SGropp

Put the piece in a drill press vise. Take a transfer punch that just fits between the jaws of the vise and punch the center. Do not remove the piece from the vise. Drill the hole using a drill press. A copper or aluminum shim on each side of the piece will help the vise grip an irregular [ forged ] piece. Transfer punches are really handy in a blacksmith shop. Even the cheap sets are well worth the money. When they get too dull they make great stock for forging a graduated set of drifts. Buy yourself a drill press. They are the most essential tool in any kind of metal shop IMHO

Don't lift the hammer from the shaft. This puts the full load on the upper bearing caps and could possibly damage the shaft. I'm surprised Little Giant suggested that ,if that was the case. Put a heavy nylon sling through the top part of the C-frame of the hammer, making sure no linkages or other parts are in danger of getting crushed or bent. Apply the lifting load slowly ,watching that nothing is in the way. The hammer should hang level and in balance from this point. I've shipped 3 hammers from 25 to 200 # cross country and had to lift each one of them into place with a boom truck . The hammers were shipped upright through bolted to heavy pallets [ emphasis on ''heavy'' ] and cinched down to the truck with chains wrapped around the sow block. Having the hammer upright on a pallet gives the option of loading or unloading it with a forklift and with some forethought puts it at the right height to slide it off onto the riser block in your new shop. Anyway that's my experience with moving hammers. Even the small ones are heavy, get or hire an extra hand to help guide the load when you are lifting it. Don't forget to make a tracing of the footprint with bolt hole locations while you have it off it's foundation. Good luck!

If you want a flat table, I suggest you not weld the legs to it . Make the legs out of heavy angle or tube and weld a piece of plate to that and attach it to the table top with machine screws into tapped holes . The high heat input to weld the legs to a heavy plate will distort it enough to be a hassle forever. All my layout tables are 1'' thick and really worth the money if you do any kind of layout and assembly on large projects. I am careful not to weld directly to the table top itself and use a torch carefully or block the work up off the surface to avoid heat distortion. The plate tops have stayed flat and true [ enough for blacksmith work ] for years.

Dig a hole a couple of inches deeper than you want for the right height of the top of the stump . The hole should be about 4'' to 8"" bigger all around than the stump. Line the hole with a sheet of plastic. Pour a level concrete pad a couple inches thick in the bottom of the hole. When it is hard, set the stump in and fill all around with concrete to the finish floor if the floor is concrete and a few inches below if the floor is earth. Trim away the excess plastic below grade. The plastic will allow the concrete to cure at a slower rate resulting in a harder and stronger block. If the stump is slightly smaller in size than the foot of the anvil you can hold it tight to the stump with two heavy [1/2'' to 3/4''] plates through bolted through the stump pinching the feet of the anvil. This will hold the anvil so that it will not budge and it effectively kills the ring. It also enables you to reorient the anvil if you can't decide which way to point the horn.

I used a matched set of cogged v belts from the motor to the jackshaft pulley. The jackshaft is 1 5/8 '' to fit the flat belt pulley that was on the original motor. The jackshaft runs in a pair of heavy duty pillow blocks. I made a new motor mount that sets the motor up on the top of the frame where it's all accessible but out of the way. The mount is fabricated from 3/4'' and 1'' plate using the original factory bored and tapped holes to attach it to the frame . A magnetic starter is mounted front and center just below it. I spent the time and money to make a proper guard over the jackshaft and big flat belt out of angle iron, flat bar and expanded mesh. This provides visual access to the workings and a couple of ports allow the various lube points to be easily reached. The open free running belts on a machine like this are a serious hazard . The guard is attached to the frame of the motor mount or factory original tapped holes in the frame. I don't like the practice of drilling extra holes in these beautiful old machines and cobbling something together '' to get 'r done and working'' Once you start working on one of these old machines you get a sense of the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the original builders ,which should be respected. We are professional metal workers ,right ? If rebuilt properly and handled with care, these hammers should give at least several more generations of service. [end of rant ] My hammer is painted a very dark gray or black, I suspect this is the original color. The front of the ram was painted white, which I think was done to give a light background to check the profile of the work in the tool forge. Mine is set up as well with pretty much maximun stroke and not to tight on the spring tension. This seems to work pretty well for open die work, swaging and short top tool operations. I'm not sure of the speed ,but it's probably around 225 bpm at full throttle. I've got just under $12,000 in the machine including shipping all the way across country to a remote island, foundation, riser, crane time , new motor, mag.switch and power train, dies, keys, rollers, bronze guides, guard ,electrics and hired labor. Plus 8 months of my ''free time '' from when I located it to when it was back at work paying me back. I'll try to post a couple of pictures later.

My Beaudry was set up with matching top and bottom insert dies in a tool making factory in Mass. I got all the inserts as well as all the product samples of the tools it was set up to make; mostly star drills , pin punches ,hooks and pry bars. I had to torch out the big dies that held the inserts out of the sow block and ram, they were stuck so tight and I wanted to fit flat dies in the hammer. I got a set of both drawing and combo dies with the hammer . I had Bob Bergman make a set of new rollers and new flat dies . As I recall there is no lengthwise taper in the dovetail on the die, just in the ram and sowblock dovetails. Mine has short keeper pin in the center of the ram dovetail and the top of the upper die to help keep it in position. There should be a heavy solid idler pulley with a bronze bushing and oil hole mounted on an arched slotted bar on the motor or motor mount to tension the top side of the drive belt. Good luck on getting it set up and running .

I have a #7 [200#] motor driven hammer just like that one. Great machine ! Send me a PM and I can arrange to send you a copy of the factory literature for the cost of the postage. For some reason,the way they were set up from the factory , bars worked along the length of the dies would run into the motor mount. I set mine up with the motor mounted on top. I used a 7 1/2 hp 1725 rpm single phase motor with a 2 to 1 reduction via a jackshaft to match the 850 rpm of the original motor rpm . The clutch seems to be lubricated with the oil that seeps out from the back end of the top main bearing. I use way oil through a drip oiler set for a pretty good flow. This seems to be right as my hammer has very good control and I do a lot of hollow tapered forgings on a set of flat dies. The anvil bolts down with 2 bolts from the foundation with access through oversize holes in the base of the frame . The frame has to be dropped down over the anvil block and is bolted down with separate bolts. Make sure the die keys in the ram don't stick out so far that the key hits the ram guides on the up stroke . Keep the rollers and tracks inside of the ram swimming in oil . Great score ! How much did you pay for it ?

I wish I could give a 100 % percent positive review of the Chile Cayenne. I bought one well over a year ago. The t fitting off the regulator leaked from the start and the regulator packed up and would not deliver pressure to get above a bright orange heat. The regulator was tapped into my shop propane line from a 500 gallon tank through 3/4'' pipe at 35 psi line pressure. David Star [ sp?] of Chile Forge was quick to replace the faulty parts . No leaks but the new regulator still would not put out as needed. I replaced that with a Smith brand medium duty fuel gas regulator which I tend to run at 10- 15 psi. [ the regulator was about $75 at Central Welding ] Plenty of heat now ,with little scaling. The configuration of the forge suits a lot of my work . I make a lot of railings which means a bunch of 3' bars for spindles and heavy solids for newels and returns. The open ends works well with long sections of caprail, although the stock supports supplied are not up to the task of supporting much weight. The floor wore out pretty fast, although I patched it a couple of weeks ago with Mizzou 3000 castable refractory, which seems to be holding up . The inside layer of Kaowool on the forge ceiling has been steadily caving in and today I replaced it with another layer of 1'' blanket with Ins-Tuff rigidizer and a light coating of ITC 100. [ from Seattle Pottery ] Running a forge insulated with something like Kaowool without coating the fiber blanket is probably asking for trouble down the road . The dust given off from the fired ceramic fiber insulation is a suspected carcinogen . The Chile Forge has a place in my arsenal but it took some work and money to get it to perform as advertised. I really like my NC Whisper Daddy 4 burner and am on my second one in 13 years. Nothing lasts forever at the temperature cycles a forge goes through, especially on a day in and day out schedule . I'm not sure an induction forge would fit my kind of work with a lot of changes of section from one heat to the next. Anyway that's my 2 cents on gas forges.

Aren't blacksmiths great ? Four hours grunting, sweating and groveling to salvage some rusty hunk in the hope that it might turn out to be something remotely usable and paying good money for it as well ! Wish I could say that I've never done just. Nice looking press. I've had some luck freeing rusted parts or bolts by heating with a torch to a red and letting it cool completely overnight. Might not be a good idea with the cast iron parts though due to the danger of cracking. I would guess that the lower protruding bolt is to hold the tool in the ram, I assume that there is a hole in the ram to receive the stem of a top tool like in a fly press. My guess is that the hole above it is a lubrication point. Patience is the key, put it someplace out of the way and give it a shot of your favorite rust busting penetrating oil [ not sure what is best, I've had some good luck with ''Blaster'' or ''Liquid Wrench" ] Good luck !

The dies on my 25 and 100 # hammers are 4140 and seem to hold up fine. The dies on my 200# Beaudry [4''x8''x4 1/2''] are the same material but seem kind of soft. The only real problem is that spring dies fixed in the hammer get scale under them and that chews the bottom die up a bit . I usually put a sacrificial piece of copper sheet under the swage if I am doing multiple pieces. I'd rather have the dies be a bit soft than risk them chipping. They do seem to work harden over time. Man, it was HOT in front of that fire today !

There was a motor driven screw press for sale a while ago on Ebay. It was rated at 6000 metric tons with a 26'' diameter screw. It was in some shipyard in Baltimore. You could probably use it to forge the frame of one of those little 100 ton presses if you had the right dies.

I am right handed, I use a double horn anvil and have the round horn to the right. The hardy hole is on the shoulder at that end. I almost never use hardy tools in the anvil. I either put the tool in the vise or use the treadle hammer or flypress. Both of these have a 1" square hardy hole built in. This way I can use a top tool as well and can give a much more powerful controlled blow while I keep a good grip on the work. Even with a good fit between the shank of the hardy tool and the hardy hole in the anvil, I find that the resulting slop wastes a lot of energy and accuracy. Almost any kind of fullering ,swaging, drawing, punching and cutting off operation gets done under the power hammer. I actually try to use the anvil and hand hammer as little as possible. I'm 54 and do this work 40 hrs a week to run a business and support a family. I've got some more years to go [hopefully] and try to be as efficient as possible.

I am right handed, I use a double horn anvil and have the round horn to the right. The hardy hole is on the shoulder at that end. I almost never use hardy tools in the anvil. I either put the tool in the vise or use the treadle hammer or flypress. Both of these have a 1" square hardy hole built in. This way I can use a top tool as well and can give a much more powerful controlled blow while I keep a good grip on the work. Even with a good fit between the shank of the hardy tool and the hardy hole in the anvil, I find that the resulting slop wastes a lot of energy and accuracy. Almost any kind of fullering ,swaging, drawing, punching and cutting off operation gets done under the power hammer. I actually try to use the anvil and hand hammer as little as possible. I'm 54 and do this work 40 hrs a week to run a business and support a family. I've got some more years to go [hopefully] and try to be as efficient as possible.

I suggest you contact Jim Wester at North Bay Forge He has a complete knife/tool making shop that is totally of the grid. He runs a 40# air hammer, compressor, hyd. press and welder off a diesel generator. He built a small scale line shaft system to run all the other stationary tools. Quite an ingenious set up, not very efficient, but he lives on a small island where no grid power is available. He's been doing it for years with some success. I know he is looking into acquiring a fly press for the versatility and no power requirement. Your 100# LG was designed to run on a 3 hp motor although 5 hp is marginally better. My full time shop runs off a 90 amp breaker in the main service panel in my house which feeds a sub panel 150' away in the shop. I run 3 mechanical hammers up to 200#, 350 amp inverter welders , plasma cutter, grinders, bandsaws, 50 T ironworker,compressor, lathe etc, etc, etc, all single phase, with no problem for the past 15 years. The wiring in the shop was done by a licensed electrical contractor and inspected by the state. The point is that you can realistically get away with less power than you might think.

The best guard for the spring on a LG is a piece of 1/8'' plate cut ,bent and shaped to cover it completely from the front. Hold it on with the cross head bolt. Work out the right shape with a piece of stiff paper or light sheet metal. It takes a bit of fitting get it right so the guard gives full protection to the operator without interfering with the action of the hammer. On the subject of clean shops, why is it that people seem to think it's fine to work in a junk yard ? If you spend your day moving around material that's hot, heavy and sharp you do not want any extra stuff in the way. Hot cut offs, sparks or slag that fall into a pile of junk are a definite fire hazard. If you can't find that tool, material or part without a big time consuming search through a mess, you might as well not have it. If you have potential clients visit your shop, the fact that is picked up and organized gives them a measure of confidence that you just might be the one for that big commission for their new high end home. Just my two cents worth, different people have their own methods of work.

It's a little hard to say how much the UL cert. costs as it's part of the total cost of the wiring of the fixture by the special UL certified shop [or ''bench'' as they call it] The one I use charges about $90/ hr and provides all the listed parts, does a neat and tidy job and puts that special little sticker inside the canopy so the electrician can legally connect it up and the State Inspector is happy in case he takes the time to check. It can cost from about $200-300 [and up] per fixture depending on size and complexity. It would be hard to do it much cheaper yourself if you are charging for your labor at shop rate, even if you had the knowledge and all the special fittings. In this case the job is done right and the letter and spirit of the law have been satisfied.

You are stepping into a world of liability exposure with this one. When I do any kind of electrical lighting fixtures [and I have done quite a few ] I do all the metal work and take it to a UL certified shop for wiring and certification. I deliver the piece and hang it, ready for a licensed and bonded electrical contractor to make the final electrical connection. This is not a cheap process, if your clients won't expand the budget enough to do it properly and legally, your best course of action is thank them for their interest and refuse the commission. In most states, you must be licensed, bonded and insured as a specialty contractor to install any kind of custom metalwork on site. Most general contractors will not allow you to set foot on a job without a valid up to date certificate of insurance on file. Even if you only manufacture a piece and do not install it, you still are exposed to product liability . This is just one of those aspects of the craft that doesn't get much attention, but should. There is a whole lot more to blacksmithing [particularly as a business ] than just just making beautiful things in iron. I spend well over $2000 a year on insurance for my fulltime smithing business in addition to all the other overhead. When people on this forum want to know how much to charge for their work, all of these other costs need to be factored in. Good luck.

If you choose to go with an oxy/propane rosebud set up, it's worthwhile to set up 2 [or more ] oxygen tanks on a manifold system so you don't freeze up the regulator from the high withdrawal rate. You can also use Chemtane2 as the fuel gas which gives a higher flame temp. than regular propane at 1/2 to 2/3 rds the oxygen consumption. You can use the same regulators, hoses and tips that are compatible with propane.

I dump the ash and clinkers on the dirt floor of my forge shop and break up the big lumps with a heavy tamping bar. Combined with the scale and oil off the hammers , it makes a good floor, easy on the feet and legs over a long day. I usually rake it smooth and level at least once a week. I also had a dog that liked to eat the clinkers, sometime it would stand up on it's hind legs to pull them out of the forge. It never did try it when the fire was burning , however.

Make the brake band go over the top of the flywheel [ covering a bit more than half the circumference ] If the brake is underneath it tends to get contaminated with oil. The linkage is pretty easy to figure out. Put a coil spring [ with adjustment ] on both sides of the frame to lift the treadle, it will make for smoother action of the clutch and brake and give more consistent control and feel no matter at which angle you are working the hammer from.

I own all my tanks and exchange the empties for full ones and just pay for the contents. Between the OA torches ,Mig and Tig , I've ended up with 14 tanks. I've found that having a full spare on hand is more cost effective than shutting down in the middle of a job and running to town to get a refill.

I solved the problem by replacing my fire pot [ which was shot anyway ] with a heavier and much shallower fire pot made especially for burning coke. I also upgraded to a bigger blower. I got both of these from Centaur Forge. It bolted right into my existing tuyere which also originally came from Centaur. I cemented it in flush with the bed of the forge table with Mizzou 3000 castable refactory from Seattle Pottery. This was not a cheap fix but now I'm back in business with some serious heat and no smoke or stink.

Nice score ! Don't forget to make an accurate template of the base and bolt layout on a piece of plywood while you've got it laying on its side. I've never run a 50# LG ,but I've got a 25# and 100# old style hammers with the wrap around guides. I use way oil on the top bearings ,pins, toggles, guides and linkages. I use grease on the crank bearing ,main clutch bearing and the treadle pivot. I use 50/50 30wt/diesel on the clutch surfaces. The clutch likes to be kept wet . A sheet metal guard is handy to keep oil from being flung across the walls and ceiling of the shop [and anything or anyone else nearby ]

Mine are all 4140 ,which sometimes seems a little soft but they won't chip. I have had my dies made by Bob Bergman at Postville Blacksmith Shop or from Little Giant. They both do a good job and the dies do fit right the first time and stay tight in the dovetail. I usually buy the die keys from the same source or forge and grind them out of mild steel. I usually use a sacrificial scrap of copper sheet beneath any swages used under the hammer to keep the scale from being pounded into the surface of the of the die. I also radius the edges and grind the top and bottom surfaces of the swage smooth to preserve the die faces. Does anyone else do this?

You can buy a gallon of ITC 100 from Seattle Pottery Supply [Google them to get the number] for about $100 with shipping. A gallon lasts a long time even with a couple of gas forges in a full time shop. Make a mixer out of a piece of 3/16 rod to go in a drill motor to get it stirred up. It should be a brushable consistency like very thick paint. Thin it with distilled water if it drys out or gets too thick. You can also get a liquid ridgidizer for Kaowool that is good for keeping the blanket from breaking down and as a primer for the ITC coating. The airborne dust and fibers from fired Kaowool is a suspected carcinogen. If you put any value on your time I can't imagine it is worth it to try to reinvent something industry has spent millions on developing and perfecting. Thermal insulation and high temperature refractories are a significant component of many industrial processes.