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Big Gun Dr,. I think you have a very good point in that if you come across some car that had the poor luck to totaled in the glow of youth that would be a good "almost new" way to go. I am not 100% how to get the spring off the car but I have never had to try, I might need to look in to that just in case.,

I could get used springs cheap but keep seeing people "in the know" here, AnvilFire and other places say that if you are going to use leaf springs in a rusty or other power hammer linkage go with new springs if you can do so. I have heard too many thinks about metal fatigue and micro stress fractures to want to take the chance. Now I will tell you that most of the stuff I use is "Preloved" from the scrap yard it was just this one thing I was not so sure about. Ernest

Quick question, How much size differential (play for lack of a better term) is acceptable between the ID of a bearing and the OD of the Axle? I have a shaft that is about 1 to 3 1/16s of an inch too narrow and I wanted to know if I could use a thin bushing to take up the slack. If that will not work I have another bar of round stock that is about 1/4 inch too thick I can try to have turned down to fit. thanks Ernest

Good Morning folks, I have been getting parts for a "Rusty" style hammer and I wanted to share something that was very useful to me. I spent about 3 weeks (on and off) looking for a leaf spring and other parts on Amazon. My family uses Amazon Prime and that can reduce shipping costs if you can find the right thing. The cheapest leaf spring (new) I could find was $30.00 at Tractor Supply for a trailer spring. That was not bad but very short. Was a bit of persistence (by that I mean being what is called hyper-focused something found in people with OCD) I found this spring for about $20.00 shipped. "Omix-Ada 18201.05 Leaf Spring" about 40" long made from 5 bars (leafs?) and the one at TSC were only 28" long. I have taken the top 2 bars off and I think the longer of the 2 (about 18.5") might find work in a crossbow. I checked this morning and this same spring is now $94.00 shipped. So what I have found is if you want something from Amazon I suggest you spend some time and check back at different times over a few days you may just get some good deals. Also if you do have Amazon Prime the shipping and the return shipping is free so worst comes to worst you send it back. I want to say thanks to all the wise ones around the fire for keeping me from cutting corners on things like the leaf spring since micro fractures can become macro breaks with no warning at all. Ernest.

Steve, that is cold man, too cold

Steve, For me most math is scary :mellow: . What it worse the bomb in question is right next to a propane tank and in most cases under waste/belt high. Talk about taking someone out at the knees. Ernest

Steve, I did not remember the figure (1600 times) but I do know it was a bunch. Ernest

Richard, Do your self a favor, start small. If you want to cast something start with beer/soda cans. The guysin the SCA that do bronze casting buy their crucibles from budgetcastingsupply.com. You should keep in mind that melting steel is VERY hard since you are dealing with very high temps. I would say you are going to spend more in fuel than new steel or useable scrap would cost. Take a look on Youtube for "Secrets of the Viking Sword - PBS" show what it takes to turn iron in to steel, and it is COOL. Richard, One more thing, Thomas and Frosty are REALLY good at this so I take their advice if I was you. Second thing is look for steel casting on Youtube and you will see people in protective gear some place between the Intel inside guys and full on bomb squad. Last thing is water forms a chemical bond to Portland cement and once it gets hot enough the bond breaks and all the water turns in to steam, right next to you. The action is called "spalling" and the spall temp is MUCH lower than the temp you need to melt steel.

Now this sort of silliness can only result in people tossing around quotes from movies like "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Philia: That's the brute who raped my country, Thrace! Pseudolus: He raped Thrace? Philia: And then he came and did it again! And then again! Pseudolus: He raped Thrace thrice?

LumberSmith, If you look on YouTube you should be able to find a few videos of 4-6 guys wrestling a glowing (yellow/white) of anvil with a chain hoist. One look at that should tell you what it might take to forge an anvil.

OK, I understand now, I am still working the linkage question so I was not thinking past that yet.

Jeremy, I know (I think) what you mean by a "weldment assembly" but I am unsure about this context. Are you talking about the arms in a DuPont linkage? When I was looking at the shocks I was thinking about the "Pogo Stick (non-DuPont)" from the Anvil Fire linkage page. If I need arms for a DuPont I know a welding shop that can put them together much better than I can. Did it sound like I wanted to use the shocks for the arms, oh no, that is too crazy even for me! I know that shocks would never stand up to the stress in the arms take in the linkage. Ernest

NeatGuy, What is the model number or size of the devilbiss oxygen generator? I see they sell a few sizes. thanks Ernest

Jeremy, I think you and may not be saying the same thing. Can you tell me what simple hand tool you are thinking about? I thought you were talking about the items that hold the spring/linkage together when you said I should make my own tooling, am I wrong? I have not seen many power hammers where the linkage is hand forged. Mostly, and please tell me if I am wrong, it looks like the tooling on the linkage was not hand forged. Please advise what hand tools you think I need to be able to make from a spring? I have done punches, chisels, drifts and knifes. Ernest

Frosty, I shudder to think of what would become of any fool that would threaten the goat or human babies around that dog. My Uncle had a Bull Mastiff named Rocky that kept the Coyotes on their side of the street. This dog was 180+lb of dopey loving dog. He would come and put his 12 lbs bowling ball head on your lab with this look of "Love Me!" in his eyes. We never had to worry about the house when he was alive. One day Rocky is sitting on the lawn eating a doe he had dragged up from the woods. Uncle Holt told me to get rid of the doe. I told him that I did not feel like come between Rock and his meal. Ernest

PTree, I can see why one would like these things because they seem like you can fine tune the heck out of them. I was reading the package on a HF link belts and being able to change the belt length by one link seems like it would be very handy. On a different note, word order. Something on the radio showed how important word order is to a story. What they were trying to say was that people who were displaced by a fire were provided shelter by the Red Cross. What they said was: "shelters have been established for people forced from their homes by the Red Cross". Makes you wonder when the Red Cross started forcing people from their homes.

JNewman, You left out the most important part, it is not that they are less likely to shoot out that is true. The main thing is they are less likely to weigh 5-7lbs when they are shooting out at you and very sharp! I have seen spring steel snap and the edges of the break are like razors. You make a very good point about replacing one not the entire spring. Ernest

Ptree, Thanks for the input on the end mounts, if that is the case then I shall not mess with these. I have ordered 2 4 bolt hubs from Amazon for the princely sum of $5.78 each that would have been used in a 1995 Eagle Summit or a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer (if you can believe that). I figure one of these and a one of a few 4 bolt spare or trailer tires I have seen should do the trick. I find the AnvilFire pages to be a big help and I have been checking the JYH page. I have a small air cylinder and 5/4/2 valve that I am learning how to use, most just wanted to see how that worked and I might put together a small air hammer just to say I have done it. The "Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius" sitting on my shoulder whispers "use a shock, make an air cylinder". I think I will ignore that suggestion unless someone else has done it already. Thanks again for the input. Ernest.

Jeremy, I was hoping to avoid having the make the tooling since I lack the confidence in my skills and a machine shop. It seemed like the fittings on the shocks are going to be much better than anything I can hack together.

Good Morning Folks, I was pondering the AnvilFire JYH information especially where they say that shock absorbers are not a good spring system on a JYH since, well, they absorb shocking force. That makes a good bit of sense but I was wondering could you take the kind of shock absorber in this photo and drill the base of the cylinder to negate the gas piston action and be left with a ready made spring linkage? If this is a crazy idea feel free to say so, I can take it. :)

That is a very good (fluffy) doggie!

I do not know what folks use them for around here but if you look at the Craigslist for Huntsville Al you you can see a a good number of goat related posts. I have also seen a good number of "fainting goats" that people keep as pets. The Craigslist post do mention dairy goats as well as Pygmy goats so I suspect they can be anything from pets to dairy to BBQ. Ernest

Ianinsa, When I was a kid we had a tape (Betamax) of a show called Lights! Action! Africa! These two cinematographers (Alan and Joan Root) filmed spitting cobra's, got on the wrong side of a male hippo and invaded the privacy of some tree nesting birds. This was filmed in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. They filmed the spitting action of the cobra and I can see how that would take the luster off your day.

Ausfire, When a snake gets named "Death Adder" it is a good indication you want nothing to do with it. In Florida, growing up, I had always heard about Coral Snakes. The Coral Snake is basicly a cobra with really small teeth. If it could manage to break the skin you are in a world of neuro-toxic hurt but gloves and pants will protect you. Your snakes seem to be a bit more dangerous. I have respect for you folks living with all the wonder things in nautre that want to kill you.

Frosty, Here in North Alabama the land is thick with the Nigerian Dwarf goat. I guess that is because of their easy going nature.