Leah

Candidquality, I will pick it up this weekend and start seeing what I have to do to it. I am not sure that even I could stand that much pink in one place, but you never know... :roll: Come to think of it, I do call my place the Pink Hammer Forge, who says it has to be a hand hammer?

Katrina, you and Ron are in my prayers. I know that when you do get the call, you may not have time to let us know, but please try to keep us posted when you can.

OOOOH Ralph, you had me going there for a minute. I just knew you had come up with the secret formula for some kind of UV- saltwater- acid rain proof- not to shiney, clearcoat :lol:

Ralph, you and Dawn were already in my prayers. I will keep it up. Good luck

Sandpile, I went to look at the hammer this morning and I think I am going to get it. Thanks to all the information I got from you guys and an email from Sid, I could tell enough to make a decision. I took about two hours and went over everything with a fine tooth comb. There is slack in the babbitt bearing but there are still a couple of pieces of shim under the bearing cap. I THINK I may be able to run it for a while before it needs to be fixed. If not, I have poured bearings before. I do know that I probably will have to buy either the ram or ram guides or both. I don't know how much adjustment (if any) there is. The ram guides are bolted on with three bolts and there may (or may not) be some adjustment there. The thing has very good bones and was covered with years of grease, oil and dust, so I know it had been kept lubed. The first thing I did was to look at the parts that Sid does not sell. All of them checked out so the rest of it can be fixed. I did not even run it. The motor was 220 so we poked the end of the wires into a 110 outlet just to make sure there was life in it. I stepped on the treadle( after I pulled the wires out of the outlet ) and made Steve rotate the back pulley to make sure nothing was frozen. Between my elbow grease and checkbook and Sid's parts list, I think I can end up with a good hammer. By being able to show the seller that his "mint" hammer had some flaws, I was able to get him to knock 1/3 off the selling price. I am really looking forward to getting it in tip top shape. Mike, thanks for the info on the foundation. I am pretty sure I can get some old conveyor belt from work.

Thanks, I sure am glad to hear that. I did not want to have to dig up part of my floor.

One more question. My shop is on a 4" slab. If I do end up with this thing, will I need to dig up the floor and pour a special foundation for it, or can I place some kind of boards or rubber mat under it? Boy, all this sure does give an old gal a lot to think about.

Thanks Jr., I had already figured out that spring looked like a widowermaker. I guess OSHA was not around when these things were designed. I had made up my mind that the spring and toggle arms were going to be the first thing I looked at before I tried to run it. You guys don't know how much help you have been.

I hate to hear about the fires, Strine. I hope you guys get rain soon. We have had fires a few miles from us this year. Thank goodness no lives were lost. I seems like the whole world is trying to burn up.

Thanks you Thomas, I will check the rpm's on the motor.

Thanks Cory, I am not going to take a trailer or a checkbook with me when I go. All I am going to take is a camera and a flashlight. I'm sure the trip will be a bust, but you never know. I don't know a soul who lives near me that would know what they were looking at.

I used to use fatwood, then Steve quit deer hunting so I don't get that anymore. Then, I started using the little firestarter cubes that campers use. I finally gave up and just started using newspaper.

oh, I remember now. Valentine's Day will be here soon so I better get started on that...

Thanks Cory, The serial number is H-8063. I was told that it is a 1948 model but would like it if you double checked for me. Any information will help me a lot because I don't know anything about power hammers. Sid's site is a lot of help. I have sent him an email and may try to talk to him on the phone. I called the owner today and may go up this weekend and look it over and take some pictures of it. I asked the owner more about where and why he is using boards to change the way it ran. He said it was running too fast so he wedged two oak boards against the ram to slow it down. I don't know how long he ran it like this but I am sure going to look for wear on the guides.

Those look great. Many brownie points for you sir!

Ed, You and Beverly are on my prayer list.

I don't know your wife but I think a nice bouquet of hand forged flowers would earn you a few brownie points.

Thanks Chuck

Thanks for this thread guys. I just called about a 25lb. Little Giant a couple of hours from here. I may ride up and look at it this weekend. The guy "says" it is in mint condition but it has been stored in a shed since 1995. He said it was running well when he quit using it to sharpen plow shares. He told me he had put a couple of boards somewhere on it to keep it from hitting so hard. This tells me he did not know how or could not get it to adjust. I have asked him to call me with the serial number this weekend. Is there somewhere on the internet that I can use this information to see how old and what model this hammer is? This is the only hammer I have ever found for sale in my part of the world but I don't know anything about power hammers and I don't want to buy a dud.

Wayne, You and Karen are in my prayers.

Hey Ed, I have a good idea. Why not put the rags in a little bit bigger bucket/tub and get in there with your shoes off and your pant legs rolled up? You know, kinda like Lucy stomping the grapes. Not only would you end up with clean rags, your feet would have that fresh, lemon smell :lol:

Thanks Don

He had the old Ford loaded up and was fixing to make a run down to Morehouse parish. The impact really messed up the steering, so I told him to drag it down to my shop and I would fix it. Well, he drug that old Ford full of shine down to the shop and...

OK, I got it now. Thanks guys. I got "The Complete Bladesmith" in today so maybe now I can start to figure some of this stuff out. Years ago, I took a class from Jim Batson and we forged a knife from a file. I wish I had paid more attention in class. It was the first time I ever fired up a forge. I only took it because my husband was taking a carving class at John C. Campbell that week and it was the only thing that looked like fun. At the time, I never deamed I would want to forge another knife. You just never know, do you?

I have a book ordered but it has not gotten here yet. Is the choil the same as the plunge cut that forms the ricasso? I bet I have not spelled any of these parts right. You guys may really have your work cut out for you :wink: . Also, I have found Dr. Jim H's tapes on video, does anyone know if anyone carries them on DVD?