peacock

At a good plumbing supply you can buy a tee that it 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x1/2 with the 1/2 in either position you need. Should be easy to handle from there

I forge hex on a 25LG alot. SGROPP posted above about lataral ram movement. If you can feel ANY side to side or front to back of the ram with it extended out the bottom of the guides you will have these kinds of problems. You will also get along better with drawing die than flat. But the biggest cause of twisting while drawing hex tapers for me is improper heating ( or lack of it). after you forge the first pair of flats we tend to turn the part 60 degrees and start the second set of flats. Now the flat that was on the bottom die is cooler than the one 180 from it, as a result the hot side moves faster than the other we also have a round cross section 60 degrees the other side and that will move differently from the tapered flat sides. As you can see things get out of whack real quick. My fix is to forge all 6 sides as close as possible at the same time. This usualy means one blow turn 60 one more blow turn 60 one more blow and so on. If your hammer will not hit one hard controled blow is is very difficult.

get a piece of threaded rod that will go thru the yokes on the bottom of the arms above the ram put on some washers and nuts. tighten the nuts till the coil spring is coil bound. With the ram at the bottom of the stroke Does the dies touch each other? are the toggle links touching the ram guide? If the toggle links do not have some clearence, or the dies are not touching your dies stack is to low( bottom dies needs to be higher top die lower) or both. Or anvil block up. If not you are going to destory your hammer linkage and/or hurt yourself. If the links have clearence but dies don't touch adjust the crosshead down on the pitman this may correct the problem. Too much stroke can also be the problem. Take a little time to look at all this and it should become clear what each adjustment does and how they work together.

Pass on it. It won't do what you say you want to do. You will have to turn it 3 or 4 turns to get it to move an inch A flypress will move about 2 inches in 1 turn. If nothing else it will work you to death.

Great video. We met briefly at SOFA in 2008 Toms last year. Tom and I were close friends you made some of your nails on Tom's hammer. I got a pair of wooden shoes right after your other post way back when. They are indeed just as you say. My feet stay nice and warm in the winter and cooler in the hot weather. An 8 hour day at the power hammer used to kill my back and legs but not with the cloggs. I have spent hundreds on boots but nothing is as good as my $5o wooden shoes.

I use belting made for hale balers. Can get it about anywhere here. It comes in several widths. The place I get mine has it in 500 ft. rolls and will cut and lace to your specs. Very little strech. I prefer to lace mine myself with laether lacing. I had a close call with metal hook laceing also the leather lace is much quieter. As far as belt stretch, most of my problems were caused by trying to use a very small drive pulley so we don't have to use a jack shaft. when you try to use a small pulley you must put alot of tension on the belt to get the grip you need. That excessive tension stretches the belt. If we will use a drive pulley about the same size as the driven pulley there is equal amounts of belt contact on the pulleys the result being much less tension required. A big plus is less pressure is needed on the treadle, less wind up time to get the hammer up to speed, and more consistent control. When these drives were designed they were all lineshafts, if you look at old pictures of these you will see belts coming down from the shafts with the belts parallel. So I set up my 125 bradley with a jackshaft with a small pulley on the motor to a large pulley on the jackshaft to get the speed correct. The flat belt pulley on the other end is 18 inch (sane as the driven pulley on the hammer) With this setup it is a completly different hammer. I no longer have to wait thru 5 or 6 light blows before I can get a full power blow. I can also get very predictable light taps anytime I want them. It may cost a little more but really worth it to me.

Hi Matt. Nice to seee you on here I am really enjoying the Bradley what a great hammer. I have been watching this post hoping I could find out if it is a slack belt or has a clutch before I jumped in. I learned something when I set up the Bradley that might helpful if it is slack belt.

I agree the handle only needs to be big enough to pick up the tool. the small handle don't transfer the shock to your hand, much safer and alot more comfortable to use. Also if you need to bend the handle to get the tool into the position you need it is much easier.

Heat one edge slowly to red heat if the red soaks right on across the weld line it is stuck if it is not welded there will be a distinct line at the weld line ( darker on the side not heated)

do a spark test on the cast. it will tell you if it is cast or steel.

I have done a few of these. I agree with John about safety first. I have found that you need to help the student understand that the hammer will not make A blacksmith out of him if he or she doesn't know how to forge it by hand they won't be able to forge it with a power hammer. With that said find out what they know how to do then show them how to do it easier or faster. If the student has a fair amount of skill with a hand hammer simple tongs are a good power hammer project, you can demo & teach drawing ,punching, shouldering, changing cross section, Drawing a taper, etc. Then you get to make another piece just like it & wind up with a usefull item. Making the matching part is very important skill. How many of us has made something then could not make another one like it. Teaches you get an order to your work and stick with it. I use lots of tooling and jigs but starting with a bunch of tools before basic skills are mastered slows down the learning curve. The one exception would be a flatter that is one tool you can use from the start. Making the flatter is also a great first project. P.S. Don,t forget about teaching proper heating. Often many of our "hammering" problems are really improper heating.

What equipment do you have? Do you have a stick welder and an air compressor? If you do you might want to look at an air arc torch, it is not the best but a pretty cheap way to cut. If you need the welding table you need some way to cut also. Some of my guys can make nice cuts with a little pratice.

I have made a few curtian rods most store bought are 2 1/2 from inside to the wall.

It all looks great. Nice neat setup. You should be really pleased with the work you have done. I do want you to be VERY careful about the bales of hay they are WAY to close to the fire just one rock in your coal that pops and blows out and you could lose it all. Please take some measures to prevent a fire.

I have never used this on an anvil, But I do use it on my horse drawn plows and they must have a mirror finish on the mold board. Once you get it the best way I have found is to grease it then cover the grease with brown (kraft) paper. Work the paper down so the grease soaks thru the paper. This will protect the mirror finish even if it sets out side. Grease can be licked and rubbed off by animals the paper seems to stop this. NEVER fails for me.

What would happen if you cut the stock on a sharp angle, say 60 degrees?

Thanks Grant. I think I will increase the font size. Eyes and brain not what they used to be.

Did I miss something here? 2, 2 1/2 in. cyls at 2500 psi By my figures would not be 50 tons, more like 12.27 tons. Maybe I don,t know how to figure it correctly. Help please. 2.5x2.5=6.25x.7854=4.908 sq in.x2500psi=12,271 lb of push/2000lb per ton =6.135tonsx2cyls=12.27tons.

Your ram is not factory. The helve is not either. With the rubber cushion squashed like it is you are not getting the most from your hammer. If it suits you use it like it is. If you want to change it, it can be done.

Dick That looks exactly like my old one. Your pics describe it much better than my words. I am not sure these helves were glued at all. I think that "key" holds it in line till the hardware goes on then it can't go anywhere. This could simplfy making a helve. Thanks again.

Dick I read your post and you got me thinking. I went today and found the hevle that came on my hammer. It is tapered just like your pics. I did find something of intrest. The side to side taper is cut on the mating surfaces of the layers 1/2 inch on each piece on the inside of the helve. Also there is a groove cut the full length of the helve with a piece of wood about 3/4 inch square in the groove. I am pretty sure the helve on the hammer now is an after market piece. Thanks!

I have a lonely anvil, hasn't been out in years, nice small waist, large on top, pretty face, a little heavy though. I'll ask her Mom if is alright. Please don't hit her.

Way oil is mostly for guided head machines with sliding surfaces. These hammers have only rotating brearings. I use 30 wt motor oil if I can find it. If not in the summer I use bar and chain oil. in the winter if your shop is cold maybe lighter wt first thing when you start up then switch to heavier when it warms up. I don't use any grease I think it is too sticky and holds slag and grit. Make sure all the oil cups have some type of wick material to hold the oil so it doesn't just run thru. these oil cups are old tech but work great with oil soaked up in the wick as the bearing heats up the oil is thinner and releases sooner. Be sure to make sure all the oil ways are open as you assemble your machine

The helves that came on the machines did have a taper and rounded corners. Maybe 1/2 inch from the husk to the die head. Seems later replacement helves were straight and no rouded corners. I think the square is the way to go when you put the taper in if the grain is striaght the taper will cause it to exit the beam before it gets to the die head. All the tapered ones have splits, square ones don't have quite as much problem.

If you want to striaghten those half coils without marks and dings heat them up to forging temp. Then set the ends on the anvil arch up strike on top of the arc as the part you are hitting is not supported you will not forge a hammer mark on the spring. If you put the ends over the edge of the anvil you will get dings on the spring where it contacts the edge of the anvil as it slides over the edge. Dings in the stock can cause stress points and cold shuts in the finished product. This method was taught to me by Clifton Ralph. Of course Clifton used a long heavy piece of leaf spring over the bottom die and did it on a power hammer.