monstermetal

I dont know how or what but If you find yourself in northern Washington I'll figure something out to put you up and find some work.... Thanks for taking the time to post and report and I hope your US stay is productive and enjoyable

I have a really nice old "art deco" smaller industrial drill that I retrofitted with a DC motor and drive.. 3/4HP and a basic DC speed control with reverse... Worked really slick, especially for tapping small holes... Unfortunately I let someone else have the motor and speed control for another project so now I am on the hunt for a replacement myself..

Jakes website is www.jakejames.ca and his email is simply Jake @ the same address

Ive got a couple like that but they did not held up well just being mild steel.. . Maybe I should give some better steel a try... I would think the weld is iffy with the sucker rod? I have tried welding sucker rod right to things and it snapping due to carbon localization.... If they are super tight in the hole it might be that the weld really isnt doing much other than keeping it from creeping?

Im with John... What ever you do there will be some good and some bad.. Its just the way it always is.. Shoot I have three running hammers in my shop and one that I hope to someday get repaired and not a single one of them is above replacement... My recomendation is buy what ever you can get the best deal on.. I just spoke to a fellow tonight that has a 155 Big Blu hammer he wants $4000 for and a 250lb Little Giant for $6000... ;)

I'm not in north ca but I'm not that far away. Sometime this month I expect to have a container full of fly presses from England land at my shop. Jake James is the fellow who made the deal, I just am the shop space for delivery and storage. I think he has around 10 machines ranging from small bench units to #8 floor model/2 person manual machines... If I remember right I should see them in a week or two...

It sounds like a press, like for pushing bearings and such?

yeah agreed... Ive bought some of his tools... great stuff for the money... Its $71.99 I bet..

I do have one I would sell for $65+ shipping. ;-)

I am a big SayMak fan but I think the Iron Kiss is a fantastic hammer as well... When Grant bought his 75lb hammer he had it shipped to my shop and I played with it for a week or so... It had great control, hit harder than any small utility hammer I had ever run and I would buy one in a heart beat if it suited my needs... I think my 135lb SayMak is a better general forging hammer for what I do but If I was running a small home shop I would most likely opt for a 100lb Iron Kiss...


As far as MLMartins comments go any machine can be run into the ground... If its not maintained it matters little how "good" it was to begin with...

Nathan is a stand up guy.... Your welcome to come run my SPH-60 SayMak, Im just south of Seattle, about a 6 hour drive from Sandpoint

i agree with most of what has been said.... I have a 135lb saymak and bought Johns (gearheartironworks)110lb saymak when he upgraded to the 135 (my dad now has Johns 110'er) I think a IronKiss would be a great hammer, and I think the Saymak is fantastic... Both will do a fine job..

I think you nailed it John.... You got me thinking about shop built hammers again.... Not that I will ever get around to building one but it keeps my mind occupied

I've got a couple of these, only played with them once and found it a fair amount of work to make a hole

Send it to me Tim and I'll take care of it. Costs $80 for a single sample or $100 for two items ($80 min charge). I've got some stuff I could take in to split the cost. You get full composition breakdown and alloy designation report

They look great Francis, 1095 is like butter under that Champion? Or did you forge these all by hand?

No kidding.... I have picked a 350 lb anvil up off the floor (dead lift) and set it on a table.. I wont ever do it again, came really close to not making it... Im a pretty strong boy... If someone dead lifted a 700lb anvil into the back of the truck I would defiantly call him "Sir" and be real nice ;)

Lookin good man...

I hope one of you guys makes the cut.... Should be a lot of fun!

pretty cool John... a lot diffrent than what I pictured when we talked... Looks like a great design..

Can't wait to check out those pics on a computer. On my phone it looks pretty dang cool but I need too see details!

I think it could have merit... You could build a reasonably effective power source from a bicycle... the issue is that much of what you want to do at a belt grinder is precision work thats hard enough to do standing dead still with both feet on the ground... Trying to do it while pumping away at pedals fast enough to make the grinder work would make it much harder...
Nothing wrong with building a grinder though.... A motor can be bought cheap... Ive bought several for less than $20....

Yeah... those things happen.... And I think there have been quite a few new hammers like that around... Not that long ago, maybe 6 years, Michael Bondi had several 100lb utility hammers still new in the crate

Cool Tim! Now let the fun begin!

Last one was 25 years ago, so you could be in your 40's by the time the next one rolls around