Jamesrjohnson

banjoe... email me a picture of the cleaned label and I will send it to Anyang. They might be able to provide some information.

Do you know if the machine works? It's kind of a pain to set up the anvil and hammer being a two piece, but you can build up a set of railroad ties at the anvil height and at least test the hammer before you go through install the hammer. There is a good chance that you can just set the hammer up and it will run. Before you do any attempt to run the hammer, I would pull the tops off and put oil in both the compressor side and the hammer side. I would also grease the fittings and clean out the oil tank and blow out the oil lines and put in fresh oil. The hammer operation is very simple so again, there is a good chance that this is a hammer with lot's of life left in it.

James...

I met Nathan (jackpine hammers) at the 2005 Ironfest in grapevine TX. Nice guy, I kept stopping by his booth, just chatting with him. I really liked his hammers profiles and the price. By lunch time that day I was sold. Everytime I would stop by his booth I would purchase another hammer. By the end of the show I spent close to $375-475.00 His hammers have held up great in the last 5 years. I hope to see Nathan at the ABANA show, I'm glad to see he's still making hammers.

Comparing Anyang to all the other Chinese companies is inaccurate.

They support their customers with a lifetime warranty on the hammer frame. They have been making large scale forging equipment for over 60 years that have been sold around the world. If they didn’t have quality, sound castings they wouldn’t be producing large two ton hammer- (ram weight). If they did not have quality machines, they would have been out of business years ago. Like all good manufacturing companies, the machines are also getting better. John,I and the other distributors working with current users identify ways to improve the functionality of the hammers and they are continously improving.

I’m planning on being in this business for a long time. I’m 31, so I’ve got years/decades before I consider retirement and I’m in good health. However, if something was to happen to me Anyang owners would still be supported. Anyang has a number of great dealers around the globe. We have John N. (England), Glen M. (Australia), Angele (Germany), SteveH (Canada), if I were to get hit by bus tomorrow the USA customers would still get help and support.

Hopefully soon I’m going to start shooting video’s covering my hammers capabilities (the 33,55,88, and 165 pound). I hope this will help end a lot of the power hammer gossip and everybody focused on are art and science of blacksmithing.

Years ago when I was just starting my forging shop, I was looking for a self contained air hammer. I had very specific needs and reasons as to why I wanted a self contained air hammer. I only had a few choices, the USA didn’t have a self contained hammer still in production-they still don’t. One hammer that I was looking at was a Kuhn. They were imported by Centaur Forge, a trustworthy company. The only problem was that I couldn’t afford them. I almost financed the hammer, but I decided to wait. (I did have a 50lb LG, so I was still able to produce work) A year later I came across a used Anyang 33 and made the purchase. This choice saved me thousands of dollars and at a time in my life where every penny counted.

I put the money that I saved back into my business (more tools, juried art shows, website building). It was decisions like this that kept me from going into debt and allowed me to keep my shop open.

Some people view China as a threat. They believe China is taking all the USA jobs. For me as an artist blacksmith, China (Anyang) has helped me for years now providing me with reliable hammers at a fair price. If it wasn’t for China’s ability to produce these self contained hammers, my business (Johnson Metalsmithing) may not have worked out.

China has kept this USA blacksmith in business… If you look around my shop you will find tools from around the world. My cold saw is from Italy, my power hammers are from China, my anvils are made here in the USA –Nimba 450lb/120lb. At the end of the day, I don’t care where my tools come from. What I look for in buying tools is real value (quality and affordability).

When buying tools, I don’t care about race, politics, or nationality. They might have different views about how they live, or how they elect their country’s leaders, but none of this should affect a tools performance.

This forum was created to help blacksmiths. I personally have learned a lot by reading and studying the input of other smiths. It’s important that we keep this forum’s momentum moving in a positive way. If you have personal feelings regarding politics, go to another forum.
This is “IFORGEIRON.COM” not “IFORGEIRON/COMPLAIN ABOUT OTHER COUNTRYS.COM.”

James,
Thanks for the info. Does the Anyang come with other than one set of dies? Does $4800 put it at my door? Looks like a nice piece of equipment.
Dave

The 33' comes with a set of flats, but with the purchase of the hammer I will take off -$50.00 any extra sets of dies, any profile.(normal die cost is $275.00 your cost would be $225.00)

$4,800.00 covers the cost of the hammer. shipping would be around $250-350.00 (ballpark)

If your interested, give me your zip code and I can send you a total cost.

I will be out of my office for most of the day. If you have any questions, or need anything you can reach me on my cell 940-627-4529 James

Thanks Tom. Looks like James has a ton of talent too.
But can I ask, would you tell any one the top money you have to spend on an item you want to buy??? If so, how much do you have and what are you looking for, I am sure I might have one at that price!! LOL Just poking some good natured fun...
Honestly I have seen some for sale between $1500 and $4500, size dependant. Just driving 1500 miles one way is kind of crazy at $3 gas.

Thanks Tom/Ranger604:

I have a very clean, Little Giant 50 that was rebuilt by Sid at L.G. It comes with flats,drawing, and a pair of universal dies w/a dozen or so of texturing bolt on dies. The universal dies are machined flat dies with holes drilled/taped. This allows you to make quick dies without machining the dovetails. Just weld whatever shape/texture you need to a piece of plate, then bolt the plate to the universal die. I'm currently having a machinist make me a pair similar to these dies for my Anyang 33. If they work well, I will take the concept to the Anyang factory and make them for the 33,55,88,165.
Anyway, the price of the 50 LG is $4,300.00

The cost of a new Anyang 33 is $4,800.00. The new 33's arrive on a factory base, wiried ready to run.
The 33 runs off of single phase 220v. It also is self-contained, so the air source is built into the hammer. There is no need to buy and store a big compressor. This saves you space, and you won't have to relay air lines from the compressor to the hammer. The 33" can out work most 50lb mechanical hammers and only uses a 3'6" x 1'6" floor space. If you go to u-tube, type a search for Anyang power hammers, one of our hammer owners Mark Asbery made a few video's years ago.

As soon as things slow down for me, I'm going to be making Anyang power hammer videos. Covering everything from forging thin copper to heavy 5-6 thick steel sq bar.





Hope this helps

James, thanks for the pics. If you get time, could you show pictures of the dies you use to get the "pitted" texture you use on the staggered steel and copper candles that are on your website. I made some for my Anyang 33 by making spot welds with a hard surface rod, but it just does'nt look right. It helps some to hammer it hard and then go back over it with a soft touch, but it still does'nt look like real pitting like yours does. Is there a hammering technique that helps?

Howardrw: I have have an art show this Saturday, so I'm a little pressed for time. -I've got alot of work in galleries that I have to pull out and polish for the show. I will be away from the shop for a few days. Either Sunday or Monday I will post pics of the pitting dies.

I think I know why your dies aren't creating a the look that you are looking for. It will be alot easier for me to cover all this when I post the die pics.

Howardrw: When you get a day off, stop by the shop for a day of forging. Now that you have been using the 33 for awhile, you need to test out my 165. I have some scrap 5" round bar. My shop has changed alot since you picked up your 33. If you need anything feel free to call me 940-627-4529

781- Here are the pictures/explanation of the dies used for the vase you saw at the BAM show.

The dies in the pictures are bolted to a universal die I made years ago for my 50 L.G. I know some smiths that see this will think my ideas/technique are really crude or even crazy, but they did work. These dies were very cheap to make, durable, and made me money.

Starting with the bottom die, I would use a 5/32 hard surfacing welding rod and weld a piece of angle iron straight to the die on one side. Then I would break off the piece of angle iron. What was left on the die surface was a small, jagged, completely inconsistent tooth, that ran across the die. I did this over and over again until I had top/bottom dies that resembled a piranha that needed braces. –not pretty

On the vase, I started with 3/16 steel plate. At a healthy orange heat, I begin lightly hammering
on the steel creating small shallow lines across the vase. I think of this as like I’m salt/peppering
the work piece. At first, I use fast, repetitive blows. Once this is done I start really hammering
on the power hammer. Suddenly, dies would start cutting deeper and in some places the
material would form wrinkles -from where the teeth on the dies wouldn’t line up. The end
result was a wood grain like texture.


Note:
I used mild steel for the base of the dies, but a hard surfacing rod to form the teeth.
If you do try this, have an air gun close. In between heats blow out the scale, otherwise it will clog the teeth.
The dies in the picture are old, and really worn down.

Thanks for your compliments, and sorry for the slow response.

John N- Your correct, you could work the bowl cold, then anneal, continue to work. Somtimes if the pattern/texture is very complex I will work or at least start the bowl cold. On this paticular bowl, I kept the copper at a low soft heat. There is a few reasons why... I was moving the copper fast under the powerhammer, in minutes of hammering, the bowl will distort and bend in every direction that you don't want it to go. 3/16 copper plate is still stubborn material and can be difficult to straighten out cold -even if it is annealed. Another reason, is that working warm copper under the powerhammer is alot less jarring than cold. Working cold copper(like this) under the powerhammer can really wear me out physically.
When working the copper hot everything seems to move like butter, it's fast, fun, and easy.

Monstermetal-your more than welcome to take and use any of my bowl designs. You can name the bowl anything you want as long as you tell people that the original was made in an Anyang 88lb powerhammer (I hope I don't sound to much like a die hard salesman)

David- The main reason I used a flat die on the bottom, was to maximize the amount of texture and penetration on the top side of the bowl. Also, like you mentioned, I do get more stability having a flat die on the bottom.

781- Tomorrow night I will try to take/post pics with a short (how to) regarding the vase and the dies I used. I had a blast at the BAM show last year. I won't be able to make it this year, due to a schedule conflict with CBA event. I'm planning on attending next year. There is alot of great people in the BAM club.

For those that don't know me, I am the USA Anyang dealer. I use to start and end my days behind a power hammer. Unfortunately, I rarely have spare time to forge behind my own power hammers. Next weekend I will be attending the cloud 9 art show/charity. I thought it would be of interest to take a few pictures of me forging a copper bowl for the event.

This is also a good example of the controllability of the Anyang 88. I will be hammering on hot 3/16 copper using a double crown (hofi style) die. The die shape is fairly sharp. Without the controllability of my 88, it would be easy to crack/penetrate through the hot copper. –A very expensive… Oh S#$$

Starting with a piece of copper (3/16 thick-14’’x16’’), I begin hammering/texturing the copper, hot. I don’t need the copper to be at a high heat, just a few minutes in the gas forge is more than enough time. Using hammer blows that are consistent in depth and direction the copper bowl starts to form wrinkles or waves. This is from the die spreading the copper side to side and from forging thin or weak sections in the copper. Once the bowl starts to form waves, I start hammering the high and low sections using a soft mallet and a piece of plywood for anvil. This step basically exaggerates the waves that were formed in the power hammer. Once the bowl is textured, and the copper has a rippled shape it’s time to start dishing the bowl and attaching the base.

NOTE:
In the power hammer pics, if you look closely there is steam around the hammer. The steam is coming from the wet rags that I use with my tongs. Steel tongs will scratch/dig into hot copper. This is avoided by placing a rag between the tongs and the copper. I soak the rags in water, so the rags don’t catch on fire. BE CARFULL OF STEAM, use gloves and common sense.

All the texturing/forming/dishing was done hot. The final adjustments are done cold. I could do these steps hot…it would save some time. However, I prefer cold. By hammering on the copper cold the copper will work harden making the bowl very strong and durable.

The base of the bowl is made from 3’’ round bar that was cut 1/2’’in length. The edges were hammered/upset using flat dies in my Anyang 88. After forging , I drilled and tapped a 3/8 hole in the center.

The rivet that is in the center of the bowl is actually a bolt (a rivet that I tapped threads into it). I could have riveted the bowl, but I prefer a bolt application. When assembling, the bowl could have small high or low spots, which will cause the bowl to lay crooked/ unbalanced. Using a bolt application, I can assemble, and if needed I can disassemble, then adjust/tweak the bowl until everything is balanced.

Eventually, I will show more of these techniques with Anyang videos. The process is very simple and easy, but is really hard to describe and explain using a keyboard.

That pretty much sounds perfect.... I say build a small bunk cabin for the over nighters and stay in the shop.. if I wouldnt loose my wife by doing so Id be living in my shop now.....

Porta potties... Got that covered. Have a bathroom in he shop and plenty of trees outside. Also lot's of land for camping... so we are set. Let me know when you guys want to come out for a hammer-in.

Looks outstanding...

Is that a typical inventory of hammers?
monstermetal, Yes, A typical hammer order is around 20-25 hammers. I always have 3-4 hammers of the smaller size (33,55,88)in stock. So far nobody has had to wait for a hammer.

The only way my business really works is by ordering hammers in bulk. This helps lower both the manufacturing cost and the shipping cost per hammer. -That and I have almost no overhead, I built that shop on my fathers land, my apartment is just above my office so my operating shop cost and living expenses are next to nothing. My apartment is very small (10ft x10ft)it consists of a bed, tv, and a shower. Hopefully this fall, I will have enough money saved up to build a home in front of my shop so that when people visit I can offer them a place to stay.

Eventually, I would like to host 2-3 day hammer-inns, I have the shop, and the tools. I just need a larger place for people to crash at.

The Little Giant is 220 V Single phase. There is sq ft. is 3700 in the main shop, then I built wings that add another 3700 of storage space. This shop was a fun project. I built it myself... built the trusses on the ground out of angle iron, then used a Kubota tractor with a hay fork and a 2 3/8" pipe extension to reach the 16 clear height. Probably the most challenging thing was putting up the roofing sheetmetal. It get's real windy in Texas and the panels can be like sails with any wind.

Great shop. Nice size with room to grow. How much for the Little Giant and is it 3 phase or single?

Dave, I am asking $4,300 for the hammer. It was rebuilt by Sid and is in perfect working order. I built a cage for safety and have a full set of dies including many texturing dies. You can see many of the textures on the www.johnsonmetalsmithing.com site

If anybody is interested, I can post pictures.

I just cleaned up my shop and organized the inventory of hammers and thought it would be a great time to give a tour of my shop. There are basically three areas... power hammer and parts storage, general fabrication tables and tools, and then the forging area. In the forging area, I currently have three power hammers, a 33, 88, and 165 lb Anyang hammers, a treddle hammer that I fabricated about 16 years ago. I still use this for some of my texturing. I also have a p10 fly press that I use ocassionally. I have two gas forges and am in the process of building a chimney for my coal forge. I had a 50 lb Little Giant that I just removed (it's for sale) with many unique texturing dies. I am in the process of fabricating a universal die fixture that I can use to bolt on the various textures I use in creating my art. Will post pictures when that is complete.

Youngdylin. Like your work very much. Next time, I would like to stop by your shop. We did stop in stockport at the rail station. Never known to rain in Manchester... guess we were there during a very unusual time. That's all it did was rain, but it was a great trip.

I did not get to see the technology museum in Manchester... spent as much time with John as I could. In London, I spent time in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the great exhibit they had on blacksmithing. Will post pictures on that later. I also went through the Science and Technology museum in London (very close to the V&A). Wish I had more time to spend in England...

John... would love to get you over to the states... ANANA is in June. John, the coveralls just shows that you are not afraid to get into the middle of a machine and get your hands dirty.

John is way too modest. He grew up around power hammers and has forgotten more than most know.

Thanks for the advise brian/naked, What is the distance/gap between the firepot and the chimney? approx.

I'm building a new coal forge w/chimney inside my shop. This will be a open style forge not a side draft design. The hood/chimney will be welded and supported by my trusses. My peak height is 27ft, was planning on the chimney to land around 28ft.

Here is my qustion: Would there be any benefit from increasing the chimney dia. from 12"x12" to 12"x20"?

-I realize that a side draft forge has more draw, but I need a open/floating hood, to allow for large plate.

Any real experience with this would be great!

Back in 2003, I made a set of vine/bark texturing dies for my 33 Anyang. I started with regular flat dies, then took a angle grinder and cut 3/16 deep grooves one after another. So when I was finished, both the top/bottom dies had rows of teeth that would leave multiple lines in the work piece with every hammer blow. When making the dies, I didn't worry about using any layout math or getting every tooth the same size. The dies looked rough, you could tell they weren't made in a machine shop, but they worked really well. Again all you need is a vise, grinder, good tool steel, and about 20 minutes.

When working with the dies, I would first perform light blows until the work piece was covered with light/shallow lines. Then I would start going back over the work piece using heavier blows, that would leave deep lines. This does two things for your texture. First, it gives your work more of a organic look. When I am trying to create a vine/bark texture look, I want to see different line widths, lengths, and depth. Second, when you already have light lines/texture, by re-hitting the light lines with heavy blows, the heavy blows will push/move the light lines side to side creating almost a wood grain like wave.

With these dies and my 33, I textured steel from 1/4 - 1.50 thick. Eventually I'm going to add these texturing dies to the Anyang die inventory, so that Anyang owners can buy these dies right off the shelf.

I shared a few emails with the owner, nice guy, but he is no longer importing hammers. He only bought a small amount of hammers, and quickly found out that with the cost of shipping/customs, their just wasn't enough profit.

Thanks for your kind remarks Phillip. On the Anyang 33 with this base, I don't think you have isolate the hammer from the foundation... I have a 88 lb Anyang on a 6 inch slab and built a similar base as the 33 and did not isolate the foundation... I don't think there is a problem. Now on the 165, that is a different matter. I built a seperate foundation that was 4 foot deep. John Nicholson has great plans for foundation isolation. As for putting all of the information on Anyangs together in one place and DVD's... I have plans to do that but have been so busy that it has just not gotten done. I am in the process of switching out my shop... selling the LG 50, installing a vent system for a coal forge, selling one of my older 33's, and setting up the new 55's that just came in.
I bought a high def video camera but have just not had the time to do the video's. When things slow down, I will be doing a lot of forging video's on both the use of the power hammers and how I create some of my art.

I thought that I would go ahead and post the instructions that I give customers for fabricating the Anyang 33 base.

Below are the directions for making the base for a 33 lb Anyang. With all of the hammers I have sold, most of the customers have asked me to build the base... They are fairly easy to make, but it does take some time...

I have attached pictures of the base.
Overall dimension of the steel base is: 14" wide, 21.5" tall, 20" long.
Make a 4 sided base with these dimensions out of 1/4" steel plate.


Material list: 21.5"X14"X.25" steel plate for front and back of box (need 2 of these)
21.5"X19.5"x.25" two side plates for box (need 2 of
these) note shorter dimensions (19.5")... front and back overlap to make up 20" long dimension
13.5"X19.5"X.25" steel plate for bottom (need 1 of these) Note shorter dimensions, bottom plate fits inside of the side plates.

Remove the two treadle pivot pins on the sides of the hammer. Cut threaded section off pivot pin.
Weld the pivot pins onto the side plates of the box. Center of each pin should be 12.5" from the front of the box (be careful, dimension is 12.25 from front edge of the side plate because the front plate overlaps side
plates) and 3" from the bottom. You will use these pins to mount the foot treadle.
Cut two pieces of 1/4" angle iron 2" by 2" 18" long. You will use these for the motor mount. (See pictures) Weld the two pieces of angle iron on the back side of the box. Sides of the angle will be flush with the outside of the box and the top of the angle 5"
from the bottom of the box. (see pictures 023, 024, 025).
Cut 4 pieces of 1/2" threaded rod 6" long. Keep these for later welding onto angle iron for motor mount.
Cut 3/4" plywood 14" wide by 20" long. Place hammer on top of the plywood and transfer punch through the mounting holes of the hammer (or very carefully measure the hole positions of the hammer). Drill 4 5/8" holes in the plywood. The threaded rod will go through these holes and then will be used to anchor down the hammer to the base.
Cut 4 pieces of 1/2" threaded rod approximately 25.5" long (long enough to be welded on the bottom of the box, and then through the plywood and the cast base of the hammer.
Use plywood as a template to position threaded rods. Weld the threaded rod to the bottom plate. Weld short braces from the sides of the box to the threaded rod to make sure they stay in the correct location when you poor
concrete into the box.
Fill the base with concrete and when the concrete is still wet, place the plywood over the top of the base to make sure the threaded rods are in the correct position.
Mount the hammer on the base after the concrete sets up. Bolt down hammer.
Bolt the motor to the motor mount plate that is supplied. Locate the motor where the belt pulley's of the motor align with the hammer pulley. Locate the position of the 4-6" threaded rods. Weld the threaded rod to the angle iron. Use hex nuts and washers to adjust the height of the motor to tighten the belts. I use a laser level or a straight edge to make sure the hammer pulley and motor pulley are aligned.

Weld angle iron tabs to the bottom of the base to anchor to the shop floor.


When welding the box, weld short 2" sections at a time to keep plate from warping. (Tack weld box together first)

Cut the rod that goes from the foot treadle to the control valve and towards the top (below the control valve), weld a turnbuckle so you can adjust the foot peddle. The length of the rod and turnbuckle should be about 46"
(again, you can adjust this length with the turnbuckle). (see 022.jpg) The new Anyang hammers now come from the factory with the turnbuckle.

I realize that there are many ways to put a base under these machines... but above is what I have been doing and they have worked great for me for many years.

Having said all of this, I hope to never build a base again... the bases out of Anyang are fabricated out of 3/4" plate steel, have slots for moving them with a fork lift. They are very stout. I don't think that I could make them for what we can get them from the factory. Another advantage is that you save a lot of setup time.