mrichard76

Thanks BT! Still trying to envision exactly how this works though....

Yes that is a 5 on the part actuated by the vertical cam. Seems to be a real mystery here! Really bugging me as to what this is...

Don't see any other numbering on it.

On the 4th picture you can see allot of hammer marks. Also you can see numbers on multiple parts in the other photos. Can't make out the text(patent?) and the date is not so clear either.

Here's a picture of the inlet plumbing if this can tell anything.

When I was checking out the piston and rings on the 400, I think the rings weren't any more than an 1/8" thick. I would imagine (with out a whole lot of wear) you wouldn't have more the an 1/3 of the piston ring thickness exposed outside of the piston groove while in the cylinder bore. This would give you around 0.042" clearance. This is just estimation though... I measured my resevoir and it is a 600 gallon tank.

The 200 lb still has it's original brass ID plate stating air operation at 80-100 psi. The 400 has no remaining info. Is there a way to determine if it was indeed built as a steam hammer?

Will have to get an accurate measurement of the reservoir. Mike, I think the iron's gonna get cold between my forge in Louisiana and Georgia! Maybe you could bring your 500 lb Bradley down to Louisiana and I won't need a compressor!

Hahaha! Will try to get some more pics.

Doesn't look like one to me. Also has some decorative refinements. Maybe it was part of a larger machine/tool?

20 horsepower and around 500 gallons of reservoir. Reservoir will need to be relocated as close as possible to the hammers. Will also be running the 200 lb utility but not simultaneously.

I have all the originals but the got really screwed up by whoever disassembled the hammer years ago. The all thread is just temporarily holding the upper assembly in place - not under power :-)) I'll be using 1" grade 8's for the permanent ones. I love this hammer too! Just hope the compressor and reservoir can handle the hammer!

No Patent numbers that I can see. The angles look like it could be used for plow points. Maybe to swage down the points???

That was my thought at first but there is no blade or bypass. It is blunt looks like some sort of clamp. The two cams operate at 90 degrees to each other, but are skewed at 45 degrees in another plane.

Got the cylinder/ram assembly mounted back on the frame. Opened up the cylinder and everything looks good inside with no broken rings or gouging. The frame was outside laying on its side for the last few decades after failed attempts of removal by the local scrappers. The whole upper assembly was kept under a carport out of the weather. I found a small brass plate on riveted on the frame marked G.S.A. 5-1931. Does anybody know what that might be? The General Services Administration was established in 1949...

It's dated 1898. It's got me stumped....

It seems as though every scrap yard in Baton Rouge knew about this place and was hounding the last owners on a weekly basis to let them get in there and haul them off. I really don't know how they would have got the 400 out of there though. We used an articulated front end loader with a 12,000 lb tipping load capacity to lift these and transport them to the lowboy trailer. The rear tires were just floating when picking up the frame for the 400! On top of that they were located behind a house in a subdivision. Makes me wonder how they got those hammers back there in the 50's.

It is a shame to think about how much of this has been melted down to make rebar!

I don't think my little giant will fit into my forge!

I am very happy to save these hammers. I would have been really sick to find out they had gone to scrap. It's bad enough knowing that a previous owner had scrapped rest of the shop's contents, which was said to be packed full of equipment. I found dies and springs from little giant hammers there as well. Seems as though anything that could be hauled out got scrapped. Good thing the scrap guys couldn't handle these! The 400 frame was toppled over outside the shop apparently from a failed attempt to drag it off. I will be running these off of air.

Thanks! It looks(so far) like all the parts are there! I am a knifemaker and also do some blacksmithing. I will primarily use these for making damascus. These will be a significant improvement to my 25 lb Little Giant!

I'm the person who purchased these hammers. We've just finished moving them to their new home. A little clarification - the ad stated these were 2 - 200lb hammers, but it looks like the second disassembled hammer is a 400lb utility. The cylinder is marked 4H 922 and the 200lb is marked 2H 776 LO on the tup. So far it looks as though all the parts are there for both hammers! On another note, the 200lb is from the same serial range and Army Corps of Engineers designation as Danger Dillon's hammer. I guess that leaves 58 more unaccounted for! I would greatly appreciate any help on finding manuals or parts diagrams for these hammers. Looking forward to getting these cleaned up, reassembled and into operation again! Mike Richard