peacock

I don't know exactly what you are wanting to end up with so this may not work. Could you drill the holes a 90 degrees then forge the tendons at the angle you need? angled tendons are not nearly as hard to do as drilling angled holes. Set the sloulders at the angle you want on two sides set the inside of tendon to match the sides leave outside of tendon flush. Make a monkey tool that will fit your hardy hole. Heat up your stock stick it in the monkey tool hit other end of bar as you pull the bar over to the neede angle. The bar will upset at the shoulder as the tendon moves to the center of the bar. It all sounds hard to do but is much harder to explain than it is to do. One or two pratice bars and you will be on your way.

I run my hammers on a rotary phase converter that I built 20 years ago. It cost less than $100 and has not ever failed. The biggest motor Ican run is a 7.5 hp.

If you can find some 3.5 inch 3/8 or 1/2 wall square tubing and weld them to the inside of the plates add some gussets, then drill the holes on thru it should be fine. Phil

I've used alot of copper shims and never had a problem. You need to put them on the side opposite of the die from the key. If the dovetails have holes (low spots) in them you have to be careful not to extrude metal into those holes as it can lock up the keys. Also alot of problems are caused by using too light of hammer to drive the keys out. Light blows from a small hammer will upset the key and not move it. On 25-50# size hammers I use no less than a 5# hammer, as big as a 12 pounder on larger hammers. Hit it hard and square. Phil

If it's a Moluch it will most likely not have poured babbit it will have cast iron bushings if their original, brass if they have been replaced. No Little Giant parts interchange without mods. New springs can be bought from Sid at Little Giant. Check the guides and ram very close. They are not replaceable and very hard to repair. Guides adjust with thru bolts via split frame. Also check the pins in the ram most are worn again not replaceable, but can be fixed if you have machining skills. It will weigh about 1600-1800 lbs. If it is good they are very good hammers. I have a 50# & a 25# and I like them both. The ram is cast steel so if needs repair it is easily welded and machined. My 50 was a basket case but I rebuit it & it works great. The 25 was perfect only needed cleaned and oiled. I hope it's good. Holler if I can help. Phil

Forge a 3/8 tenon on the end thread it with a die. The tenon is much easier to forge than a hole. good luck Phil

Cliffton Ralph solved all my die key problems years ago. Make sure your die and sow block have no depressions in them first. If that checks out. Forge a blank key that is about 1 1/2 times longer than the sow block width. You want 2 or 3 inches sticking out of the narrow side when the die is in position in the sow block the key should be too thick to go thru. the rest of the key sould be close but too narrow. With a rose bud heat about 1 inch of the key next to the spot where it binds up. Put the key into the sow block and die and upset that inch in the cavity. Let it cool drive it out and continue that process an inch at a time untill the whole length is fit. If done right you will be able to see wittness marks for the full length of the key. Make sure you do not have a shoulder at the wide end on the final upset, if so dress with a grinder trim ends to the desired length radius the ends. Make a seperate key for each die. Mark the top so you can put it in the same each time. No ink no mess and your forging not machining or grinding, And they fit. I know it sounds hard but it works and it's not that hard, best key you can have. Phil

My Johnson had volume of about half that needed 1 1/4 inch line for nat. gas Phil

My parts list and the prints are a little different. The 3/4 square would be the same part as the 1/8 pipe. You can turn it out of soild, cut and roll it, forge it, or put it together from parts it makes no difference. The print is a guide use it any way that works for you. 16 ga would be a little thin. 11 ga would be much better. You should not use 3/4 pipe for the cross tube with the orfice in it. It is too big and will restrict flow on each side of the bell. DO NOT change this design it has been proven many times. Phil

Please read the print. You do use the threads in both ends of the bell reducer. The shape of the bell is the key to making this work. There is a way to forge this shape but you need a working forge to do it. I have tried to be helpfull, you are a machinist just follow the print and it will work just fine. Phil

Look at blueprint 191 it is not exactely like I make mine but I am sure it will work well. It will give you an idea of what it needs to look like. Very close to mine. Good luck. Phil

You cannot increase the power of your torch. You will need to build a proper burner. The pipe will be the cheap part. 7 inch long 3/4 black pipe and a 1 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch bell reducer. 6 inches of 3/4 square tubing, a brass 1/8 pipe plug with a .028 hole thru it, a 1/4 inch ball valve. The expensive part is the propane tank, hose, and regulator put it all together put as close as you can to the center of the top and it will get hot. Phil

You inside dimensions figure out to be about 53 cubic inches. length x hiegth x width= volume. try taking a tube from the inside of toliet paper centered iiside a large bean can fill the inside with your castable. Let it dry. Poke a hole in the bottom of the can on an angle so the flame will swrill along the sides. Stick your burner in it let the cardboard tube burn out and see what you get. Do not stick more than 1/4 inch at the most into the can as the heat will damage your torch.

You have stated many times "tell me what is wrong with my design and I will fix it" In a nut shell your forge box will disapate BTUs faster than your burner can create them. Your burner has to heat the box before any stock can be heated to forging temp. Your burner will heat a volume of about 10 to 12 cubic inches of properly insulated space. The mass (weight) of the forge needs to kept to a minimum to make it work as you must heat that mass first before any stock can be heated. It really comes down to the weight of the forge not the thickness of the shell. We all really want to help you. Most of us have wasted alot of time and money making mistakes. We would like to help you avoid the same. Phil+

It may be too great a distance from the center to the exhaust. Try a brick sized hole in the center.as well as the ends. Or just prop the top open a little. Phil

If you must use it for a little more safety you could drill and tap a couple of holes thru the part of the dovetail that was coming loose into the base. Use grade 8 bolts even if the welds don't hold the bolts should keep the parts from flying. Also you may find the die key does not fit well after you weld on the block. You may need to refit it. I have saved a few LG hammer frames with bolts and weld. good luck Phil

If it was made in Wisconsin it may be quite a bit different from a Little Giant. I have two Kauana built hammers. They are great hammers but no LG parts interchange. New springs are available from Sid. Arms from a LG will work with some mods but must be changed in pairs. The top shaft uses press in bushing instead of poured babbit.The ram guide system is much different, it adjust with 2 through bolts. The pins in the ram are almost always worn out and were cast steel. You will need machinist skills to replace, but it is not bad to do. I think some things are better than LG's. If you need help I'll be glad to share what I know. Phil

call Sid at little Giant. He has several Kerrihards and likes them He will be glad to talk to you. Phil

Have you ever welded springs to steel plate? It can be done, but almost always the weld will break. If you weld both ends to one plate and load the arch of the spring something has to give. I am not trying to stomp on your idea I am trying to keep you from getting hurt if the springs in this arrangement breaks the hammer could tip or turnover. New ideas are great that is how we make progress. But expierence is also very valuable. Springs store enegry, you want a base that absorbs energy. Please make a small mockup of your idea and test it setting on the floor and hit it with a hand hammer. Please protect your body parts the hammer may come at you faster than you think. Phil

wolf I will try to help you. I may be able to direct you to some parts When you said compress cill did you mean cylinder? If so try to tighten the head bolts. The hoses can be replaced with straight raditor hose from any good auto parts house. If the ones you take off have springs in them save them for the new hose. If the hoses are bad your oil could be coming from those. Most oil prpblems come from opening the oil knob too much 1/8 to 1/4 trun from closed is plenty on most hammers. If you can get an oil smear on your finger from the ram thats enough. use hot soapy water to clean the oil from the belt and pullies and inside of hammer protect the motor from water, blow dry with clean air. Some parts are available. If you think you need something let me know. So far we have been able to fix all the hammers that have had problems. Hope it helps Phil PS gasket is paper get it rolls from parts house torque 40 - 45 ftlbs if you can't find gasket stock let me know.

Hey I live in northwest Mo. I have a couple of gas forges. You could bring your son to my shop sometime and see how you get along. Or if you need help with fire managrment I would be glad to try to help. I have some coke and we could try that. If you would like PM me. Phil

I heard back from Gates belts they say V belts can be as high as 95% efficient if properly maintained and installed. However this may decrease as they are wrapped around smaller diameter pullies. They also said V belts take more maintance. Cogged belts 98 to 99% efficient Not much different if properly maintaned. Phil

I don't know if the 50 kg needed all 7.5 hp but it needed more than 5hp with a v belt drive. 6 hp may have been enough but 7.5 is the next step up. I don't understand what you meant by the belts would melt in seconds. I am not an engineer but I have been told cogged belts are 98 to 99 % efficient versus 70 to 75 % for V belts. Could be wrong info. I do know 5 hp is enough with cogged but not with V belts. If anyone can explain I'll be gald to know the difference. Phil P.S. same motor, same hammer, same day, same pully size, full load amps on motor 25 amps metered on Vbelt 27 amps. with cogged belt 21.

The 50 kg say-mak runs on a 5hp single phase very nicely. This is due to the fact it runs a cogged belt drive they are much more efficient than v belts. When Tom started importing these hammers they came with a triple v belt drive and a 7.5 hp motor. Very few people could use this in a home shop. We went to work on this problem. We rolled a band to shrink over the V grooves on the flywheel installed a cogged pulley and a 5 hp 1 phase motor. There are over 200 units in use with few problems. as far as I have heard 1 man just replaced his first belt in seversl years professional use. If I were you I would go that way unless you plan to buy more 3 phase stuuf. I have been using my home made rotary for 18 years with not 1 problem. Phil

Do not stick your steel down into the fire, lay it across your forge. Use a large pile of coal/coke heap it up over your steel go easy on the blast, and control the shape of the fire with water. you are after a long narrow, deep fire. Be patient with your coal fire also most of us are in a hurry to heat our steel. let it soak. As you water the edges of the coal it will turn to coke. As the fuel burns out below your work push the coke from the ede of the fire down into the lower part of the fire pot. By having fuel over your steel an inch or two deep it keeps the heat in the work and oxygen away from your work. When you stick the work piece into the fire on an angle you are putting the end of it into an oxygen rich zone as a result the end of it is burning off. Keep it level with the top of the forge and be patient. I know all this sounds complicated but after a while it will become routine. It takes longer to explain it than to do it. When you water your fire sprinkle it don't pour on lots af water just enough to keep the coal from burning. good luck it takes a while to learn to manage a coal fire but the results are worth the effort. Phil