation of natural forms. They resemble things we know and see but are something more. The finely drawn points that taper delicately at the tips of many of the individual components are finely executed and visually enticing. I like a very fine taper, I'd draw stock down to a molecule in thickness if it wasn't for safety concerns. Its those very tips that lead me to the critique and question that has bothered me about my own work over the years. How small of a tip is dangerous to humans? lol. I mean will they catch on someones clothing? Or if someone falls, will it poke them badly? I ask these questions to see what the consensus here is as to how small to taper down to when these tips are exposed at the edges of a work. Or do you all put different tips on on different works for different reasons.

Remember in your designs that one of the reasons for a flexible or spring cushioned mechanism is to allow for the variables in height of the work piece as well as allowing for the rebound and stray forces that bounce around when swinging a heavy weight. The work piece changes in thickness, sometimes quite dramatically, say from 2 inch bar to a pointed 1/2"taper. I dont' know that a scotch yoke can absorb such variables. I could be wrong. The tire hammers are good and simple, although the tendency is to make them too light in terms of frame and anvil weights. Oversize the anvil and frame if at all possible. A ton is too much, but 6 -10 times the Ram weight is great. Common hammers such as the fairbanks and bradley had weights approaching 15-1 ratios for the anvil. An isolated anvil is great, much better than the LG. The Fairbanks and Bradleys had separate, removable and replaceable anvils isolated from the frame so as to minimize crystallization of the casting and help to eliminate vibrations. I see troubles with differential and axle designs, mostly its more complicated to modify what you have than to scrounge up the parts to make a simpler design. The tire hammer is a good option, although it is based upon the Dupont/Fairbanks design, which LG copied. Brakes are essential in my mind, so I like the designs for a clutch and brake in your plan. No need to go below grade for the anvil, stay up high and make it thicker. My homebuilt is a helve style of hammer. In my mind simpler and safer than the Tire hammer style. Mine has been in service for 6-7 years. Your mileage may vary.

I have been told that sweat and coal smoke is an aphrodisiac. :D

Firstly, beautiful work. Very organic. Did you do all of the drawing by hand or with a power hammer? How long did it take you to create this piece? That is a frak of a lot of hammer blows either way. I know because I create similar pieces.

Solar power does not mean you have to weld in or put the helmet in the sun to recharge. These helmets are weld powered, the solar cells in them charges the battery from the photons in the arc. I first got an HF helmet. 1/25000 sec. Still works great after 4 years. Also have a Lincoln, also good, same speed, 2 years old now. Both work great, the electronics in the HF helmet are fine plus adjustable, the lincoln is good too but not adjustable.

I certainly can't agree with that. I know as others here just noted, that "gassers" can and should be adjusted correctly according to varying conditions and needs. Perhaps good gas forge operation should be a separate thread.

Wow. I learn stuff here again. More about patinas and rust. Cool.

If you are leaving them outdoors, don't top coat at all. If rust is what you are looking for, 1/2" stock takes about 100 yrs to rust through so dont' bother stopping it. That bright color of rust has been chemically enhanced, by that I mean usually treating with a mild acid, acetic (white vinegar is what I use), or diluted hydrochloric to give a quick rust. Rinse thoroughly if you do decide to topcoat. This will get darker with time, although that time is years. I am currently looking out at a series of sculptures sitting ready outdoors right now, some with acid enhanced rust and some natural, some bright some dark. Oh and hydrogen peroxide can be used too, not that weak grade you get from the drug store, but go to a beauty supply house or the like to get the stronger stuff. Mixed with some browning solution for gun barrels it makes a very rich brown color. Again rinse thoroughly if topcoating.

Power hammer weights are given in Ram weight. My Bradley 300# has a theoretical ram weight of 300# but a machine weight of 11,000# without motor. My 25# Fairbanks weighs 1600# and my homebuilt 75# weighs about 2000#. This gives you an idea of the amount of steel required to dampen or absorb the amount of force that is created by a moving ram of whatever weight. In your design remember to calculate a good heavy anvil into it. A good rule of thumb for ram(hammer) to anvil ratios is 1 to 6. That is the anvil should be a minimum of 6 times as heavy as the ram. Or more. Some would say 15 times as heavy. The anvil on my Bradley weighs 4000lbs. The Anvil on my homebuilt is very light in comparison, it is only about 350 lbs, while the anvil on my 25# Fairbanks weighs about 400. The homebuilt rocks a little because of this. Another point to consider is the material to make the anvil out of. Solid, solid, solid. I tried to cheat on the original anvil on my homemade. It was pipe, 3/8" thick walled, the top filled and capped with solid bar and then of course the bolt on dies, but after 2 years of pretty hard use, it actually bulged out in the middle quite visibly. It now has a solid anvil and thicker top and bottom plates plus a series of gussets. On the matter of choosing the hammer size that you need, I would experiment with a smaller hammer first then build a larger one afterwards. The choice of hammer types is important too, the LG or tire hammers can be quite dangerous to the operator if something breaks right in your face. Thats my opinion anyway. A helve hammer has the advantage of having most of its moving parts behind the center column and therefore away from the operator. Helve hammers are less likely throw parts at you. I have busted the spring on my homebuilt twice, both time the hammer just stops, drops the ram to the anvil without harm and just drops the parts that broke. Once the pushrod bolts came loose and sent it backwards against the wall of the shop. Also no harm done. Oh and use locktite and or lock washers/nuts. All hammers are prone to having a screw loose just like us blacksmiths.

I had forgotten about making them until I showed up to do that install. These folks have been clients and collectors for years. Tree style of the tools matches more of their interior railings, but they look good with this fireplace.

Approximately 48" across. Double doors with the top branch being the handle to open the doors. Stainless steel screen behind mild steel forging, copper for the cobs on the cattails. Black finish is high temp rustoleum.