tirehammerman

Ray Clontz Tire Hammer by Clay Spencer Ray Clontz invented the drive for a power hammer and allowed me to use it to lead workshops to build hammers for blacksmithing groups and sell plans. It is a 50 lb. power hammer that uses the rear axle and hub from a front drive car and emergency spare tire and weighs about 700 lbs. It is powered by a 1 hp, 1750 rpm electric motor, 120 or 240 volts, runs about 250 blows per minute and uses a spring toggle mechanism similar to Little Giant hammers. The anvil is 6" solid round (minimum size) by 36" high and the frame is 5" square tubing. We usually put flat dies on the hammers so tools may be used. Over 300 of these hammers have been built in workshops. I sell detailed plans including list of materials for $30 including postage. In the workshops, we get a group of 15 to 20 blacksmiths together to build hammers as a group. The shop owner, a coordinator and I get a free hammer and all the others divide all the costs. I send plans and jigs for the subassemblies. The coordinator has the toughest job-signing up people, collecting money, purchasing all parts and material, scheduling prework sessions to get all the subassemblies built. Most workshops have built hammers for $1000, depending on how much free or cheap stock they can get. Workshops over 1 day drive from my place in north Alabama are more expensive because of my travel costs. I sell hammers for $2000 (8" diameter anvils are $2500). I don't have any for sale just now but Ned Digh in Fulton, MO (npdigh@ktis.net) has a hammer for sale. There is a class at new England School of Metalwork in early May (don't know if it is full) and a workshop in Elgin, SC in early October is full. I learned just this afternoon that John Wayne Taylor (334-514-2254)will be scheduling a workshop in his Wetumpka, AL shop, probably late spring 2008.