Dave H.

Power Hammers are like Harley's, if they ain't leaking oil, THEY ARE OUT of it! Put a brake on that puppy & you should have a great hammer ;-) I think the dies just need to be surface ground to get them flat & the edges rounded and you should be good to go I would lube it up good & run it slowly to see if there is any bad wear or anything & if it seems good I would run it as is. You might talk to your local welder with lot's of cast iron welding skills about welding in the crack. Bad thing about LG hammers is their cast quality sometimes ain't all that good. Dave H.

Wrong spring??

Great hammer! Makes a Little Giant seem like a beginners hammer!

If it's not covered in grease & oil, it's low on grease & oil! Just ask Clifton Ralph! ;-)

I would replace the dies with flat dies. You can do much more work on flat dies.

I was taught to fit the shim hot from the fire to get the best fit. Also to get that key out you might drill & tap the larger end & use a slide hammer to pull it out. These hammers are used in auto body work sometimes. Dave

In hammers I have worked on with worn guides I have found that reversing the motor will put the pressure on the side of the guides that are not worn so bad. Dave Huffman

Combo dies are a bad idea on a mechanical hammer like Little Giant's & similar hammers. Combo dies never allow you to hit the sweet spot which is the center of the die. I also believe your ram guides could be worn.

Do you mean drawing dies? In general flat dies are better for general forging. It is much easier & safer to use flat dies when using tooling with your hammer. Power hammers like to beat themselves apart. Loc tite, lock nuts, castlelated nuts All will help but going over your hammer & checking them over before & during operation is the best preventive medicine. Don't be afraid to use lot's of Grease & oil. I prefer to lube with oil myself as oil will help flush grit & slag out of a bearing where as grease turns it into laping compound. Hope this helps. Dave Huffman

I mounted my 50 LG to 3 elevator counter weights I got for free & redheaded the counter weights to the 4" concrete slab on my back patio / blacksmith shop. Made that hammer hit really hard & never had a problem with the hammer moving. Keep your eyes open at your locla junkyard for those elevator counter weights. They make a great base for a hammer. Dave Huffman

I have found swage blocks make great door stops & boat anchors. I would rather make tools to use on the anvil or power hammer. Using a swage block with top tools is a 2 person job. Make a spring swage for the anvil or power hammer & it is a one person job. I know lot's of people love swage blocks but for the most part for me they are a waste. Dave Huffman

Not a fan of grease on forging hammers. Scale gets in the grease & turns it in to lapping compound. Dave Huffman

I found three elevator counterweights at a local junk yard. Using Red heads to bolt the counter weights to the slab & then bolted the 50Lb LG to the counterweights. Never had a problem with the slab or the hammer moving. Also it hit REAL hard when I got it all bolted down. These counterweights weighed about 120 Lbs a piece. Dave Huffman

What size are the dies?

The thing i like about larger hammers is they tend to run slower giving you more control. Also larger hammers have more room to use tooling. Lg made the 25Lb hammers for drawing out plow shears & similar work.. I would always vote for getting the biggest hammer within reason you can. Dave Huffman

Sorry, did you mean "pet cock"? Never heard them called a pea cock.

I once found several elevator counter weights that I used for a base for a 50Lb Little Giant. I red headed the weights to the concrete floor & bolted the hammer to the weights. That hammer really hit hard that way.

I think you need to put metal links in like the hammer came with. How else can you adjust the tension of the spring??

When I was smithing I called my shop "Two Maples Forge" My forge was then outside between 2 maple trees! Dave Huffman

It is simple, your shop is to clean. You need some coal smoke to give it "Smithy" Juju!!

Your fire pot looks to be for a coke forge I think?

Get a Cannady - Otto blower ! A much better built blower!

Clifton Ralph put it like this. You can feed two off a table for 20 but you can't feed 20 from a table set for 2. Get the biggest hammer you can! Dave Huffman

I don't care to use grease on a power hammer. All the grit & scale mixes with the grease to form lapping compound. I feel oil will help wash scale & crap out of the bearing & slide surfaces. Dave Huffman

When I am working on a power hammer I wear cloth hot mill gloves on both hands, If I am working on the anvil I just wear one of these gloves on my left"Tong" hand. One thing I cn say is use eye protection ALL the time in the shop. It just makes sense. Dave Huffman