MLMartin

I did not even see the air curtain Mr McDaniel,  I looked straight at that bick anvil! It looks very nice.

But yes a air curtain is a handy thing for large gas forges 

For smoke removal while working plate.

Is your forge right next to a wall? If yes then what about installing a low pressure exhaust fan maybe 18" - 24" size right through the wall and then placing a fan on the opposite side of the room pointing in the same direction. This would help push all the smoke that billows from around the large plate in one direction and out of the building. You could use a exhaust fan with louvers so it could be closed while not in use.

I would still recommend a super sucker hood for normal work that fits in the fire pot. I have one and it works great. I used Stainless steel and 12" duct straight through the roof. My super sucker is hanging from the ceiling by the duct. It just sits right behind the fire pot and floats about 4" off the forge table.

For 1250 I would buy a brand new ALL STEEL anvil, Fishers a great anvil, But a forged solid steel anvil would be better.

There may be some loss due to the spring pulling back as the hammer moves all the way down. But there is also some gained as the head travels higher and it is then slung down by the spring returning to flat. All commercial made mechanical hammers have some type of spring in them be it steel or even rubber. You have to have this spring action. If you did not and you stuck a large part to be forged in the hammer and the head did not make a full rotation because the travel distance was to short the hammer would jam.

Realistically a steel pipe will flex some but it will not perform like a proper heat treated steel spring.

Leaf springs can be had is all sizes.

Why do you believe that a leaf spring is not a good choice for your hammer?

Also I understand you are wanting to build a mechanical hammer that is air driven. So the idea of the hammer jamming from a short head stroke may not apply like it would a more conventional mechanical hammer.

I am sure drawing or pictures would help people give good advice.

But regardless of the type of machine I would not use a pipe in a area where a spring is designed to go

You will not get good flex and whipping action out of a pipe. The whole reason there is a long flat spring used on the hammer design is to allow the head to move father up and down than the acual cylinder travels.

Pipes are not springs

Make sure your hammer is set high enough off the floor. I have seem many people that have 50lbs sitting right on the floor level. I am 6' 2"  Not a overly tall fellow and I set my 50lb LG on 6" tall timbers. I could have gone to 7" or even 8" I find myself bending over to have a closer look at the work to often.

I would guess a 25lb is even shorter. You do not want to stoop over all day. And you are not swinging a hand hammer like at the anvil so no need for it to be short!

That is what I am using right now. I bought 1000lbs from a friend here is GA. 

Burns fine and hot. Seems like I have a hotter fire with it than straight coal. About 1" cross section.  It can definitely give off smoke when first lit. And after 6 or 8 hours forging 1.5" square in a pot about 11" by 13" 4" I will have filled the bottom of the pot with clinker. 

I do not like it as much as some Pocahontas coal that I have used in the past. But it is what is local to me and I am happy enough to continue using it.

Seems like a simple and functional "tire Hammer" would have been much easier to build, smaller, probably more reliable, and work better than this thing. Stacked plates make a dismal anvil. And whats with the arrow holes cut into the hammer head? to look cool and make the head much more likely to bend or brake? I also have a very hard time believing that hammer will work steel 4" thick like claimed.  

Humm not slotted. Odd. Maybe the fasteners are just friction fit? pressed in. I think a full cleaning and penetrating oil is in store to help revile what is what.

When can I come hang out and forge one with you? 

O I must have misunderstood your first description. I did not picture that in my mind. Very interesting joint.

You might try making a T joint forge weld to get the collar material on the end of the bar next time. Might be faster

Good Luck

Use a small sharp point and scrape the head of that fastener in the jaw. It may be a slotted screw that is completely packet full of crud. I often find screws like that on equipment. They look like rivets but when cleaned they turn out to be screws.

Good luck

This vise is just wonderful 

Also the old forge building had been leaking from the roof for a long time and there was bad rotting in areas of the frame. The new shop grand!. Although I have to say if you were not looking closely at the building, and went in the old one, then the new one a year later you probably would not realize it was a new shop.

Good work makes this website better! Thanks for sharing 

Take a short isolated heat on the bar right where the end of the split will be and up set the bar. Having the extra mass there will allow for some lost in thickness as the cut is made and the ends bent open.

I often will make a small upset in a bar before I split for a item like a fork 

Places like that creep me out. They are in third person I think.............or is it first? Not fun. I am a demonstrator/living historian/re-enactor and I am myself. I greet folks. Ask where they are from/what brings them to our village etc.

 

The folks at places like this really spook you. I was walking along wearing flip flops/running shorts and a T. This lady on the street (dressed in a costume of that era) had a fit. She asked if I had reported the robery to the local sherriff! She asked if I needed help in any way. She couldn;'t understand why/how somebody would rob the clothes from my person and that is wasn't proper to walk about in my underwear.

You will find that most people in Colonial Williamsburg are third person. That is that they will speak to you in a modern way and do not pretend that it is 1776. There is only a hand full of the actors that are first person and portray a person from 1776.

You will also find that Colonial Williamsburg has some of the best craftsmen in there respective areas. The Blacksmiths there are absolutely excellent. This historical site blows pretty much every other site in the US out of the water. CW does not hire people to demonstrate that are not qualified in there trades. Nor do they rotate interpreters though the trade shops like many other historical sites.

I have a simple AC/DC miller stick welder and have used it to scratch start tig a hand full of times. My welder has a crank to adjust the Amps. I would clamp the negative ground to the tig line, and the positive to the welding table. It worked well.

After I got a Dynasty tig welder I stopped using the little stick machine. 

Took a little while for me to stop phantom turning on and off the gas flow at the torch handle. haha

They look great! Did you really cut all those tiny feather lines with a die grinder? How small a burr bit did you have?, or cut wheel?

The bar connecting the hammer head to the concentric wheel at the top is way to long. There is no way to adjust the hammerer up. The hammer and anvil would not be tuching while the hammer is at rest. Some one messed it up. It will need repair. Also the hammer head has been snapped off at the guide at one point and you can see where it was brazed back together.

Good Luck, It is a fun looking hammer but needs a total rebuild!

I studied the photos for a while on ebay. I hope to see it repaired and running again soon!

Just unscrew the broken oil cup and measure the threads. You can buy a new one from websites like McMaster-Carr, Grainger, MSC, Enco. You might not be able to find that exact spring loaded pull cap, but one with a hinged top will be just fine.

On such a website search "Oil hole cover" or "Oil cup"

Yowzaa!  Will you please describe the method you use to etch the wrought iron? Very nice contrast in the grain. They look grand

It is a fine question. The Silicon bronze elements are forged. I would have happily used cast brass rosettes on the work, but the customer also wanted some type of arrow points on the piece. I looked and could not find anything good. So to insure that the rosettes and arrow points were a color match I forged them all from one bar of silicon bronze. I used this metal because some friends of mine enjoy forging it with good success. I know some of the bronze and brass types will not forge well so this was the choice for me.

When forging I would turn the lights off in my shop, this would dim my shop because I still had a 12 foot square door open on the end. Under dim conditions I would heat the silicon bronze to a dull red and it forged very soft. I did over heat one rosette to a light orange color and it shattered then I struck it with a hammer.

Water power shop! We would all very much enjoy photos if you will. There is a good amount of knowledge on this website. I am sure many people will give information on restoring one item or another.

Good Luck!

Hello again

Here are two window panels I installed today. They are approximately 2 foot by 4 foot. The frame is mild steel and the rosettes and arrow points are silicon bronze. These elements have been silver brazed in place. There are small piano hinges set into the outside corners and the opposite side having magnetic hasps attached to the door. There is a black guilders paste wash with lacquer finish. The doors are 8 feet tall and the glass is lightly mirrored on one side.

M Martin

Martin Forge Works