petere76

Any big old hunk of iron will suffice as an anvil if you set it up right. it does not have to be fancy, flat and heavy will do the trick. Small piece of Rail Road Track, scrap yard finds, or plates bolted together can all make a servicable anvil of sorts. Just be creative and have your buddies keep their eyes open for stuff you might want and follow through when you hear about something. Good luck with your hunt. Peter

Good score on the anvil. I like the custom made smoker in the background as well. Seems that your new home came with the complete fun-pack.

Nice job on the socket, looks great.

Folks, Thanks for all the suggestions and the photo. The clip idea sounds like the best solution for my set up. This is the first time I have had a power hammer in the shop and I'm playing around with it's position in the work flow scheme of things. I still like to get a truck into the center of the building where the overhead chainfall has access, so just nailing this thing down in the wide open spaces would limit my options on handling heavy items and loading my welder. I see where it works best and go with it. Up till now I have kept the shop very flexible in regard moving things around and that flexibility has really served me well. I'm anxious to get the hammer ( #343 in the Clay Spencer series) properly secured and operational. On the last day of the (Maine 2011) hammer workshop, Clay demonstrated some of his tooling and hammer technique. Despite not being secured to the deck and only steadied by a few strong and willing hands, Clay was still working the hammer like a pro and I'm sure everyone was eager to get home and set up their rigs. I'm on the tooling mission now ala the Alabama Forge Council PDF but if ya got any suggestions for a new power hammer operator, fire away, I'm taking notes. Thanks, Peter

Its a Spencer spare tire hammer. The hammer itself is 700 Lbs and the plate its bolted to is 400lbs, for a total weight of @1100 lbs.

Gents, I need some input on mounting my new tire hammer to a concrete floor in the shop. The floor is not industrial strength, likley around 6 inches thick. It was a garage for many years and is reinforced. The hammer is bolted on a 400 lb steel plate and the plate will be placed on a 7/8 in stall matt. Overall height would be 1- 7/8 in off the floor. Is the best procedure to bolt through the plate or to bracket (offset) the attachment next to the plate? How about the concrete lags, which products and sizes seem to work the best? If any of you have done this and have some photos it would sure help. Thanks. Peter

A suggestion for spring steel. Try "spring' or suspension service centers for vehicles. I hit the local spring place for scrap occasionaly. They always have a pile of old spring steel out back. Large dia coil springs tend to be in short supply because truck suspensions don't use as much coil as they did in the past. However, the old scrap is still out there and can be had for short money. Good luck with your hunting. Peter

Check out the specifications and get some feed back on the spare tire hammers by Clay Spencer. This hammer comes in under 2K but requires your time for the workshop group construction technique. I just completed one of the hammers in the workshop held in Maine. The class produced 12 hammers in 4 working days at the New England School of Metal Work facility. All the hammers were constructed to Clay's specifications using his own gigs. At the completion of the project the hammers were all inpsected by Clay, fully operationally tested and ready for transport by the start of busines on the 5th day. The facility, operated by Derek Galsier (master blacksmith), is a first class operation and it's fully equipped. Having a facility such as this at our disposal was critical to the success of this project. The experience of the "grouip build" and the quality of the finished product produced are both worth the investment of your time and cash. We had a great time and I believe that all involved were pleased with the outcome. The tire hammers, as built, have a head (50 lb) to mass ratio (700 lb) of 1:14 and this factor is easily increased by adding your own heavier base plate at the point of installiation. think in terms of working stock 2 in or less. Clay demonstrated the basics of the hammer operations and some of the tooling of his own manufacture. Despite not being secured to the deck, the hammers performed flawlessly. I'm in the process of mounting my hammer in the shop this week. I did the metal prep and the paint job this weekend and I'm just waiting on the steel plate for the base. On recomendation from other owners, I will mount the hammer on a stall matt (tractor supply $ 40.00) and secure the base structure to the (concrete) deck with masonary lags. Good luck on your research and if you decide to go with the tire hammer I am confident you will be pleased. Peter

Thoughts and prayers from Maine and CA.

Gents, You need a replacement cost policy rider. Business usually use this for equipment kept in leased spaces. Sometimes they have loss of use riders that cover the loss of the tooling till its repalced. The other technique is to insure the building and "content" and make certain that you photo document all tooling and equipment in the building. if you have welders and they have low hours...make sure to have a photo of the hour meter. If you have a roll away tool cabinets filled with Snap-On or other similar high end tools show a draw by draw photo log. In the end it comes down to documentation and the more documentation you have, the more you will recover in the event of a loss. If, in your opinion, the estimated coverage is less than replacement cost, up the content portion of the policy accordingly. If you have theft as well as fire, some companies may require a security system. It need not be fancy or electronic, just a secure perimeter will suffice. Again document the security features to assure your compliance. Good coverage is really pennies on the dollar of value and well worth the small cost and the the time spent in documenting the equipage. Peter

Blackwater, Great job. Do you swage out ( hand forge) the shovel blanks or use a press? Any pics on that tooling would be greatly appreciated. Peter

Dave, Nice concept. What are you using to bob out the countersunk holes for the screws. The holes blend in very well. Peter

Mad one, Give the guy a break, rest up , take a day off from being a jerk its almost monday.

Bentiron, If your son can weld and can pass a qual test, Bath iron Works (BIW) in Bath Maine was looking for welders on the overnight shift. Not sure about the other shops (trades) in the yard are hiring but its worth a shot, give them a call. BIW pays around 20 USD per hour plus benefits for qaulifed welders. Some of the Maine guys from the coast might have a better handle on the yard openings, ask around.

Avadon, I leave you with the experts. Good luck with your project. Peter

Gents, Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Peter

Avadon, Running amps are not the issue on most circuits.Rather its the starting amps that cause the current spikes. Motors like on pumps and compressors have large demand on startinijg ( across the line) and relatively little demand while running. The compresssor will be the most problematic because it start and stops as the pressure fluctuates. Breakers and fuses. Fuses protect the motor from oveload and breakers protect the line (wiring bus bar etc) from overloading and subsequently failing. The breakers are the big number to keep an eye on because the wiring is buried in the walls and races. Most motor fusing or thermals are either in the local controller ( 3 phase) or in the case of small (single phase cap start units) motors, they are internal heater elements (small reset buttom). The heater cools off and you can reset the motor. Important ... If its running hot find out why, not paying attention here can come back and cause big problems. When wiring circuits make certain that you use the recomendeed AWG size wiring or larger for any given circuit ( motors starting amp rating) . Always use the right size or go one size larger. This is the easy way to prevent problems. When you run multiple motors on a single circuit you have to calculate the "across the line" starting amp draw down otherwise you will keep tripping the line circuit breaker. Also remember that when circuits are in use they (cables) warm up and the resulting temp rise causes the resistance in the cabling to increase which also degrades the current carrying capacity. The easy answer in this scenario is to simply increase the wire size on the run, Your local codes may require seperate branch circuits for each individual device, Be guided accordingly. Be safe,,,not sorry. Peter

Gents, Tradegy befell a good family yesterday morning at 0230. A 21 year old young man, Mr. Ryan Dudman, perished in a vehicle accident. Devestating as this is, I would repsectfuly request your thoughts and prayers for his family ( Father, Mother, Sister, and many friends) and for the repose of this young mans soul. Ryan was a real stand up guy from an early age, talented, energetic and focused in a world frequently lacking any of these attributes. Although many do, Its hard to fake the real thing. I am confident he would have made a difference in our often confused world. Thank you all in advance. Peter M. Elliott

Grant, Bulk delivery is by the gallon as is bulk storage gauging. Bulk Propane is sold by the gallon for pricing purposes. However, In the small bottles you see on BBQ and use in the forge, they charge them by weight, hence the tare weight on the containe, so you can calculate the weigh of the gas. If you go to an old filling station you will see the scale with the sliding weights. All the new bottles have OPDs which is essentially a float swich that (hopefully) prevents over filling. The science is a Pressure volume relationship, expressed as the formula ((P1xV1) = (P2XV2)), The Temp varient is consider constant. I believe it Boyles and Mariotes equation also called the ideal gas law. Dont quote me I'm sure if passed that course. A saturated liquid (LPG under pressure) has one volume for its liquid state and a much larger volume for its expanded or semi-expanded state. Its stored as a liquid but used as a vapor. Thus if you overfill the bottle and then it gets warm...the relieve valve or rupture disc will let go. lacking either of those items the container will fail. The weight of the container notwithstanding, when the tank is empty you should be very close to the tare weight of the container. LNG (natural gas off oil wells) is transported as a compressed and sub cooled liquid. This is how ships transport LNG, its refrigerated to keep it in the liquid state. At the discharge port the liquid is re-gassed and stored in the large tanks you see in cities. Hope that helps...I think its miller time. Peter

Gents, Its weight not volume. You fill the small tanks by weight. Thats why they refer to them as 20 pounders. Peter

Neat guy, Thanks for your time and sharing the write up. The mechanism is a style called a lever tumber design. The multi lever design is considered rather intricate for a padloc and most often is found in stationary locking mechanisms. Most padlocks only had one lever and the throw to acomplish the task. Certainly a challenging project because of the small scale. Most of the earlier padlocks I have seen are warded designs, likley due to the limitied number of moving parts and the overall durability of the casing. Any idea as to manufacturer or point of origin on your piece? I do some antique lock work and have a collection of older lever tumbler designs, (Pauly, Yale, Sargent, Folger-Adams, etc) . The locks are a very interesting pursuit. As an interesting read, google "Mossman", you shoud get a tradesmans museum in NYC. Talk about intricate. Thanks, Peter

Gents, National economic downturn notwithstanding, average inflation on (any) conusmables has cut into your overhead margin by at least 12 percent. Just look at your average grocery bill and the cost of gas for a quick reality check. Inflation is not rightfully tagged in todays market becauseof our bogus accounting system designed to make all the indicators look good. Fact is the added cost of inflation hurts anyone working on a narrow margin, like those that a re self employed or running small shops. Housing is through the floor almost a non enity at this point. Bright spots are repair and some fabrication attached to industry. Any way you can get next to stimulus money will have growth potential, gas plants, electrical distribution systems, railroads etc. This is where the money is being spent. Peter

Hey harley, I got an old 1930s SB bench top 36 in in the shop and it serves me well. I don't do a lot of large or long pieces. Where you are located there a lot of good old or newer machines available at reasonable prices. My wife came from Attleboro and I used to see excellent equipment for sale at fire sale prices every week in the local papers. All the old machine shops were closed or going out of business. The tooling is sometimes more valuable than the lathe, try and make the deal on both. If you get a lathe make sure you get all the gear that comes with it. A fully equipped tool room lathe is a valuable set up. A good set of collets can run you a thousand dollars or more. 4 jaw chuck, steady rests, etc it all the gear adds up fast. Ask yourself what you plan to do with it and be guided as to the price accordingly. if you are going to make a set of candle sticks and the set up costs 2k, just buy the candesticks. At the min you need clean and square ways, tight head stock (check with a dial indicator, up and down), clean lead screw and a minninal amount of lash if you plan on cutting threads. Quick change gearing is better than the bolt in gears but they both work. In my own humble view, the american older machines are far superior to anything coming out of china. Price point, availabilty and tooling are always the deciding factors. As a suggestion, check with the high school shops, they frequently let machines go cheap. No one takes IA courses anymore so the schools let the machines go for scrap prices or they go out on sealed bids. They (school rigs0 may look bad, in regards nicks and dings, but they aren't used real hard, i.e. no operating hours. By comparision, if you buy something out of a real machine shop its probably been used hard and on its last legs. Dont forget about the cost of 3 phase vs single phase power set ups. Most residences don't have 3P coming from the street. Most reversable machine tools are 3P. You can do the converter deal but it's just another hoop and expense you have to jump through. Good luck. Peter

Curufin, Go for it. No matter the condition you will still use it and it will serve you well. I got two PWs a 123 and a 144, perfect for moving around the shop and setting up stations. Good luck. Peter