Steven Bronstein

Tubbe, Thanks for the reply. I have seen that some people use a concave shaped bolster block that they put the hammer head into when they drift to protect the curve of the cheeks. Sounds like you supported the hammer head in front of and behind the hole so that the bottom of the cheeks were supported above the anvil face. Yes? Thanks, Steven

I just found this thread, nice hammer. I am curious if you used a bolster with a concave face ,when you drifted the eye. If yes, how did you go about punching the whole without distorting the curve of the bolster. did you just punch from the top? thanks, Steven

Does anyone have any experience with Green Patch 421 made by AP Green. It was suggested by a potter friend to use as a repair mortar to fill holes inside my gas forge. It is claimed to be able to fill deep holes i.e. 2" thick. Thanks,

you want guilders paste. You can find it at www.guilderspaste.com great stuff

I have a gas forge I made from Kastolie 30 which is an insulating castable mortar. It has gotten cracked and chunks have fallen out. I would like to repair this instead of recasting. I see there are ITC products for repairing but it seems like it is more for resurfacing the interior of a forge and not for building up lost material i.e. 2" X 2" X 2" space. Does anyone have any experience with this. Thanks,

Tim, I have the shims and added material to the cam. The face of the brake itself has gotten worn enough that I am worried about it breaking. I did think about leaving it in place and building up the face of the brake with braze but thought it would be too hard to true up in place. I didn't expect it to be so hard to remove the pulley. I am still thinking I should persevere, and build up the brake off the machine so I can turn it back to round. Maybe ginding it back to round would not be so hard while still on the machine. Does that make sense. Hi to Rachel. Steve Bronstein Blackthorne Forge.

Judson, thanks for checking in. On my hammer, the brake is shaped like a split ring with the opening at 12 o'clock. I can get it free of the pulley but not get it around the drive shaft to remove. If you can figure out an alternative that would be great. let me know.

thanks for all of the help. I need to pull the pulley because the internal brake, which sits inside of the pulley, has worn and i wanted to fix it. I made a mechanical brake to go around the fly wheel so i could keep working while I fix the brake. I thought there might be a hidden pin holding it in place. don't see anything. I think I might drill and tap two holes on the hub so I can attach a puller directly to the hub, heat and maybe it will go then.

I think the pulley is cast so I was concerned that heating in the middle might crack it, of course I cracked the rim anyway but I can still use it. I can try to bring the whole piece up to heat together. Would I want to pull when it is hot or will it break the connection when hot and then pull easier when it cools off? Thanks for the response

I have a 100# Fairbanks/Dupont Hammer and want to remove the drive pulley. It is keyed with 4 set screws (2 on inside and 2 on outside). I have loosened them all and made a puller with a porta power. I expected it to come off easily and ended up cracking a piece of the pulley lip off and did not budge the pulley at all. i cannot see anything holding the pulley in place. it is a well used and oiled machine. am I missing something and does anyone have a replacement pulley, just in case.... Any suggestions? Thanks,

I may be interested in this hammer. Is this the old Bull or the newer Phoenix hammer. do you have a picture of the hammer and the controls. You can pm me at steve@blackthorneforge.com Thanks